March 2026 Newsletter - Don't miss out on a big 20 % World Environmental Education Congress member discount!

 

Welcome to Autumn 2026 

Dear Environmental Educators

Welcome to the March 2026 edition of the Australian Association for Environmental Education ACT branch newsletter. 

Coming up in Autumn: 

• AJEE Special Issue online launch event - Beyond the Metacrisis: Educating for the World to Come, Monday 23 March 2026, Online 12 - 1.30pm (AEDT).  The event is hosted by AJEE and the Special Issue Guest Editors Ruth Irwin (Independent Academic) and Sandra Wooltorton (The University of Notre Dame AU). Identifying the interconnected problems means we can do something about it. (Register here)

• Black Mountain Tour for environmental educators, with Tyronne Bell and AAEE - 11 April 1-3pm (tickets opening soon, $50 pp or members $25, ie 50% discount for members - renew or join here). There are so many wonderful educators providing glorious educational and relaxing walks and talks in Canberra - looking at you Wildbark! - there is truly something for all ages and interests, check some out this Autumn!

• AAEE Learning Circle: Story Ways. Environmental Storytelling for Educators, Thu, 16 Apr, 4:30pm - 5:30pm AEST (Register here - free for members). In this special Learning Circle join storyteller Anna Jarrett for an exploration of environmental storytelling as a powerful teaching tool and a way to connect people and nature. ‘Story Ways’ is a toolkit that introduces the foundations of working with oral storytelling.

• ACT Early Childhood Climate Strategy workshop (date TBA, presented by Gabby Millgate - Nature Pedagogy Leader Woden Valley Early Learning Centre, President, AAEE ACT

• Input an environmental education perspective into ACT's new Nature Conservation Strategy https://yoursayconversations.act.gov.au/nature-conservation-strategy-2025 (date TBA, Consultation closes 27 March)

• Get your tickets to the World Environmental Education Congress in Perth in September 2026  - at a 20% discount for members, renew or join here)

May 2025 Newsletter - Don't miss 'Country as Teacher' Learning Circle

Welcome to Autumn 2025 with so many environmental

events to celebrate.

Dear Environmental Educators

Welcome to the May edition of the Australian Association for Environmental Education ACT branch newsletter

As Term 2 begins and Canberra wraps us in cool nights and vibrant autumn colours, it's a perfect time to reconnect with nature and reflect on the links between our environment and key global events including 

• Compost week (5011 May)
• World Bee Day (20th May)
• International Day for Biological Diversity (22 May) 

We encourage you to engage in these events- both locally and globally - to inspire meaningful learning experiences and deepen our collective connection with the natural world. 

May Learning Circle (online) 

13th May 2025 5-6.30pm AEST/3-4.30pm AWST 

Reinvigorating Country as Teacher in Outdoor and Environmental Education 

Join Monty Nixon, PhD student at the University of Canberra and member of the AAEE ACT Chapter Executive Committee. 

More details here. 

‘All we are is a story, and a good story is one of obligation and connection’ – Damu Paul Gordon.

For over 60,000 years, Indigenous people in Australia lived a good story, one bound in relational reciprocity. At the heart of this story, for many Indigenous cultures across Australia, was the knowledge that Country is and always was the central knowledge holder. Subsequently Australia’s first Outdoor and Environmental Education was primarily about young people sharing direct experiences with, and learning from Country and Earth-Kin, largely facilitated by their grandparents and grounded in cross-kinship systems. In this workshop participants will be invited to reflect on the current socio-ecological narrative and how education might open-up new possibilities by taking lead from from Australia’s first environmental educators. To this end, this workshop introduces Country as Teacher, as a pedagogy for Country-and-student led-inquiry, a teaching and learning approach that maintained socio-ecological well-being for millennia. We will explore the foundational understanding of a modern approach to Country as Teacher, based on Senior Custodian for Karulkiyalu Country Damu Paul Gordon’s re-interpretation of this old way of teaching and learning, the 6Ls. As Milroy and Milroy (2010) write the birthright of all children to connect with and learn from Country, coming to know, love, and understand how to care for her through relational reciprocity. Subsequently, this workshop invites participants to consider the pedagogic opportunities to honour this old way of teaching and learning and, in doing so, to help us all live our birthright, a good story of connection and obligation.

Please join Monty Nixon to hear more about this project.

AAEE ACT 2024 Award celebration andAGM

Karon Campbell 2024 AAEE ACT and Julie Armstrong AAEE ACT President

Indigenous Plant Use walk at the Australian National Botanic Gardens

A huge thank you to Monty Nixon and Viv Pearce—Education Rangers at the Australian National Botanic Gardens and Executive Members of AAEE ACT—for leading a truly inspiring ANBG school’s program-Indigenous Plant Use on a beautiful Thursday afternoon. Monty began with a heartfelt Acknowledgement of Country, speaking not only to the importance of honouring the Traditional Custodians and caretakers of the land, but also to the deep, personal connection we feel to the places we love. Educators appreciated the hard work, as they ground wattle seeds, to produce a very small quantity of flour! Their spirits were uplifted as they smelt mint bush and lemon myrtle leaves which traditionally had many uses. As we gathered near the Rock Pool waterfall, a large water dragon lingered close by—almost as if it, too, was listening in. We passed around a beautifully crafted twined basket used for catching fish, connecting us to traditional practices and stories of the land. A quietness fell on the group as we listened and learned from Country traversing the dark and green rainforest. Thank you to everyone who joined us and shared their reflections—particularly around the Queensland bottle tree and the significance of tree hollows. We hope this experience inspires you to return with your school groups and explore the richness of this program with your students. Welcome also the new faces joining us for the first time at AAEE event..