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Mentoring local government in education for sustainability

Mentoring Local Government in Education for Sustainability LogoMentoring is increasingly being recognised as a useful tool to support the shift towards learning for sustainability.

ARIES was funded by the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts to undertake a mentoring program with selected local governments across Australia to build their capacity to use education and learning-based strategies for change towards sustainability.

The project was designed to examine whether mentoring and facilitation is an effective method for local governments to:

  • develop understanding and skills in Education for Sustainability
     
  • develop their capacity to use these skills to improve the effectiveness of their own projects
     
  • generate long-term organisational change for sustainability within their councils.
     

The following design features contributed to the success of the project:

  • Local government staff were able to consider how education and learning can assist in the planning and implementation of sustainability policies and programs.
     
  • The project used a mixture of group mentoring seminars and individual council workplace mentoring.
     
  • Workplace action plans were developed.
     
  • Prior support for the project was gained from council management.
     
  • Journals were used as tools for critical reflection.

Download a copy of the full report (PDF <1 MB)).

Online handbook

In addition to improving practice in Education for Sustainability in the participating local governments, the project also developed an online handbook comprising a set of resources for local governments encompassing learning-based strategies for change and community engagement processes.

You can access the online handbook here.

Delgado L, Cerone F and Tilbury D (2007) 'Mentoring Local Government in Education for Sustainability'. A report prepared by the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES) for the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. ISBN: 978 1 74138 246 4

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