Lincoln students showcase strong Aboriginal tradition of sustainability

Five students from Port Lincoln Primary School were among a group of 30 Aboriginal students from across the state to take part in SA Water’s Sustainability Challenge educational workshop during National Reconciliation Week.

SA Water’s Business Strategy Lead, and proud Mirning woman Trish Larking who also grew up in Port Lincoln, guided Aboriginal students from 10 different metropolitan and regional schools through Sustainability Challenge over two consecutive days, as part of the STEM Aboriginal Student Congress at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Using a workshop format, the students in grades five to eleven explored sustainability in line with the Australian curriculum and the congress’ theme of Living Two Worlds.

“Students learned about sustainability principles before putting their knowledge into action to build their own model town,” said Trish.

Using specially-designed 3-D maps of a land area, students turned into town planners, designing their towns to be environmentally, socially and financially sustainable, and building water and wastewater infrastructure for their communities.

“The interactive learning format lets the students give voice to their Aboriginal heritage and its strong tradition in environmental management,” said Trish.

“Aboriginal people have been living sustainability on Country for tens of thousands of years, demonstrating traditional knowledge of land and protecting and maintaining sites of significance likes water ways, ensuring they are available or future generations – in our words, we call it Caring for Country.

“We’re teaming knowledge from yesterday, with modern science to show how we can work together to create a more sustainable future.”

Helping Trish support the students were Candice Nayda, Katelyn Launer, Shae-Lee Sutton, Ebony Newchurch, Claire Jarvis and Holly Aldenhoven, six Aboriginal employees from SA Water, who shared their own experiences with the kids, encouraging them to keep asking questions.

“The special part of being involved in these sorts of activities, is being able to showcase our Aboriginal employees as positive role models for the younger generation,” said Trish.

SA Water’s RAP sets out how the organisation will work to achieve its aims for Reconciliation over the next three years and supporting communities in new ways, such as through education, is part of this approach.

“The Sustainability Challenge was wonderful, not just because we were able to provide a great learning experience for Aboriginal students, it also provided an opportunity for our Aboriginal employees to mentor the next generation,” said Trish.

“It reminds us they look to us to learn from our experiences and find motivation as they forge their own path, highlighting the potential they can realise.”

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