It’s a big day out in Granville for Addison Road Community Organisation. The Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Sustainable Cities Awards for 2020 are under way – and we are in the running for recognition. The idea behind the Sustainable Cities Awards is to inspire councils and communities to make genuine and lasting environmental contributions to their area.
NSW Governor Margaret Beazley brings real prestige and depth of thinking to the occasion in a fine speech that explores the notion of sustainability.
She cites Plato’s distinction between a healthy city and a luxurious city, and how the latter is a place that “consumes” and “lives beyond its means”.
The point she makes is that ideas about sustainability and urban life go way back, to wisdoms we have to learn and relearn over and again in ways that are fundamental to our being and history. She believes individuals can make a difference. And through their thinking and actions can change things for the better, through “the power of the doing” and the power of the storytelling” that comes from it, a power that inspires others to act.
On the day, Addison Road Community Organisation is Highly Commended in The Habitat and Wildlife Conservation Award for our children’s book The Hollow Tree.
As the award citation explains …
“The Hollow Tree is a beautiful and inspiring children’s book that tells the story of a bold project to turn a ‘dead’ Sydney blue gum tree into an urban wildlife hotspot. The story is told from the perspective of the tree itself, as it observes both its gritty urban surrounds and the variety of wildlife that comes to visit it seeking food, shelter and a place to raise young. The book is illustrated by school students and is a reflection of ongoing initiatives in habitat conservation and monitoring by Addison Road Community Organisation.”
Our friends at Inner West Council do well too, and we are asked to accept their Finalist certificate in the Overall Sustainable Cities Award on their behalf as no representative is able to attend. It feels like a win-win for us as the citation for Council’s award notes both The Hollow Tree and Addi Road’s Rethinking the Urban Forest Conference as two major reasons for their overall achievement.
We finish the day on a bit of a high, framed commendations from Keep Australia Beautiful NSW tucked under our arms. And a quick moment to tell Her Excellency, the Governor of NSW Margaret Beazley, how good her speech was and to pass on a copy of The Hollow Tree in the spirit of action and storytelling she invoked.
OUR congratulations to all the winners and those highly commended at the
Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Sustainable Cities Awards for 2020
YOU can donate to Addi Road’s food rescue and food security programs – which is a major part of our sustainability and social justice vision – through the link here: https://addiroad.org.au/donations/donate-now/