Gordon Institute of TAFE – Great Ocean Road Coast Committee Blog

Combined forces sees conservation win

July 29, 2014August 7, 2014greatoceanroadcoast

TAFE students have joined forces with a local environmental group, resulting in multiple benefits, including the removal of thousands of invasive weeds and the development of positive, ongoing relationships.

Anglesea, Aireys Inlet Society for the protection of Flora and Fauna (ANGAIR) united with Gordon Conservation and Land Management students recently to remove Sallow Wattle and Boneseed from Anglesea’s outskirts.

The day saw strong relationships formed between the two groups, leading many students to continue to volunteer their time with ANGAIR outside of their studies.

ANGAIR committee member Roger Ganley (left), Surf Coast Shire Environment Officer Leanne Rolfe (yellow), ANGAIR committee member Janet Stephens (front right)and property owner Heather Walker (far right) with Gordon TAFE students during a successful weed removal day within Aireys Inlet.

The students, inspired by their experience, have been participating in local working bees and assisting with the propagation of indigenous plants.

ANGAIR Membership Secretary Janet Stephens said students developed a great rapport with the volunteers, proving age is no barrier when it comes to conservation.

“They were terrific – not only were we able to get a lot of weeding done, but we were also able to pass on our knowledge and experience for the younger generation to take on board,” she said.

TAFE students working hard at removing harmful weeds on the outskirts of Anglesea.

Gordon Course Coordinator Amanda May said the day was a huge success, with both parties enjoying the benefits of the partnership.

“ANGAIR has benefited from the injection of youthful energy, enthusiasm and muscle.

“In turn, students have learnt a great deal about weed control, working with volunteers, and planning and running a community event,” Ms May said.

In an additional project, Gordon students have also targeted a Bluebell Creeper weed infestation on private properties within Aireys Inlet.

Surf Coast Environmental Officer Leanne Rolfe (centre) and ANGAIR Committee Member Roger Ganley (right) with grateful landowner who made chocolate snowballs for hardworking volunteers.

Gordon students Kate Skinner and Rachael Beecham prepared site assessment reports for two Anglesea sites and will now develop a management plan for these selected sites.

“Large amounts of the creeper were removed in June, hopefully protecting rare Orchid plants in the future.

“The beautiful orchids were almost completely covered by the Creeper when we first arrived and we were able to make a positive impact, although there is definitely more to be done,” she said.

For more information on coastal, environmental volunteering visit gorcc.com.au. ANGAIR is always on the lookout for new faces and there are lots of ways you can contribute to the group’s conservation efforts. For more information visit angair.com.au.

Sustainable careers in focus

June 6, 2012August 5, 2014greatoceanroadcoast

Are you or someone you know unsure of what career path to take? Or are you just looking for a new way to increase your employability in the workforce? It seems that careers with a sustainable focus are the next big thing.

Higher education institutions are offering an increasing number of sustainability focused courses to meet the growing demand in the job market.

The Gordon East Campus_MAIN — The Gordon TAFE offers a number of courses that have an environmentally sustainable emphasis.

The Gordon Tafe is just one of the higher education institutions taking advantage of the trend, offering courses with an environmental emphasis such as a Diploma of Sustainability, Sustainable Tourism Management, and Carbon Accounting and Management.

All of these courses will prepare students for a greener future by incorporating valuable sustainability knowledge.

Skill centre manager for sustainable innovation Darren Gray is delighted with the Gordon’s cently accredited and certified Carbon Accounting and Management course.

“We are very proud of this course and it involves the critical skills needed in order to achieve a low-carbon economy,” he said.

The Gordon Culinary School

In 2010 and 2011, the Gordon worked in partnership with Sustainability Victoria in an Australian TAFE first to encourage environmental sustainability in their culinary school’s operations through the case study- A Life Cycle Approach to Sustainable Service.

Check out their case study here for more information.

The Gordon Culinary School — The Gordon’s ‘Life Cycle’ approach strives to create behaviour change with their culinary school students.

This initiative was established to decrease the culinary school’s environmental footprint in several areas including reduction of waste, energy, packaging and water usage.

Program manager Wayne Chrimes said the Life Cycle Approach is at the fore front of sustainability design, becoming a strong focus within many industries.

“Whilst we are minimising environmental impacts across our training facilities, the culinary school is also educating students and industry on how to employ sustainable practices for both short and long-term benefit,” he said.

“By embedding sustainability across the Gordon’s culinary school, we are creating behaviour change with today’s students who are the up and coming industry leaders of tomorrow.”

Gordon TAFE Redevelopments

The Gordon also planning to undertake a $26 million redevelopment of its East Geelong Campus and is now seeking funding to support the project.

The redevelopment will house the Gordon’s Centre for Sustainability along with other new facilities that include a new training patisserie kitchen, which will integrate key ideas from the Life Cycle Approach.

If you are thinking of a career with a sustainable focus, some hands on experience might be just the ticket to boost your resume.

There are a number of environmental volunteer groups on the coast who would love to hear from you and you become a regular participant, or just help out when or where you can.

Volunteering is a fantastic opportunity to build your skills and knowledge, as well as a hands on way to make a real difference to our precious coastal environment.

It’s a great addition to your resume, and for those interested in a career in environmental management or conservation, it’s the perfect way to gain experience and make valuable contacts.

Where can I find more information?

For more information of the Gordon’s courses, check out their website at www.thegordon.edu.au

If you are interested in environmental volunteering on the coast, check out all the groups operating in our region here.

Or, to learn more, watch the video below on environmental volunteering on the coast.

Our coast’s future in good hands

July 28, 2010August 4, 2014greatoceanroadcoast

It may be stating the obvious but recent days have provided us with a timely reminder about the future of our coast – and indeed our world – lying with the adults of tomorrow, being the young people of today.

What a delight then to see eager and enthusiastic Torquay College students hard at work and play down at White’s Beach this week as part of an ongoing partnership between the school, ourselves and the Marine Discovery Centre at Queenscliff. The sound of children’s voices ringing through the dunes was music to the ears while the sight of youngsters involved in coastal conservation activities while learning was a pleasure to behold.

For several years now, scores of local school children have learnt about the fragility and importance of our coast’s dune systems through their participation in the Dune Edu-Action program. The program’s focus on learning by doing sees the students undertaking a range of activities aimed at protecting our coast’s increasingly vulnerable dunes. Such activities include laying brush matting to minimise erosion and planting local indigenous plant species to restore native vegetation cover.

We are a proud partner in this program – providing plants, tools, materials and onsite supervision – and see it as providing a vital foundation to nurturing our coast’s future custodians.

Perhaps it was a similar program that planted the seed during their past primary school days for current students from Deakin University and Gordon Institute of TAFE to take the lead in creating a new coastal volunteer group in Ocean Grove. It was so exciting to hear during the past week about this initiative, which sees the students working in partnership with their local community, Barwon Coast Committee and Coast Action/Coastcare to encourage a fresh approach to caring for the coast.

These enterprising young adults are hoping a film night at 7.30pm on Thursday 5 August at the Ocean Grove Chicken Shop inspires other locals, young and old alike, to join them in looking after their patch of Victoria’s beautiful coastline. We applaud them for their initiative and wish them well in this important endeavour.

It’s so heartening to see local young people taking such active roles in caring for the coast as indicated by these two events. It reassures us that the future of our coast – and indeed our world – is in good hands!

We are grateful to Torquay College for providing us with the beautiful photos above and allowing us to reproduce them with this blog.