Community festival to highlight emission reduction ideas

A LOCAL environmental conservation organisation is heading up a family friendly event that aims to raise awareness in reducing the community’s emissions towards zero.

The Zero Emissions Ideas Fest and Community Forum with the support of Surf Coast Energy Group will be held on Sunday, August 22, at the Anglesea Memorial Hall, having two parts to the day as the name suggests.

“We are hoping for it to be fun and engaging, but it will also have educational aspects to it,” Zero Emissions Surf Coast (ZESC) member Alicia Crawford Bell said.

“Hearing from speakers, looking at displays and talking to other local groups who are doing things, it will provide for a lot of networking as well.”

In collaboration with the Anglesea Community House as a part of National Science Week, the event will be run by ZESC, a group of residents from Anglesea and Aireys Inlet who were involved with the Surf Coast Shire’s Community Climate Mobiliser Program (CCMP) earlier this year.

To begin the day, ZESC will hold the Community Festival, allowing community groups, businesses and local community members to share ideas, be inspired and celebrate action on climate change, as well as a kids activity area for children.

It will also allow local groups, businesses and schools to set up their own stalls demonstrating what actions have already been taken or are planning to be implemented.

There will also be guest speakers on the day including climate and sustainability officer Sean Keoh from the Surf Coast Shire, and Kitty Walker from Queenscliff Climate Action.

A number of electric vehicles will be on display, with owners and enthusiasts in attendance to inform people of the benefits of electric transport.

The second part of the day will be the “Getting to Zero” Community Forum that will involve 20 to 30 key representatives from community groups, local businesses and interested individuals to begin the process of drafting a Zero Emissions Action Plan for the area.

Ms Crawford Bell and her team pushed to hold this event following the group’s experience with the Surf Coast Shire and the CCMP, highlighting the need for more action at the community level outlined by surveys conducted in the past.

“A lot of people in the Surf Coast Shire say they really care about the environment, and they care about climate change, which means they want to see more action done at the community level,” she said.

The forum itself will have a number of objectives such as establishing a core group of community members committed to an action plan, sharing inspirational stories from individuals and other communities, and collating the ideas gathered from the Ideas Fest earlier in the day.

Member of the Community House Marcelle Renkin noted how happy they were to be hosting this event.
“We are excited to be collaborating with ZESC to celebrate Science Week and bring this family friendly event to the Memorial Hall,” Ms Renkin said.

If there are businesses that feel like they would be able to share their ideas for this event in reducing emissions, you can reach the ZESC team at [email protected].