We're a finalist for the Eureka Prize!
July 2010
Environment Victoria has been shortlisted for the Eureka Prize for the Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge for our great programs within the community that help Victorians understand and take action on climate change.
We run a whole range of programs for people left out by mainstream environmental messaging: migrant and refugee communities, young people disengaged from education, seniors and the economically disadvantaged. (That’s East African people in our GreenTown program learning about recycling and climate change in the picture above.) By working directly with people, in Melbourne and across the state, we engage a wide range of people disconnected from environmental issues, and empower them to be part of the solution.
One of these programs is the Youth Eco-Challenge, and Deb Robertson, who worked with us in delivering it at the Goldfields Employment and Learning Centre in Maryborough, says her students found it “empowering”. She is also a fan of our Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning resources, which are available on our website.
Another of our programs is Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability, and former participant Ali Majokah says that “no other program that I know of is helping recent migrants and refugees learn more about environmental issues and perhaps even more importantly what they can in Australia to help address these issues.”
We're pretty excited by being finalists. Prize is for "outstanding work" on helping people understand climate change, and it's always nice to get some recognition for hard work. Particularly when it involves the word "outstanding"! We're also pretty excited about the $10,000 prize we could win...
The Eureka Prize for the Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge is sponsored by the New South Wales Government and winners will be announced at an award dinner in Sydney on Tuesday, 17 August. Two of our staff members and a program participant will be there in suits, ties and gowns, with their fingers and toes crossed. And you can be there with us (in Twitter spirit anyway) by following our updates from the award room floor.
