On Monday 16 September this year, Junior Landcare is bringing together Wiradjuri man and First Nations Educator Adam Shipp and Environmental Educator Sam Harrison along with Costa Georgiadis, Junior Landcare Ambassador to deliver a free webinar aimed at guiding educators during Biodiversity Month.
The Taking learning outdoors using First Nations perspective webinar will be packed with advice and culturally respectful approaches that covers everything from observing and engaging with their local habitats and biodiversity to exploring First Nations weather knowledge.
Shipp and Harrison will take teachers through the essentials of implementing outdoor learning projects through the lens of First Nations perspectives. They’ll be joined by Junior Landcare ambassador Costa Georgiadis, who will help explain why connecting and inspiring Australian children is so important for our environment.
“Embracing landcare is so important to the next generation of kids – it’s not just planting trees, it’s the growing of community and the growing understanding of nature,” Georgiadis says.
“When you have a better understanding of nature you will step up to protect it.”
Registrations for the free webinar are now open, with all educators who view the receiving a Professional Development Certificate.
We’re really excited to host this session with Adam, Sam and Costa,” says Junior Landcare spokesperson Trish O’Gorman.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to support educators to integrate First Nations perspectives in their outdoor learning and create impactful and engaging environmental educational experiences.”
Learning about landcare from a First Nations perspective is, says the Junior Landcare team “extremely important… as there are important knowledge systems and traditional practices that have been used to care for Australia’s beautiful land and water for tens of thousands of years”.
“By teaching the younger generations some of these insights into First Nations culture and ways of caring for Country, we will build better understanding and partnerships moving forward in the environmental sector and communities.”
When speaking about the Junior Landcare First Nations perspectives educational resources, Shipp says “the knowledge that comes from our elders and ancestors that have come before us, are extremely important to capture and keep alive”.
“Our lands will be much healthier in doing so. I am extremely proud to see these online resources developed which capture our cultural values and stories for the next generations,” he told EducationDaily.
Activities align with curriculum
Junior Landcare has created 10 curriculum-linked First Nations perspective learning activities, supported by a series of educational videos that include the topics areas of Local seasons exploring First Nations weather, Creating an Indigenous plant use garden, and Whose Country, exploring First Nations peoples’ languages map.
The webinar will highlight some of these curriculum-linked learning activities, which aim to help young Australians develop a deeper understanding of First Nations perspectives. Shipp, Harrison and Georgiadis will also talk about their experiences running learning activities and projects with students, and what they’ve learnt.
The lesson for educators is clear: it’s never too early to learn about our impact on land, water and other natural resources – and what we can do to maintain, preserve and protect the natural environment.
“Outdoor learning and time spent in nature has been proven to have physical, emotional and social benefits for children, and can be a really great way of engaging diverse learners.
“Engaging in hands-on landcare activities at an early age helps children learn about and value nature and is terrific way to help guide the next generation of environmental leaders on how they can actively do something to make a difference at a local level to care for the planet.”
Sustainable life beyond Biodiversity Month
Beyond Biodiversity Month, Junior Landcarers can get involved in a range of projects that improve biodiversity, such as planting native plants, creating Indigenous plant use gardens (bush tucker gardens), building frog habitats, establishing nest boxes for native animals, and building native bee and insect hotels. They can also help reduce food waste through setting up worm farms, or tackle litter by collecting and sorting rubbish from their local green areas or beaches.
Landcare Australia has one of the county’s largest online environmental calendars to help educators teach their students about what is coming up – and with more than 6,000 landcare groups across the country, supported by more than 140,000 volunteers, local groups are easy to find.
“Alternatively, it is very easy to set up your own group following the simple steps in ‘How to Start a Junior Landcare Group’.
“We hope the webinar helps build confidence among educators so more students across Australia are exposed to outdoor learning projects through First Nations perspectives. We also hope to get more teachers and students engaged in Junior Landcare in general, and that they use our activities and resources to connect with and care for nature.”
