Category / Partnerships

by Action4Agriculture

Living Sustainably (and Kreatively) with Cecilia Kemp and Wingecarribee Shire Council

Action4Agriculture’s primary school program Kreative Koalas allows us to connect with a diverse and inspirational range of environmental ambassadors, a perfect example of this is Wingecarribee Shire Council’s coordinator of Sustainability Services, Cecilia Kemp. Cecilia works with our Kreative Koala schools in the NSW Southern Highlands and is producing a suite of programs to showcase sustainability to both students and their communities.

Cecilia’s story begins in Sweden with chapters in Switzerland, Scotland and England before her eventual move to Australia in 2003, and it was the early days that influenced her to strive for a sustainable world.

“Swedish culture is strongly aligned with the natural environment and it is deeply ingrained in us and our folklore. It was normal for us to spend time out in nature but one of the things that really triggered my interest was a German teacher at my international school in Switzerland. While teaching us the German language she would always use quotes and texts from environmental sources. Her daughter worked for Greenpeace and, as an early teen, I thought that was the kind of job for me.

“I’ve always been fascinated by injustice and I think a lot of what I do is deeply rooted in that. I was the annoying kid who spoke up when she saw something wrong and said ‘we shouldn’t be doing that’ and it’s evolved into an adult passion where I like to bring issues to the public attention – things we can do better.”

With a Bachelor of Environmental Science from the University of Edinburgh and a Masters in Engineering Studies (focussed on power generation and climate change) from the University of Sydney, Cecilia’s career has seen her champion sustainability with everyone from Clean Up Australia, to state government and local councils. In 2019 she took on her current role with Wingecarribee Shire Council.

One of her initial tasks was to overhaul the annual School’s Environment Day, which at the time “involved 600 students and was bigger than Ben Hur.” Cecilia reimagined the day as one of immersive activities and adventure learning for a smaller number of students to be held in the bush at Camp Wombaroo. The first School’s Environment Day in the new format will be run in May catering for 200 students, with the second to be held later in the year allowing 200 more local students to participate.

Another initiative under Cecilia’s direction is Sustainable Us, designed as a community engagement project to address impact on the environment and actions that can be taken to mitigate climate change.

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The project includes a series of 12 videos and will feature Hilltop Public School, who broke new ground in 2021 by using Kreative Koalas as a catalyst to report on education for sustainability.

Hilltop is a tiny community but every community in the world will be affected by climate change and these kids had already produced a video to highlight it in the context of their own space, and they’re sharing these stories with their parents and grandparents and community members. What they are doing is fantastic and we will feature them in the Sustainable Us episode about community to illustrate how we can come together and make a big difference,” Cecilia says.

Read our case study on Hilltop Public School here 

Watch the first video in the Sustainable US series here

 

Alongside the School’s Environment Day and Sustainable Us, Southern Highland’s schools, including Kreative Koalas participant Robertson Public School, benefit in other ways from Cecilia’s proactive approach.

“We send newsletters to all the schools in the Shire at the start of every term, flagging the resources that we have available to help teach a sustainable lifestyle. We offer workshops, and presentations on the local water cycle and the local impacts of climate change, run recycled art competitions and we were the first regional council to offer the Solar My School program to schools.”

“There is no silver bullet to address our environmental impact but its important people know that switching off the lights when you leave a room is just as powerful as buying a Tesla. Nobody should feel excluded based on their financial or physical ability. It’s just a case of being a bit more resourceful with what we have.”

When it comes to being resourceful Cecilia and her team are well ahead of the curve, and the benefits to our Kreative Koalas schools will be endless. We look forward to continuing and building this association for years to come and congratulate Wingecarribee Shire Council on its initiatives that educate and inspire us all to lead a better life for our planet.

#YouthVoices #CreatingABetterWorldTogether

 

 

by Action4Agriculture

Keeping agriculture front of mind – COE’s Virtual Ag-Week Conference

 

Everyone, everywhere will agree COVID has been tough on education. Working and learning from home has meant the curtailment of activities beyond the online world.

Principal Kris Beazley and the team from the Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education have risen to the challenge ensuring that agriculture stays front of mind with a virtual conference to connect young people in schools with people working in the industry.

Timed to coincide with National Ag Day on November 19 the conference for both NSW primary and secondary students will run over five days from November 15, with 22 masterclasses from a range of industry experts from IT, on-farm, science and research, and media.

“We were holding a field day in conjunction with Tafe (Richmond) and Local Land Services during ag-week but because of Covid it was postponed but we wanted to make sure we didn’t lose that focus. We had been delivering WOW Wednesday to our full-time AgSTEM students during lockdown to connect them, via Zoom, to an industry expert and this has proved a good model for a virtual ag conference,” Kris says.

The CoE panel of agricultural experts includes our Young Farming Champions. Dr Danila Marini will speak about research and technology for animal welfare, Dr Jo Newton will speak about the future of dairy farming and Emily May will give insights into peri-urban agriculture. Friend of the YFC, Kate McBride, will also speak about farming in the Murray-Darling river system.

Visit the website here to book a place for your school

“We have connected the conference to curriculum and there is clear alignment to not just agriculture but science, geography, food and fibre production, sustainability and environmental sciences. We have also included the careers component so young people have exposure to people in the industry, and on top of that it is good PL (professional learning) for teachers. It is a chance for teachers to connect their young people to the world beyond their immediate world, when they have been in lockdown for so long,” Kris says.

Sessions for the conference are filling quickly and registration is required beforehand. Ensure places for your students by visiting the website

#YouthinAg #VirtualExcursions #WoWWednesdays

by Action4Agriculture

Tomorrow’s workers to be most sought after thanks to collaboration between Action for Agriculture and top leadership trainers Dale Carnegie

Secondary school students across Australia will be equipped for the future workforce with transferrable skills through an exciting new partnership between Action for Agriculture ( formerly Picture Yourself in Agriculture ) and one of the world’s most foremost leadership training providers.

Dale Carnegie will generously provide the winner of the annual Archibull Prize, an Action for Agriculture  flagship program, with a complimentary workshop to gear them up for life beyond the classroom with the skills most valued by employers and ensure that they can adapt to a wide variety of careers.

“Young Australians have experienced drought, flood, fire and now COVID19, but they are also in a prime position to define their futures. 

“This collaboration with Dale Carnegie will ensure that these youth, the ones who will be most affected by this uncertainty, are given the skills that are now the most sought after in these changing and challenging times.” says Lynne Strong, founder and national program director of Action for Agriculture.

 

Jessica Gopalan, marketing manager at Dale Carnegie, says that The Archibull Prize encourages students to build professional networks, expanding their understanding of the world as they learn how those in a vast array of fields contribute towards a sustainable future.

“The partnership between Action for Agriculture and Dale Carnegie will help ensure that students have the transferable skills that will equip them for tomorrow’s workforce

The sheer volume of talent and potential in these youth is outstanding, and we’re honoured to be working alongside Action for Agriculture in their commitment to driving positive change for both the individuals and the ideas that they champion.” she says.

The 90-minute workshop offered by Dale Carnegie, which offer professional training and coaching with their global headquarters based in New York and their Australian office in Sydney, will be offered either online or physically from 2021 onwards.

Dale Carnegie look forward to building a longer term partnership to support Action for Agriculture and its partners in accessing additional training and development opportunities, says Jessica.

Lynne says that the voices of young people are not heard prominently enough in society and in the agricultural sector, even though they have the most to gain and lose.

“The Archibull Prize seeks to enable and empower students to work together to identify and solve problems and take actions that will help them build a better world.

The Archibull Prize’s 21st century learning design empowers teachers to help students master traditional skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic, alongside capability skills, like creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, most valued by employers.” she says.”

The Archibull Prize is an internationally recognised secondary schools program designed to engage students with agriculture and sustainability by challenging them to research a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, design and deliver a community action program and to present their findings in multi-media and artistically on a life-sized fibreglass cow.

Last year’s prize went ahead in a modified format, with students and teachers even rising to the occasion and excelling under challenging conditions during the global pandemic.

In recognition of their efforts the first school to benefit from this partnership will be 2020 Grand Champion School  Penrith Valley School

The Archibull Prize, along with Kreative Koalas and Young Farming Champions, Action for Agriculture’s other world-class flagship programs, aim to showcase the diversity of careers and pathway opportunities in the agriculture sector.

We thank all our partners who are investing in the future by empowering young Australians to solve tomorrow’s problems today

 

 

 

 

 

by Action4Agriculture

Building agricultural literacy and supporting our young people to be ready for the jobs of the future

This experience has been profound for our students. It has facilitated critical thinking, in-depth discussions and provided a platform for our students to develop and refine their thoughts and thinking on issues affecting society today. The Hackathon generated ideas and language our students rarely use to express themselves. The clarity and conviction in their arguments was impressive. The entire process has stirred their creative juices and fostered dedication to finish both the Koala and the Archibull to a very high standard. They have spent all their spare time collaborating and working hard to ensure the projects are ready for submission. The sense of pride in their work is wonderful to see. I highly recommend the opportunity to participate in The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas.

Claudia Munday Teacher Penrith Valley LC

At Picture You in Agriculture we are committed to adding value to everyone we serve.

We support agriculture by future proofing the sector through

  • Building agricultural literacy
  • Inspiring pride in the contribution of farmers and rural and regional communities to Australia’s economic wellbeing, our social fabric and the the sector’s commitment to achieving climate positive agriculture
  • Succession planning. Identifying and developing emerging leaders in the sector and leveraging their capacity as role models to attract young people into agriculture

Agricultural literacy revolves around the ability to think critically and make value judgments about the impact of agriculture as an economic and environmental activity and the concurrent societal and political pressures that result from those judgments. An agriculturally literate person should be able to analyse and evaluate “trade-offs” to individuals and to society resulting from agricultural enterprises. The nature of the decisions and value judgments drive the agricultural content. Understanding of agriculture is demonstrated by the ability to enter into conversations about and make decisions in response to choices facing society. Source 


Learn more about the sustainability circle here 

We support the teachers we work with to empower their students to be critical and creative thinkers who are life long learners working together to be engaged and active participants in the communities they live, work and play in

As part of Picture You in Agriculture’s support of schools undertaking The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas in 2020, a series of workshops was rolled out in October for teachers and students.

First cab off the rank was the wonderful Kris Beazley, principal at the Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education -Richmond Agricultural College, who held one day hack-a-thons in design thinking and imagineering.

“The aim of the hack-a-thon was to draw together the students’ prior learnings and understandings about the project parameters, their area of research, understanding of effective communication and project planning. Students developed ideas and concepts through a process of imagineering, clustering, consideration and feedback, and then these tested ideas formed a milestone map and resourcing and task allocation plan for their projects,” Kris says.

Four teams participated in the hack-a-thon, three involved with The Archibull Prize and one with Kreative Koalas. Setting the project tone for their Archies were Stage 4 students from Nepean Creative and Performing Arts who are studying sustainable fashion, Stage 4 students from Granville Boys who are studying water management in the Sydney catchment and Stage 4 and 5 students from the Penrith Valley Learning Centre who are studying land use challenges of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River. Kreative Koala participants were the Stage 3 students from the Penrith Valley Learning Centre who are supporting koalas in the rural fringes of north-west Sydney.

“Our students embarked on an intense day of imagineering and prototyping that was tailored to our Archibull theme, zero textiles waste. Design thinking principles united with structured negotiations, constructive feedback and testing group ideas, and project parameters were rigorously explored, discussed and revisited. The result was a synthesised group production target and achievable project goals. We thank the Archibull Hackathon team for their passion, innovation and interest in the development of our project and our minds.”

Mrs Rowston, Nepean Creative and Performing Arts

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And what does their Archie look like

 

Students enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to their projects and to problem solve as part of a group. When asked what were three things they learned during the day, their responses included:

  • “collaboration – merging ideas – be willing to change and compromise”

  • “how to communicate effectively – listen/respect and use others ideas – easily collaborate”

  • “communication – teamwork – realistic ideas”

Kris believes the hack-a-thons developed a sense of collective commitment to the Archibull and Kreative Koalas projects.

“It is an intense day but also gives every student in the group a voice and the agency to act.”

Meet Penrith Valley Learning Centre’s Archie

 

A great outcome for agriculture supporting our young people to be ready for the jobs of the future

by Action4Agriculture

Partnerships for Gender Equity

At Picture You in Agriculture we are big believers in

“Alone you are smart. Together we are brilliant”

so when Elizabeth Hernandez, Head of External Affairs and Sustainability, Asia Pacific for Corteva reached out and invited us to be a partner with  GrowHer we said YES, YES, YES

And what a perfect example GrowHer is of people and organisations coming together to take Collective Action for Collective Impact

Officially launched on  October 14, we are super proud to have some of our YFC and Corteva emerging leaders profiled with this exciting global initiative.

GrowHer is an online platform designed to inspire, inform and include women in agriculture in the Asia Pacific region.

Growing the Next Stories – This global webseries brings together, in five episodes, testimonials from women from seven countries, including Brazil, the United States, France, Poland, Italy, Kenya, and Indonesia. In each chapter they tell about their relationship to rural production, the difficulties and challenges they face.

It is the brainchild of four agripreneurs and ecosystem players, whose respective organisations have formed the GrowHer steering committee. These influential women are Erin Sweeney from Grow Asia, Elizabeth Hernandez, from Corteva Agriscience Asia Pacific, Jade Dyson, from WOMAG, and Cherrie D. Atilano, CEO of AGREA in the Philippines.

GrowHer’s online launch featured all four women who spoke about their desire to empower women in agriculture. “The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) estimates that if women had the same access to ag inputs, to mechanization, water, finance, land ownership, all of those things that men in agriculture have, they would produce 20-30% more food, and that’s enough to be able to take 150 million out of poverty,” Elizabeth said.

Three other women agripreneurs were also invited to speak at the launch. They were Phyu Hninn Nyein, head of operations for Proximity Designs in Myanmar, Yvonne Foong, founder of Chektec from Singapore, and our very own Lynne Strong.

See Lynne’s GrowHer profile here, read about PYiA’s Corteva emerging leaders here and find out more about females kicking big goals in agriculture on the GrowHer website.

In conjunction with the launch Lynne and three Young Farming Champions – Dione Howard, Emma Ayliffe and Anika Molesworth – sat down for a chat with Elizabeth Hernandez at a WOMAG virtual coffee morning. WOMAG is an organization currently based out of Singapore that connects and develops women across the entire agri-ecosystem with the goal of creating a future pool of leaders.

At PYiA we believe in the enormous power of these partnerships .

“We are thrilled they have identified the Young Farming Champions as a model they’d like to roll out in Asia and we are proud to join this coalition of strong voices. We know that alone we are smart but together we are brilliant, and we look forward to this concept of working together, and amplifying each other’s voices, becoming common practice around the world,” Lynne said.


#CollectiveImpact #CollectiveAction #GenderEquity #SDG5

 

 

 

by Action4Agriculture

R.M.Williams Outback Magazine showing young people Who they Can Be in the world of agriculture.

R.M.Williams – the name is a siren call to regional, rural and remote Australia; the company is grounded in the outback; the man was a legend. Twenty-two years ago R.M.Williams OUTBACK magazine was launched with the aim of showcasing the positive stories of those beyond our city limits. OUTBACK has become a celebration of our people and places and is cherished not only by those living in the bush, but by Australians from all walks of life; a vital and living connection bridging the oft-called urban-rural divide.

The ethos of R.M.Williams OUTBACK mirrors that of Picture You in Agriculture. We identify brilliant young agriculturists, equip them with skills and confidence, and send them into the broader world to share their own positive stories. Through The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas these stories reach thousands of students and teachers, their families and their communities.

PYiA believes in the power of partnerships and of shouting-out to those who share our values so we are proud to announce some stories from R.M.Williams OUTBACK now appear on The Archibull Prize website, where teachers and students can easily access real-life examples of careers and sustainable communities.

One of these stories is about Bald Blair Angus, owned and operated by Sam and Kirsty White. If Kirsty’s name seems familiar it is because she has recently hosted one of our Youth Voices Leadership Team’s Leadership is Language sessions. You see, our stories are interconnected.

Best practice agriculture, role models in agriculture and the diversity and breadth of exciting careers in our sector are celebrated by both PYiA and Australia’s premier magazine, R.M.Williams OUTBACK. Telling stories has never felt so good.