Why I Love My New Jobs and How I Might Be Able To Help You

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge in the past six months which I’m not going to dwell on because I’m excited to share with you that I have two new part time jobs which I love! I’m just starting to get to that point where the newbie jitters are fading and I can start sinking my teeth into my roles. The people I’m working with in both teams are truly fantastic people who know their stuff and are passionate about what they do. And they’re kind. I really feel like I’m in the right place with the right people for this point in my life. So what am doing?

On Mondays and Tuesdays I am working as the Southern Community Engagement Officer (covering the Bass Coast and South Gippsland local government areas) for the new Gippsland Community Power Hub. It’s so new that the launch is online this Saturday 2nd October, 2pm – 3pm. The Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Solar Homes, Lily D’Ambrosio will be there and we will provide an introduction to the program.

The Gippsland Community Power Hub is actually one of seven new hubs for community owned renewable energy around Victoria delivered by Sustainability Victoria on behalf of the Victorian Government. In Gippsland, the hub operates as a partnership between Gippsland Climate Change Network(GCCN), Energy Innovations Corporative (EIC) and the Mallacoota Sustainable Energy Group (MSEG).

My job involves helping community groups who have an idea for a renewable energy project or want to transition to renewable energy but aren’t sure how to go about it. So if that’s you, please get in touch (my email is in the flyer below), and if you’re not in the southern region check the flyer below for the other Gippsland engagement officers, and if you’re not in Gippsland look up the hub for your region!

Please check out this page for example projects and community groups as you might be surprised by the range of ideas – every group from art collectives to football clubs to community centres are represented. Keep up to date with us on Facebook too.

On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I am employed by Sustainability Victoria as the Program Advisor, Education – Gippsland Region, which means I’m part of a team responsible for the delivery of the amazing ResourceSmart Schools Program in Gippsland for the next little while.

For those who don’t know, ResourceSmart Schools assists and enables schools to embed sustainability in all that they do. We support schools to reduce their resource use, contribute to greenhouse gas savings and cost savings, and achieve teaching and learning outcomes for students.

We have a couple of events for teachers coming up in term four which you can check out in our latest newsletter for Gippsland schools and if you’re a teacher in Gippsland who doesn’t already subscribe to our newsletter, you can do that here or from the subscribe button on the top left when you open the newsletter.

I’m hoping to make contact with Bass Coast and South Gippsland active schools as soon as possible, but feel free to reach out to me any time also (use the email address in the newsletter). Happy to connect with organisations who might want to collaborate to support schools too.

So this is what I have been up to in recent times. I love that these programs connect me to so many other people who are positive about the future and are getting on with meaningful change.