Media release 20 November 2017

Education coordinator appointed to support student-led boost of Dunedin Town Belt

An education coordinator has been appointed to support a brand new partnership between schools and community stakeholders that encourages students to lead projects in the Dunedin Town Belt.

Next year Claudia Babirat, education coordinator for the new Dunedin Town Belt Education Initiative, will work with eight schools and early childhood centres, to support their use of the town belt as both an outdoor classroom and a space where students can put their learning into practice.

The Dunedin Town Belt Education Initiative is modeled on the successful ‘Kids Restore the Kepler’ and ‘Kids Greening Taupo’ projects. It is supported by a Strategic Leadership Group that includes representatives from the Dunedin City Council, Department of Conservation, Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou, Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki, Dunedin Amenities Society, Otago Natural History Trust, University of Otago, Chamber of Commerce, Toitu, and role model schools.

Chair of the Strategic Leadership Group, Marian Hobbs, said that Ms Babirat’s role was key to realising the group’s vision, which is that “Dunedin’s young people value and understand the significance of the town belt and its mauri (life force). Contributing now to the biodiversity, historic and cultural values of the town belt they learn to sustain and care for their environment, becoming lifelong community leaders.”

Ms Babirat, who has a lifelong passion for connecting people to nature, is excited about her new role enabling schools to make the Dunedin Town Belt a better place.

“What I love about this initiative is that it puts students in the driver’s seat. Their voice matters, and it’s their vision for the Dunedin Town Belt that everyone will be supporting, ” Ms Babirat said.

She also likes the 21st century approach to learning. “When I went to school a lot of my work was memorising facts and figures. Instead, these students will be working on authentic, real-life conservation, recreation and heritage opportunities that affect the wider community, in a space they care about.”

President of the Dunedin Amenities Society, Paul Pope, who has been part of the Dunedin Town Belt Education Initiative’s two year planning phase, said the Society is excited to finally have the Initiative up and running.

“For over 100 years the Society has believed that the town belt is a unique part of Dunedin. We need to encourage new generations to value and care for it. Young people have an important role to play in the future of our city’s environment and this project will create future leaders in this area.”

“The Society is delighted to have Claudia on-board interacting with schools and promoting the Dunedin Town Belt as an education and recreation space. We’re also pleased to be sharing the programme with other stakeholders,” Mr Pope said.

Ms Babirat hopes that students involved in the initiative will apply their knowledge in their future careers. “By helping make decisions about the health of the Dunedin Town Belt today, students will be better equipped to make decisions about the health of our planet in the future – whether they’ll be working in business, law, urban engineering or even politics.”

A Student Leadership Team has been formed to lead the initiative in 2018, and project planning is underway for the upcoming school year.

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