Resources
Web-based
Catch up with all the Sustainablity Education in Australia news from the Federal Government’s website. You can access teaching resources, read the National Action Plan, find out about ARIES, AuSSI and other acronymous initiatives, and lots more.
In the Year of Environmental Sustainability, you can follow the Education for Sustainability program on the Queensland Government’s DETA site. Link up to an Environmental Education Centre, access Earth Smart Science School resources and monitor data on the solarschools.net.
Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network have produced a helpful series of fact-sheets aimed at improving community gardening practices.
Gardens for Learning is a ning site maintained by the Australian School Gardens Network for the purpose of sharing resources, events, discussion and peer learning on garden based education for sustainability in schools. Talk to other gardening schools and educators, find out about what’s going on, establish your own home page and get networking!
The Gould League designs innovative environmental education and training in sustainability. Their website features exemplary school programs and community partnerships; and provides interactive educational resources that can be used in the classroom. Their Climate Education garden resource is particularly well-designed.
California School Garden Network has a publication, Gardens for Learning, available in PDF form on their website.
Print-based
Carolyn Nuttall and Janet Millington are primary school teachers who advocate garden-based learning. They have produced an incredibly comprehensive and helpful book entitled Outdoor Classrooms: a handbook for school gardens. You can
order their book online from their website.
The Center for Eco-literacy in Berkeley, California has two publications of use for garden-based learning. Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment provides a conceptual framework for an integrated curriculum that builds food and environmental literacy. Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability supports the new move towards sustainable schooling in California State Schools and is a useful resource for any Environmental Educator. Their website also features numerous essays on issues of schooling and sustainability.
Enviroschools in New Zealand are a leading organization in educating for sustainability. Their bi-cultural environmental school program is practiced in over 600 New Zealand schools and is an inspiration for Growing Communities. Learn about their process and read their amazing stories.
People-based
Northey Street City Farm is a demonstration site in Brisbane, Queensland where people of all ages can learn about permaculture and urban agriculture through practical, hands on experience. It runs tours, courses, markets, festivals, and school programs. It is situated on the banks of Brisbane’s Breakfast Creek at Windsor, just north of the Royal Brisbane Hospital.
Local seed-saver Networks can be found on the Seedsavers’ website. Get in touch with an organization near you for a variety of quality seeds and do your bit towards conserving plant diversity for the future.
