Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability
Young migrants and refugees might be new to the country but they are often passionate about the environment. That’s why we're working with them to help them make a difference.
Through our Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability program, we provide young migrants and refugees with the leadership skills they need to help their communities live more sustainably.
We take them on a four month training program in leadership and sustainability. Then we help them run their own sustainability projects, taking the message straight to migrant and refugee communities. The project was designed by Environment Victoria and the Centre for Multicultural Youth. Our successful graduates are awarded the Certificate I in Active Volunteering, which helps them on their path towards further study or employment.
The response is always enthusiastic. As one participant said:
‘I felt excited to learn new things on the MLS program. Speaking in public is very hard for me but now I know I have something important for people to hear.’
The program is a great way for young people new to Victoria to learn more about their new home and the environmental challenges we face. And it is a great way for us to learn about them. Coming from countries as diverse as Sudan, Pakistan and Mauritius, they each bring unique perspectives and knowledge to the program.
We’ve run the Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability program since 2007. So far, we’ve run the program in Melbourne, Dandenong, Noble Park, Sunshine and St Albans. Since 2011, we've been running MLS in partnership with AMES and in 2012 we've made another change: working with young people in their first or second year of English languge classes at AMES. MLS is now called Home Planet and is being delivered with the St Albans and Footscray AMES English language schools, with support again from Brimbank City Council and City West Water.
Our multicultural leaders have already had a positive impact on our environment, with our most recent 2011 Brimbank graduates saving 24 tonnes of greenhouse gases and more than 1.1 million litres of water. They also delivered a Sustainability Show to present information to other AMES students, ran a planting day at Iramoo native grassland reserve, set up an e-waste collection at AMES and a did photo shoot to create a set of photographs to demonstrate environmental actions.
Over the years, Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability has been funded by a whole range of foundations, companies and government bodies coming together. This has included the Victorian Government Community Support Fund, Yarra Valley Water, South East Water, Metlink, the Ledger Charitable Trust and the Norman H. Johns Trust (managed by Perpetual Trustees), Foster's Group Community Grants, the Jack Brockhoff Foundation, the Reichstein Foundation, the Ian Potter Foundation, the Fouress Foundation, the Lord Mayors Charitable Foundation, the ETA Basan Charitable Trust (managed by Trust Company Ltd) and Ivor Ronald Evans Foundation (managed by Equity Trustees). In 2012, Home Planet is being funded by the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, The R.E. Ross Trust, Brimbank City Council Community Grants, City West Water and AMES.
Check out our new sustainability translations - in languages from Amharic to Zomi!
MLS 2011 participants help restore grasslands
Find out what all the buzz is about, below.
Wishing you a very conscious Christmas
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Michael Green, Domain, The Age
What would the festive season be like without the bells and whistles?
One way of preparing for Christmas involves buying new things - a lot of new things...
moreCommunity climate change work wins an ‘Oscar of Australian Science’
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Environment Victoria’s hands-on work with the community has won the $10,000 a href="http://eureka.australianmuseum.net.au/eureka-prize/advancement-...
moreWater saving showers forecast for Australia Day
Thursday, 17 January 2008
Young migrants and multicultural youth will use Australia Day to help protect our country’s most precious natural resource by exchanging 1000 free water saving showerheads in the City of Casey./p...
moreYoung migrants to take leading role in protecting their new environment
Thursday, 4 October 2007
Young Victorians will assist migrant and refugee youth to implement strategies that reduce water and energy consumption in their local communities.
The Youth Eco-Challenge II...
more
Twitter
This Mother’s Day, stand up
for a Safe Climate future for our kids
We love Mother’s Day because at heart, it’s a big ol’ celebration of love and life. We celebrate our mothers who brought us into this world. And we also celebrate our grannies, aunts, sisters and carers who have...
more
The government won’t cut our emissions by 20%
But you can!
You may have heard, the state government has dumped the target to reduce Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. We’re pretty bummed about it because it means clean energy investment and employment opportunities will be sent elsewhere...
more
Choose your own (eco) adventure
Handy tips for travelling green
Holidays are a time to stop, unwind, indulge and explore, but that doesn’t mean our responsibility to the earth goes on hiatus too. With our much loved Easter break just a little while away, we thought you’d enjoy this handy...
more
How to have a great green barbie
And eat it too
Nothing says Summer like the smell of a sizzling barbie and the sounds of a coldie being opened, friends and family cackling away and 6’s being hit over the fence. This fun-loving Aussie pastime is a little slice of heaven, and it’s something...
more
Naked old houses swelter in summer, freeze in winter
How can we reduce energy costs at home and energy demand across the state? Insulate, insulate, insulate.
When I am running community events to help people reduce their energy use and environmental impact, one of the most basic and effective measures we talk about is...
more
Flickr
- Summit calls for green makeover for 1 million Victorian homes |
- Surf Coast seniors go green |
- Extension of growth boundary fuels urban sprawl |
- Retro budget forgets climate change |
- State budget submission 2009–10 |
- Green jobs the answer to environment and economic woes |
- Victoria - the Green Jobs State. Siezing the opportunities |
- Peak oil and Victoria |
- Victoria: The Green Jobs State - creating a green, prosperous and socially inclusive Victoria |
- Green Jobs Summit - Program |
