Exploring Changing Tides in Environmental Education in Mandjoogoordap

Franklyn Nannup and attendees of the AAEE national environmental education conference explore the Lake Clifton thrombolites.

In late September 2021, Mandurah hosted the long awaited National Conference of the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE), which had been postponed from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The three-day conference titled ‘Mandjoogoordap: Changing Tides’ was themed around resilience and adaptation and included a mixture of presentations, workshops, and field trips. Environmental education practitioners from community organisations, schools, universities and Government organisations came together to share knowledge and build capacity in environmental education.

Working with the City of Mandurah and AAEE, PHCC were very keen for community members to benefit from the opportunity presented by this national conference being held in Mandurah. We sponsored five scholarships for community members to attend the conference through our ‘Wetlands and People’ and ‘Numbat Neighbourhood’ projects, both of which are supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

The community members who attended found the conference experience to be an inspiring and motivating opportunity!

Scholarship recipient Hannah, a student from Mandurah said “The conference was so enlightening and has restored my faith in humanity! The future of the climate is in good hands: we don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but we need to listen to the communities that are already working vigilantly to protect the Earth.”

Jo McVey, who volunteers at WA Seabird Rescue was another scholarship recipient for whom a conference session entitled “Bringing back the butterflies” was a highlight. Jo said “It was incredible be surrounded by so many positive and passionate role models all acting to keep the world inhabitable for all its living creatures, showcasing doable projects such as ‘Bringing back the Butterflies’. I knew about the gloom, but this has opened my eyes to the possibilities and inspired hope for the future. Thank you all who organised and presented.”

Scholarship recipient Sharon Meredith, who volunteers with the Clean Waterways Working Group which is working on a local litter prevention campaign, said “I was very impressed with the AAEE conference. Delegates were spoilt for choice with the incredible amount of quality presentations and workshops available. I was deeply moved by the presentation from Prof Dr Anne Poelina, Martuwarra from the Fitzroy River Council who shared an inspiring message about indigenous wisdom and ethics for caring for the earth.”

Gemma Haddrick from the Williams CRC attended through a scholarship funded by PHCC’s Numbat Neighbourhood Project and also agree the conference was a great experience “surrounded by a strong contingent of people who are trying in many varying ways to share their knowledge of our beautiful environment, flora and fauna and how to protect it and teach it to our youth, both now and into the future. I was able to gather many ideas that I have been able to bring back to our Williams Wildlife Warriors – Children’s after school group and have many exciting projects in planning for the coming year.”  

PHCC was also represented at the conference with Dr Steve Fisher and Dr Karen Bettink joining Noongar community leader Franklyn Nannup to give delegates a tour of the Thrombolites at Lake Clifton, sharing stories of both heritage and science of this important wetlands, which is part of Ramsar Site 482. PHCC’s Charlie Jones gave a conference presentation reflecting on PHCC’s work with the community over the last decade to build community capacity in the identification of waterbirds for participation in the annual citizen science shorebird count of the Peel-Yalgorup System.

Another highlight of the conference was seeing the City of Mandurah’s Bonnie Beal Richardson recognised with the National Environmental Educator of the Year Award for her dedication and many positive outcomes achieved through environmental education and sustainability work in Mandurah.

PHCC plan to host a free community knowledge sharing and networking event in March 2022 where all are welcome to come and hear those who attended the conference share their lessons learned and inspiration. If you are interested to attend this event, please contact Charlie on charlie.jones@peel-harvey.org.au 

For more information about the conference and organisers the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE), visit: https://aaeeconference.org.au/ and https://www.aaee.org.au/

The AAEE Conference was supported by the PHCC through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.