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Landscapes and catchments

Landscapes and catchments

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 THIRTY YEARS’ EXPERIENCE OF LANDSCAPE AND CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT WITHIN S.E. QUEENSLAND. GUEST: Mary-Lou Gittins, OAM. Educator and irrigator from Goomburra Valley in the Upper Condamine catchment of S.E. Queensland. Mary-Lou has a strong background in community participation and representation. Over thirty years she has represented Agriculture, Landcare and Natural Resource Management groups at a local, regional, state and commonwealth level. In that time she has helped plant thousands of trees and facilitated Waterwatch and Landcare education for children and adults. Mary-Lou’s current roles include Secretary to the Condamine Catchment Management Association, she is Chair of Queensland Water and Land Carers and secretary to the Australia Citizen Science Association. INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE We have heard from other guests in this series about the central importance of the Landcare initiative in protecting and enhancing the landscapes of S.E. Queensland over many decades. The volunteer facilitated, collaborative, cross-sectoral environment support model which Landcare helped develop is also present within Australian community catchment management initiatives, and together these two approaches to caring for the natural world have formed a cornerstone of the effective public involvement to improve environmental quality in Queensland, and the rest of Australia. My guest in this episode, Mary-Lou Gittins, OAM, has a detailed experience of the workings of both Landcare and community catchment management in this part of Queensland, gained through thirty years of on the ground work at various administrative levels. In our discussion, Mary-Lou taps into her extensive history of environmental protection work across landscape and catchment to offer our audience insights into the trends she has observed over the decades, what the future may hold in store for necessary work going forward in these sectors, and advice for listeners who might wish to enter some of the roles she has pursued with such determination over the years. INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS - with approximate time elapsed in mins. Guest foreshadow comment - 0.00Generic podcast series introduction. – 0.30Guest introduction and how did your passion for the environment start? – 3.31Who inspired or mentored you in your work? - 7.08How did you get involved with environmental conservation to begin with? – 10.59 (reflection on major trends across 30 years of experience) - 12.57When did you first realise the impact of your work in restoring the environment? – 17.30 Are there any environmental achievements you are particularly proud of and why?–21.32What are some of the challenges you have faced and how did you respond ? – 28.48How has your work influenced you to keep doing what you do? – 32.48Are you working on any current, exciting projects? – 35.30Guest takeaway message and advice for next steps in environmental protection. – 38.40Thanks to guest, acknowledgements and episode close. – 42.04End of episode – 46.38 IDEAS MENTIONED AND RESOURCES RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION Caring for Country initiatives – a recent indigenous Australian framing of some issues (2022) Emotional intelligence - An Australian training perspective on its value in leadership and project management roles (2022). And a collection of articles on other diverse applications of emotional intelligence (2023) Environmental education online resources sites Cool Australia – online environmental education initiative Junior Landcare Learning Centre https://juniorlandcare.org.au/learningcentre/ Greening Australia Aboriginal Landcare Education Program https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/projects/alep/ Queensland Government list of Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-educators/other-education/OEEC Queensland Government - Queensland Sustainable Schools Initiative (QESSI) https://www.sustainableschools.qld.edu.au/Default.aspx?tabid=574 The Eco-Schools global sustainable schools program – Australian links. https://eco-schools.org.au/ Australian Association of Environmental Education - peak professional body for environmental educators https://www.aaee.org.au/ Landcare Landcare generic information on the initiative in Australia. Landcare educational resources – a link on the national Landcare website Landcare and catchment care in the Darling Downs region of S.E. Queensland The Darling Downs region of S.E. Queensland – basic information on location, history and economy. Some groups mentioned with interest in the Darling Downs/ S.E. Queensland regions: Brisbane Valley - Kilcoy Landcare Association Inc. – portal website (2023) Condamine Catchment Management Association Inc. – Facebook site (2023) Queensland Water and Land Carers – portal website (2023) Nature connectedness and the value of childhood exposure to nature Information on Nature Connectedness from one of the leading ...

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.