WORDS Michael McVeigh

Caring for the environment is about changing the way we see ourselves in relation to the world around us.

It was an 18-month journey around Australia as a young teenager that opened Catholic Earthcare Director Jacqui Remond’s eyes to the uniqueness and fragility of the country’s natural landscape.

‘I think that experience made me realise how beautiful and how different our environment in the country is, from the northern rainforests in Queensland to the red centre’, she says.

From that time onward, she has had a passion for learning about the environment and finding ways to live sustainably within it. It’s a calling that has seen her graduate from Melbourne University with a Bachelor of Education in Science, then lecture in Environmental Science at Notre Dame University in Broome. As well as teaching, she has been involved in advocacy efforts through the Northern Australia Environment Alliance, and undertaking training under Al Gore to become a ‘climate change leader’.

Although she had worked with Catholic Earthcare before, she says she was surprised when Bishop Christopher Toohey called her in 2007 to offer her the director’s role.

‘I asked Bishop Toohey about it and he said they really wanted a young mother to lead this agency’, Jacqui says. ‘I certainly feel called to work in this role because it combines my passion for our beautiful earth, as well as my professional work in environmental education.’

The starting point for her at Catholic Earthcare was the On Holy Ground publication, which was distributed to all Catholic schools in NSW and Queensland. The document outlines the ecological vision for Catholic schools, and provides direction on becoming more sustainable.

However, Jacqui says in many schools and parishes the sustainability programs are championed by specific individuals, and often fall away if that person leaves or burns out. ASSISI (see breakout box) is a sustainability initiative that aims to ensure environmental awareness and action are part of the culture of every school.

Catholic Earthcare is currently piloting the program in 18 schools in NSW, as well as with principals in the Cairns Diocese. They are also running pilot programs with the Franciscan religious order, as well as St John of God Health Care.
John McGrath, Head of Mission Services, Catholic Schools Office Broken Bay, says Catholic Earthcare conducted an ASSISI day with priests and principals in November last year. They have also begun sustainability education in the office itself.

‘The schools seem to be the place in the Church where a lot of the people are really good advocates for sustainability’, he says. ‘They’re not doing it because it’s the flavour of the month, they’re also appreciating the religious dimension, the care for God’s creation.’

The schools piloting the program are working alongside their local parishes. This means the whole community gets involved.

‘The beauty of bringing the parishes together with the schools is that the students have a wonderful energy. When the parishioners come to see the passion that the students have, it’s very invigorating for the parish’, she says.

‘Also, I think parishioners who have lived through the Depression, and times when they’ve needed to be careful about resources, have got stories and wisdom and experiences they can share with young students. So there’s a real sense of connection that can then happen.’

Jacqui says that it’s only by building a stronger sense of community that we can implement successful sustainability initiatives.

‘A lot of people think about environment as being a physical space that’s out there, but I’m always reminding people that it’s about living relationships. It’s about how we sustain ourselves, and how we’re sustained by our world’, she says.

ASSISI

Although the acronym calls to mind the Church’s patron saint of the environment, ASSISI stands for ‘A Strategic Systems-Based Integrated Sustainability Initiative’. It provides a framework for schools and other Catholic organisations to become aware of their environmental impact, and take steps to change the way they operate to become more sustainable.

There are five main components:

1. Involving the leaders of the organisation to ensure the whole school is behind the process.

2. Measuring the ecological footprint of the organisation, using the Energy and Carbon Intelligence System (ECIS) Environment Audit Tool.

3. Running workshops to engage the community in sustainability. Six modules have been developed, titled Awakening, Discovering, Transforming, Sustaining, Celebrating and Leading.

4. For schools, there is a ‘passion building’ program encouraging students to engage with the broader community. The program involves art, song, photography and letter-writing competitions.

5. An immersion or ‘ecological conversion’ program is also being developed.

For more, go to http://www.catholicearthcare.org.au/assisi.html