Environmental Memoirs
STATUS: COMPLETED
Purpose/aim
The Environmental Memoirs Project commenced in February 2006, on an international level to collect a series of memoirs from people living within degrading ecological environments. In 2007 and 2008, this project continued in Spain and in Australia at the local level seeking stories written by Australian school students.
The aim of the project was to promote UNESCO’s Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, by collecting memoirs (personal reflections) on the severity of environmental change and degradation observed in a lifetime. This work highlights the connection between the past and present human action, building cross cultural understanding and awareness.
Stakeholders/partners
A multitude of international organisations and individuals contributed to this project. At the Australian level, the project was supported by the Australian National Commission for UNESCO through the International Relations Grants Program of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with additional support from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Background
This project is officially recognised as a demonstration project of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
Australian primary and secondary students participated in this project by interview a senior member of their community about an environmental issue experienced in their lifetime and then document their findings in the form of a memoir.
Project status
International completed in 2008 with over 40 memoirs collected from 14 countries internationally. Following on from this, the memoir project was actively promoted in Spain in the form of a roaming public display and production of a cd-rom.
Australian component completed in 2008 with over 30 memoirs published.
Who to contact for further information
Kathryn DonnellyNational Centre for Sustainability
Phone: 03 9210 1923
Email: kdonnelly@swin.edu.au
Click here to view the Environmental Memoirs
