Beach art for climate action

MORE than 30 families gathered in Ocean Grove on Sunday to craft sandy masterpieces along the beach and encourage conversations about protecting the environment.

The family-friendly sand sculpting competition was the second to be hosted by the Bellarine chapter of climate advocacy organisation Parents for Climate, and saw creations inspired by the theme “Protect What You Love” fill the township’s main beach.

Despite windy conditions, the smiles and laughter of the families participating caught the attention of several passers-by who stopped to soak up some of the excitement for themselves.

Ian Zulic, whose impressive sand sculptures will be familiar to those who frequent Barwon Heads, also joined in on the action, suppling his fellow sculptors with tips and crafting his own marine homage.

Event co-organiser Laura Billings said the day was filled with creativity, teamwork and meaningful, intergenerational conversations about protecting this beautiful part of the world.

“Huge kudos that all the families that persevered in a bit of wind and had an absolute ball,” she said.

“It was a beautiful community event, which was our number one goal.

“Attending these events just reminds you of what an amazing community we live in, and we’re really excited about making this an annual event, and we hope we can get even more families down next year joining the fun.”

Ms Billings said, with the federal election fast approaching, Parents for Climate were calling for healthy, affordable energy to be made available to all families, a message which formed part of the motivation for Sunday’s event.

“We don’t want to see any families left behind in the transition, and we know that renewables are reducing a lot of family’s bills and we’re in a cost-of-living crisis,” she said.

“We want to see what the government’s going to do in terms of policies to make that more of a reality for all families.”