News for Schools

Murray-Darling Basin Commission Youth Environment Conference 2008

The Murray-Darling Basin Commission Youth Environment Conference was held in Mildura on 8-9 September with schools from across Victoria participating in a hands-on student-centred learning opportunity tackling the major environmental issues.

Day 1 saw kids teaching kids, with schools presenting workshops for students on a variety of subjects including the ‘benefits of worm farms’ to ‘the social, financial, psychological and environmental effects of drought’. Day 2 was the Environmental Projects day, where kids had the opportunity to put their passion and learning into action.

Michelle Doherty, Education Officer at Dandenong Ranges National Park ran an interpretive activity with kids developing messages to encourage visitors to care for Kings Billabong. Brendan Rodgers and Finn Taylor challenged kids to come up with creative solutions to camping issues that rangers often face in the Murray region with their ‘Happy Camping Challenge’.

The conference was a great success and concluded with a reflection session where students shared all that they had learnt at the conference. At least one student felt that, after experiencing the passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of the attendees, the future of the environment would be safe in the hands of the kids who had attended the conference.