Looking in the mirror – reflecting on the 2020 Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas

Under the leadership of Action4 Agriculture (A4A) and our funding and strategic partners our school programs deliver solutions that will benefit farmers, consumers and the planet for generations to come

2020 was a year of change and challenge for everyone. It was a year when we had to re-examine our expectations, be flexible in the way we approached work and find new ways of doing everyday things. A4A  was not immune to these challenges. Just as we were launching a new community engagement model for The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas schools were scrambling to take teaching online.

Asking them to take on our deep-dive, time-demanding, action learning programs and engage with diverse groups of people beyond the classroom seemed an impossible task.

Yet, rise to the task they did and it became abundantly clear to us that spreading the good word about Australian agriculture is not about one-day workshops or employer-sponsored conferences, but is dependent on the strong relationships we forge over the longer term.

The judges decisions are in and the evaluation report has been written.

It is clear when societies around the world were straining under the pressure young Australians were designing a future that will benefit farmers, consumers, and the planet for generations to come

 

As the evaluation report noted their was:

and

 

Why is all this significant?


 

Agriculture is a sector that attracts substantial public attention. It is pivotal that the sector and everyone working in the sector can build and maintain relationships with a range of people, who often have diverse interests in what the sector does.

The building and maintaining of community relationships is crucial for the long-term future of food security. To deliver solutions that benefit the farmer, the consumer, and the planet for generations to come it is pivotal the agriculture sector takes collective action to create and deliver community engagement opportunities that encourage mutual trust and respect.

How to does A4A build community?

Building deep and lasting relationships between consumers and producers is at the heart of everything we do at Action4Agriculture (A4A). A4A aims to promote a positive image of Australian agriculture, encourage the uptake of agricultural careers and foster two -way conversations within the community.

To facilitate this A4A identifies and trains emerging leaders (Young Farming Champions) in the agriculture sector to deliver our in school programs, The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas.

A key strength of our in school programs is encouraging schools to identify and connect with trusted expertise in their local communities.

 

Our Archibull and Kreative Koalas schools, too, came to value these partnerships and everywhere we turned we found examples of students, teachers, community, government and industry working together for a common goal of promoting prosperity while protecting the planet.

This collective action for collective impact model creates a community of people with collective intelligence.

It requires visionaries and champions within those organisations who are willing to experiment to find the most effective models.

In this post we are introducing you to some of the visionaries and champions who are supporting agriculture to build lifelong community relationships.

Local Land Services is a NSW Government land management agency delivering quality services to rural and regional landholders. Their visions and ethics align with those of PYiA and over the years we have formed a formidable partnership. In 2020 staff from LLS offices across the state worked closely with our Kreative Koalas schools.

Hunter LLS school engagement Officer Jane Lloyd-Jones was on the front line of this partnership. Building on her successful partnership with Medowie Christian School in 2019 Jane worked with Dungog Public School to raise awareness of the endangered red goshawk, and with St Brigid’s Primary School who adopted the endangered Hunter River Turtle as their mascot (and donated $300 to the Australian Reptile Park to aid its preservation). Exeter Public School and Chevalier College also benefited from visits from LLS representatives.

Pauline Dunne and Freddy Herrera from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) worked alongside Jane and the LLS, delivering presentations into schools in the Hunter to talk about biodiversity and conservation. Pauline recognised the value of this collaboration with LLS:

“Jane’s role as the Local Land Services schools education officer makes the process seamless for all of us. She was able to coordinate all the relationships between the educators and the Hunter Local Land Services and DPIE and Aussie Ark and there was a combined willingness to share networks and contacts.”

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Hunter LLS and the DPIE was also invaluable in providing funding to support workshops designed specifically to meet the needs of teachers and students participating in both The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas. These workshops were facilitated by a dynamic group of leaders including Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education principal Kris Beasley, changeologist Les Robinson, science communicator Jenni Metcalfe, 21st century learning expert Josh Farr and John Holloway from the Murray Darling Basin Authority Education team.

NGOs can also play a pivotal role in raising awareness about the pivotal role farmers play in nourishing our country. OzHarvest’s FEAST, a food education program for primary students, married perfectly with Kreative Koalas and several schools chose to complete both in 2020. Annangrove Public School studied SGG 2: Zero Hunger with Kreative Koalas using their re-invigorated school garden and lessons learnt in FEAST to support the local Windsor Community Kitchen.

“We donate eggs and vegetables every fortnight to Windsor Community Kitchen and have decided that we will sponsor Windsor Community Kitchen and donate money to help them pay their rent, as well as donate food.”

Other schools participating in FEAST in conjunction with Kreative Koalas were Medowie Christian School, Primbee Public School and St Brigid’s St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School with the community being a major beneficiary of student fundraising and food growing efforts.

Indigenous influences were prominent in The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas. The Australian curriculum encourages teachers to create a culture where indigenous stories and language are fostered. More and more teachers are seeing Kreative Koalas and The Archibull Prize as ideal vehicles to foster indigenous knowledge. Many schools invited local Elders to present to students, indigenous designs were incorporated on artworks (such as the stunning rainbow serpent from Raymond Terrace Public School) and both cows and koalas supported names in local indigenous language.

“We used iridescent rainbow tiles with organic shapes to piece together a large Rainbow Serpent, to circle the design. We used no paint and created a design which literally reflects (due to the mirrored tiles) our ideas and exploration of Aboriginal stylised design and bushfire theme. Our koala will form the centrepiece of our new Aboriginal cultural garden at Raymond Terrace Public School.”

Calling on the knowledge of local heroes such as Indigenous Elders was a key part of relationships built during 2020. NSW Southern Highland schools Exeter Public and Chevalier College, who had been impacted by the 2019/2020 summer bushfires, connected with local fire brigades and used Kreative Koalas and The Archibull Prize as healing mechanisms.

“This writing [on their koala] allowed the children to express their feelings and emotions about the bushfires as it affected them and then focus on the positive aspect of the bush coming back alive. Kreative Koalas certainly has been a wonderfully informative and healing project to be a part of.”

In Kreative Koalas St Joseph’s School at Grenfell tapped into a wealth of local knowledge as they studied water sustainability. Weddin Landcare officer Melanie Cooper, John Holloway from the Murray Darling Basin Authority, Sally Russell from Lake Cowal Conservation Centre and “our local plumber” from Conron Stockrete all supported the students in their learning journey.

Similarly, in The Archibull Prize Innisfail State College in north Queensland, studying the health of their local catchment, called on a range of local experts. These included Innisfail Elder Alf Joyce (Uncle Alf), banana farmer Mark Nucifora, the Cassowary Coast Regional Council, Elders Innisfail and extension offices from Canegrowers.

“As an artwork, the Archibull has allowed students to engage with their region and the real-world issues they face within their futures. It has been an incredibly positive experience for all the students involved from the incursions and presentation sessions. More importantly, the painting of the cow has been a great experience for the students to connect, be creative together, communicate their ideas and support each other throughout this creative process. They have loved it and are very proud of their efforts.”

Looking back at the achievements of our 2020 Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas schools it is easy to forget that all their projects were constructed under the duress of a global pandemic. When societies around the world were straining under the pressure our young people were looking forward to the future. They were investigating, and actioning, United Nations Development Goals, using A4A programs to heal, researching new ways to sustainably and regeneratively farm and, most importantly, making connections and forming relationships that will guide them into the bright future they deserve. Even in a pandemic we can take inspiration from our youth.

With “flexibility” being our key word for the beginning of the new decade thanks to our 2020 partners, teachers and students we are better placed for the challenge that will, no doubt, come in 2021.

Meet the 2020 Archibull Prize artworks 

 

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Meet the 2020 Kreative Koalas artworks 

 

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#KreativeKoalaKids #ArchieAction2020 #Changemakers #GlobalGoals

 

 

Changing the world might be easier than you think. The secrets to success

 

At Action4Agriculture ( formerly Picture you in Agriculture ) we see our programs as vehicles to provide opportunities for people and organisations to come together to give young people agency and voice and empower them to be changemakers.

Our role models are emerging leaders in the agriculture sector. We identify, train and develop them to be confident communicators and trusted voices.  We provide them with opportunities to multiply their impact by working with young people in schools and the community. We call them Young Farming Champions. They represent the diversity of people who work in the agriculture sector.

Their hands on journey begins by facilitating our school programs The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas 

Our schools and our Young Farming Champions have taken on the big hairy goals – the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or the SDGs for short

We are working with our schools to tackle the SDG targets Australia most needs to meet

 

We have all heard people say if changing the world was easy we would all be doing it. What we have found it is easy if WE believe it is and WE surround ourselves with enough people who share the vision and are committed to taking action and DO.

There is a formula.

  • Identify the outcome you want to achieve
  • Identify what success looks like
  • Start with a big idea – keep it as simple as possible
  • Identify the actors
  • Identify the actions the actors need to take
  • Identify the expertise you need to outsource
  • Identify the GO TO Person to access the experts
  • Design and Deliver your ACTION PLAN
  • Monitor, Evaluate, Report and Inform

We suggest you start with a basic understanding of psychology.

What makes people tick

 

and the theory of change 

Australia’s Guru of Changeology, Les Robinson, keeps it simple for us

You need to be prepared to experiment, collect data, report on that data and share it with others

Most importantly you need people who genuinely care and understand that it takes a village.

We are identifying people who really care and have the expertise to support our schools and Young Farming Champions.

We are big fans of the Collective Action for Collective Impact model

In 2020 we paired with OzHarvest FEAST to tackle Zero Hunger, Responsible Production and Consumption and Climate Change.

We partnered with Corteva Agriscience to build a library of resources for teachers and students

We partnered with Australian Wool Innovation. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Local Land Services and Corteva Agriscience to identify, train and develop young agriculturalists

We partnered with  Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education, Changeologist Les Robinson, Science Communicator Jenni Metcalfe, 21st Century Learning Expert Josh Farr and John Holloway and the Murray Darling Basin Authority Education team to  deliver professional development workshops for teachers and students. These workshops were funded by NSW Local Land Services and NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment

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We partnered with the Geography Teachers Association of NSW and ACT to deliver professional development workshops to teachers

Over the next week we are very excited to share with you a series of blogs that showcase the changemakers we have worked with in our Kreative Koalas schools. All of the students and teachers we work with are committed to leaving a legacy  we can all be proud of.

We can all be changemakers, we just need to care enough and surround ourselves with people who care as much as we do.

 

Sneak Peek you can check out the #KreativeKoalaKids artworks here

#ConnectCollaborateCommunicate #EngageEmpower #CollectiveAction #CollectiveImpact

 

Celebrating Partnerships with Jane Lloyd-Jones from Hunter Local Land Services

At Picture You in Agriculture we identify emerging leaders in the agriculture sector who want to share their story and pride in the sector they have chosen for their career journey far and wide.

We provide them access to a cohort of experts who give them  communication and presentation skills training and consumer insights

The key to all training success is applying what you learn.  What a powerful experience it is for them to facilitate our  inschool programs The  Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas that have collectively reached 400 schools and 300,000 students in the last 10 years.

This innovative and impactful program model also surrounds them and the teachers and students with intergenerational community expertise

During the last few years (and continuing during 2020’s challenging times) the Kreative Koalas program has been blessed to work with organisations who support each other and the people we work with to be part of life changing opportunities for their communities. An organisation that shares this ethos is Hunter Local Land Services and driving our partnerhsip with them and the Kreative Koalas schools is school engagement officer Jane Lloyd-Jones. Jane has made many visits to schools, coordinated excursions and starred in videos and today we sit down to discover how Jane came into this role.

Jane Lloyd Jones with students at Kreative Koalas Awards

“My appreciation for the environment started at a young age when I spent many weekends going for walks through the local bushland with my family. This love for the environment led me to complete a Bachelor of Science majoring in Resource and Environmental Management at Macquarie University.”  Jane says.

Upon graduating Jane went to work with Sydney Water where she was involved with the preparation of Reviews of Environmental Factors and Environmental Impact Statements. It was also where she got her first taste for working with schools when she developed presentations for young students about saving water.

“This was really my favourite part of my role, as I was out in the community interacting with school students and I really felt like I was making a difference,” she says.

With a fire for working with young people and the community lit, Jane moved onto Gosford Council. In this role she was responsible for the writing and implementation of the Stormwater Quality Management Plan.

“Implementation of this plan included many very successful community education and engagement programs, including starting up the Waterwatch program in the Gosford area,” she says.

Jane continued to build and consolidate her experience in community engagement when she worked as Coastcare Facilitator for the Mid North Region, assisting local groups to gain grant funding for coastal environmental rehabilitation projects. Then is was time to start a family.

At PYiA we realise and value the importance of finding a work-life balance. It is not all about career but being able to be flexible in our professional lives. As YFC Bessie Thomas once told us: “I can have it all but I might not be able to have it all at the same time!” So, Jane took a break to raise her children and when the time was right she returned to the career pathway she had cultivated.

“I decided to return to work and I started the part time role of Waterwatch assistant at the Hunter Central Rivers CMA,” she says. “This role has developed and broadened over the years, particularly when the CMA became LLS and our business outcomes broadened.

As school engagement officer, I really enjoy interacting with and helping school students to learn in a fun, engaging way.  I enjoy the close working relationship I have with a number of our partners, including local and state government, Landcare and not for profit organisations such as Picture You in Agriculture.”

In 2019 Jane and Hunter Local Land Services worked closely with Medowie Christian School in Kreative Koalas to develop a project around clean water and sanitation. This led the school to being named Grand Champion Community Project for Change. Catch a video of Jane and Medowie teacher Martha Atkins here.

It is partnerships like this that make PYiA’s in-school programs so successful and ensures that vital community good messages are shared far and wide

We  look forward to many more years working with Jane and Hunter Local Land Services to build resilient communities in productive and healthy landscapes..

 

 

 

Shining the spotlight on – Raymond Terrace Public School

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Kreative Koalas – Design a Bright Future launch at Tocal College in the Hunter

At Picture You in Agriculture we are big fans of the Charles Darwin quote

“In the long history of humankind those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”

We believe the key to success is collaboration, building communities of practice of organisations and people who share our vision, where we can engage with others, learn from others, share others success and amplify their voices. Collaboration TXT

In 2019 we will be Shining the Spotlight on our collaborating partners in education.

Leading the charge is Raymond Terrace Public School

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After joining the Picture You in Agriculture family in 2018 through their participation in The Archibull Prize, Raymond Terrace Public School is back.

In 2019 they will be part of the Kreative Koalas experience as they delve into culture and koalas around Port Stephens.

Teacher Bernadette van de Wijgaart will be leading 30 students from the Aboriginal Girls Group (Stages 2 and 3) in the program and is looking forward to once again diving deep into project-based learning.

“As a creative teacher with a visual arts background, I seek opportunities to involve our students in projects which I know will allow them to grow academically but also provide them with skill sets which will assist them in future years and employment. Working collaboratively and investigating issues before developing creative platforms to deliver outcomes is hugely important for our students. The Kreative Koalas project offers the ideal project-based learning platform for our students to develop these strengths.”  Bernadette says.

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Students from Raymond Terrace Public School at Hunter Launch of Kreative Koalas

Raymond Terrace Public School has 400 students, many who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and the school has developed cultural groups and programs to meet the needs of these students and their families.

“Port Stephens is the traditional home of the Worimi People. We have strong connections with local elders and the external learning facility known as Murrook Cultural Centre and we were seeking to develop a creative project whose direction/development can be specifically governed by our Aboriginal Girls Group, under the guidance of ‘Aunty Frankie’ and our Aboriginal team.” Bernadette says.

The Kreative Koala project fulfils the needs of this group by allowing them to respond to the sustainable management of the Worimi lands (particularly the expansive coastal stretch of Buribi Beach – Port Stephens, which is under the ownership/management of the Worimi People). Our Aboriginal students are developing their understanding of the relationship, history and custodianship they inherit of their lands and the responsibility to protect and manage the environment.”

As well as connecting to their cultural background students are looking forward to investigating the decline of the koala population in what was once known as the New South Wales koala capital.

 

“Through this program our students will increase their knowledge of the effects that urban changes have had on the natural environment and investigate sustainable outcomes, and they will also make a statement piece to communicate the situation they are inheriting.” Bernadette says.

Raymond Terrace Public School understands the benefits of participating in high-calibre programs such as The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas – external partnerships, life-long learnings, skill sets for the future – and as Bernadette says:

“Knowing that it is supported by Lynne Strong and her team…we simply MUST be a part of this initiative!”

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Mega shoutout to our Kreative Koalas supporting partners Hunter Local Land Services and Holcim Australia – we couldn’t do it without you