Event invites community to come out and about

THE community has been invited to come out and about in Torquay next week and make a deeper connection with the natural environment.

The Public Out and About Day, to be held at Fishermans Beach, is an extension of the Out and About research project – a collaboration between Torquay’s St Therese Catholic Primary School, Clare Court Children’s Service in Melbourne, and Victoria University.

In response to the deteriorating state of the environment and the lack of relationship between people and the planet, the Out and About project supports children, educators, families, and the community to build deep relationships with environment, plants, and animals.

These relationships are the way to rethink our actions and how to engage as custodians of the land and places where we live.

Next week’s event will begin with an education session with Wadawurrung educator Corrina Eccles.

Other activities include “Walking with Place” sessions led by local educators, “Engaging with Place” through stories and activities with Victoria University pre-service teachers, “Biodiversity with Place” led by Possum Pete (the Great Ocean Road Coastal Committee’s education leader), and “Meditating with Place” with local psychologist, author and poet Richy Bennett.

In the Out and About project, educators and children from St Therese and Clare Court visit the same site each week or fortnight to spend time thinking and engaging with the place.

A critical part of this work is understanding the history of each place and the Indigenous custodians of each place they visit.

Walking with the place and finding what calls the children and educators into connection with the place is the main practice of the work, and contributes to the many different relationships the children and educators develop with the local community.

The Public Out and About Day will be held at Fishermans Beach, Torquay, on Sunday, September 16 from 1-4pm.