2021 - Green Ambassador Program
The Green Ambassador Program (GAP) came into formation in 2019, and was jump started in April 2020, at the peak of COVID-19 restrictions.
Throughout that year, many online events took place, the online Facebook group grew to over 200 members, the first ever sustainability council was created, and the UQ community began to return to campus! In 2021, the Sustainability council changeover occurred, with the second Sustainability Council was nominated!
The transition from the previous to current council, like most new things, came with challenges, however the new council settled in quickly, and were able to make it their own! Marce Walker was also welcomed as the new Green Programs Staff Representative on the council, and is already working to introduce some changes at the Gatton campus to reduce waste and increase sustainability.
Throughout 2021, GAP was able to have a stall at both Market days, as well as at individual faculty orientation events.
Many new GAP members joined the Facebook group as a result of these outreach events throughout 2021, leading to the Facebook group for GAP hitting 500 members in mid-October; a goal from the beginning and a great demonstration of how the program has slowly grown as it continues to garner student and staff interest.
2021 saw the events run through GAP diversify, and begin to integrate other areas of the university, as well as other university groups.
These collaborations were aided by the formation of the Sustainable Universities Network (SUN) by Monash University, of which GAP was one of the first university groups to join.
Weekly meetings with the other universities within SUN were a great way to stay connected throughout lockdowns, to network with Universities all across Australia, and to gather ideas for new events to run!
The first SUN event was run as a part of UQ’s 2021 Sustainability week, and was a Q and A style online event based around having ‘climate conversations’ with people who may be unwilling to learn or understand the intricacies of climate change.
We were joined at this event by several experts in the field of climate change and climate communication, including UQ’s Professor Helen Bostock Lyman, Monash Universities Gitanjali Bedi, and University of Adelaide’s Dr Nicholas Collins.
Some great conversations came out of this, and it was an opportunity to learn from several experts about how it is best to approach climate skeptics!
In 2021 GAP also began collaborating with external organisations including Tangaroa Blue, the St Lucia Bushcare Group, and the Clarina Street Park Bushcare group.
Other collaborations within UQ included running events alongside the Geography and Environmental Management Society, UQ Life, UQ Oxfam, UQ Wellness, and UQ Marine.
2021’s Clean Up Australia Day event was run in collaboration with Tangaroa Blue, UQ GEMS, UQ Sustainability Office, Maine Society UQ, the Centre of Marine Science, and the Society for Conservation Biology UQ Brisbane Chapter.
This event resulted in 256kg of litter being collected along a 300 metre stretch of mangroves on the Brisbane River! This litter varied from tyres and wheelie bins to hundreds of small pieces of foam.
The top 3 categories of rubbish included foam remnants, soft plastic remnants, and plastic food packaging. A volunteer from Tangaroa Blue aided in auditing and recording the types of trash collected.
GAP’s ongoing work regenerating and maintaining the St Lucia Golf Course in collaboration with the St Lucia Bushcare group is a core activity enjoyed by many GAP members.
Having the opportunity to learn from experienced bushcarers is a hugely beneficial experience for GAP members, as they have a wealth of valuable information to pass on. This work is also particularly relevant to UQ as the St Lucia Golf course backs on to the UQ Long Pocket site.
In other events this semester, GAP members volunteered at the Warwick Solar Farm Open day. It was a great opportunity to learn more about how the solar farm works and has the potential to offset 100% of UQ’s power when operating at full capacity.
GAP members also had the opportunity to mingle with some of the local Warwick residents who came by to say hi! This was the first time the solar farm had been open to the public, and it was a privilege to bring GAP members out to see it.
The Sustainable Development Goal Manager for this year, Jacques Dennison, ran an online ‘book club’ based around online United Nations approved modules which help students to understand and discuss the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
“The SDG book club was a collaborative deep dive into some of the tenets of sustainable development. Living up to the GAP ethos of finding community in sustainability, the group engaged with emerging academic ideas over the 8 week online course, taking time along the way to meet and discuss their thoughts. As a group, we were able to have deep and engaged conversations about the many facets and challenges involved on building a sustainable future. Personally it gave me some great ideas to take into my assignments as well! Thank you to everyone who came along and the entire GAP exec for their support.”
- Jacques Dennison, SDG Manager
In the latter half of 2021, GAP focussed on waste management and recycling, after a preliminary event during Sustainability week which garnered a large amount of interest from students and staff.
GAP also ran a staff event during Research and Innovation week! The ‘Tips for Sustainable Researchers’ event was highly successful, with over 15 attendees staff and student attendees. These attendees learnt about tips and tricks to avoid creating unnecessary waste and excessive energy use in labs.
This echoed the earlier workshop from Semester 2, which educated students and staff on how to ‘Recycle Right’. GAP’s Student Resources Manager Evelyn had a large part in organising and initiating these workshops, and has stated:
“The waste workshop named “Recycle right with GAP” was an initiative that aimed to improve waste management at UQ, which was welcomed by GAP exec and the UQ community. I am glad to see that its impact went beyond an online workshop and now it is part of the frequent activities run by the Sustainability Office. Definitively GAP is a great space to make ideas about sustainability come true.”
- Evelyn Gomez Juarez, Student Resources Manager
The Sustainability Award was also launched this year! This allows students to be recognised for their efforts towards sustainability, both at UQ and within the community. Awarded annually, students must complete 3 supplementary activities and 100 hours of volunteer work to apply.
Several other online and in person events were run throughout the year, including:
- An online wildlife tournament for biodiversity month
- A Sustainable Development Goal photo competition
- An Environmental Forum run in sustainability week
- An online watch party of the film ‘Chasing Ice’
- Online Pictionary via zoom
- A Sustainable Development Goal posting series
- A live Q & A with the 2020 council speaking about what they gained from the role and what their role in GAP entailed
- An online watch party of the film ‘Thule Tuvalu’
- A World Environment Day Webinar watch party
- An online watch party of the film ‘Minimalism’
GAP members from the previous Sustainability Council also had the opportunity to attend one of two online conferences during semester 1, as their roles in GAP came to an end. The members then shared their learnings with GAP members at an open community seminar.
These conferences entailed a Sustainable Partnerships United Nations Forum, and the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress 2021 (SRI 2021). The students who attended these conferences found them to be great opportunities, both to network, and to increase their own employability. Jayana, the 2020 Social Media Manager for GAP, attended the Sustainable Partnerships Forum, and had this to say about her experience:
“Attending the 2021 UN Australia Sustainable Partnerships Forum was a great learning experience. It provided a unique opportunity to hear about amazing initiatives towards the UN Sustainable Development goals across the world and network with some amazing people.”
- Jayana, 2020 GAP Social Media Manager
Overall, 2021 has been a highly fruitful year for the Green Ambassador Program, and although there have been some difficulties, the hard work of the 2020 and 2021 council have set the program up for even more future successes.