The Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute (CUSP) will host two free workshops for Western Australian schools seeking guidance on how to reduce their carbon footprint.
The workshops form part of a joint research project funded by CUSP, the City of Fremantle and the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Low Carbon Living. They are open to teachers, staff, P&C members and other interested school stakeholders.
CUSP researcher, Dr Vanessa Rauland said workshop participants would receive free advice and assistance about what carbon neutral means, how they could start to measure and reduce their carbon footprint and implement sustainability initiatives.
“The workshops will also discuss the barriers facing schools trying to reduce their carbon footprint as well as share what schools have achieved to date.”
The Low Carbon Schools Project will map what programs currently exist and how they could potentially fit together. The study will identify some of the key issues, challenges and problems facing schools trying to reduce emissions and embed sustainability into their everyday operations.
It will also examine what additional processes, resources and assistance schools need to help them actively and successfully measure, monitor and reduce their carbon footprint on an ongoing basis.
“A preliminary analysis of school sustainability and carbon-related programs, initiatives and tools, at both the national and international level, highlighted that various programs currently exist to assist schools in reducing their environmental footprint. However, few focus specifically on carbon.
“Many schools are eager to implement environmental and sustainability initiatives but there appears to be a lack of integration and understanding about how they should calculate their progress or document their carbon reduction. This may be a reason for the slow uptake of the existing tools for measuring and monitoring emissions,” Dr Rauland said.
The workshops will be held at the City of Fremantle Town Hall Centre at 8 William Street, Fremantle on Wednesday 30 July (4pm to 6.30pm) and Friday 1 August (9am to 12pm).
Registration can be completed online:
30 July 2014 and 1 August 2014
Interested parties who are unable to attend either of the workshops can participate via an online survey.
