Community Contributions to Sustainability
Community Gardens
Community gardens allow local residents who don’t have access to suitable land to participate with other members of the community to plant vegetables and ornamental plants in a shared space. Community members can access food grown locally, can make connections with other locals and connect with nature. Examples of community gardens in the Inner West are in Ashfield Park, Taringa St Ashfield, Mort Bay and Punch Park in Balmain, Denison Rd Playground in Dulwich Hill, Francis St in Enmore, in the grounds of Haberfield Library, Turtle Ln in Newtown, Wilkins Green (within Wilkins Public School), Addison Rd in Marrickville, as well as many others.
Biodiversity volunteers
A range of different community and volunteer groups contribute to the environmental sustainability of Sydney’s Inner West. Examples include the Inner West Microbat Monitors, the Tempe Birdos, the Mudcrabs Cooks River Eco Volunteers and the GreenWay Birdos.
Community gardens allow local residents who don’t have access to suitable land to participate with other members of the community to plant vegetables and ornamental plants in a shared space. Community members can access food grown locally, can make connections with other locals and connect with nature. Examples of community gardens in the Inner West are in Ashfield Park, Taringa St Ashfield, Mort Bay and Punch Park in Balmain, Denison Rd Playground in Dulwich Hill, Francis St in Enmore, in the grounds of Haberfield Library, Turtle Ln in Newtown, Wilkins Green (within Wilkins Public School), Addison Rd in Marrickville, as well as many others.
Biodiversity volunteers
A range of different community and volunteer groups contribute to the environmental sustainability of Sydney’s Inner West. Examples include the Inner West Microbat Monitors, the Tempe Birdos, the Mudcrabs Cooks River Eco Volunteers and the GreenWay Birdos.
Social Movements
Social movements can provide residents of a community with a means of influencing their local environment. They provide a way for residents to communicate opinions on planning and other matters to the formal planning structures and organisations, and to intervene in the formal political system. Activities of social movements can include letter-writing campaigns, protest meetings, and media campaigns.
Social movements can be important agents of urban change and can empower local communities. An example of a social movement is the urban cycling movement which aims to reduce car dependence and improve sustainability of transport, increase safety on roads for cyclists and encourage a collective increase in personal health and wellbeing through exercise. Ashbug and Canada Bay BUG ( Bicycle Users Group) are examples in Sydney’s Inner West.
Resident Action Groups
Resident Action Groups are a form of social movement at a smaller scale, and usually involve issues of a short term nature. RAGs often tend to be localized and single-focused. Although these groups are usually designed to force significant changes in society as a whole, they can at times bring about change at a smaller scale. Unlike social movements more generally, RAGs are more obviously limited and can be interpreted as having NIMBY (not in my backyard) motives. Recent transport infrastructure development and proposals for high density throughout the Inner West of Sydney have created an increase in the number of RAGs and concentrated the patterns of RAGs around development sites. There are currently a large number of Resident Action Groups in the Inner West of Sydney protesting and lobbying against WestConnex and increased development. Examples include Rozelle Against WestConnex, Save Dully, and Newtown WestConnex Action Group.
Social movements can provide residents of a community with a means of influencing their local environment. They provide a way for residents to communicate opinions on planning and other matters to the formal planning structures and organisations, and to intervene in the formal political system. Activities of social movements can include letter-writing campaigns, protest meetings, and media campaigns.
Social movements can be important agents of urban change and can empower local communities. An example of a social movement is the urban cycling movement which aims to reduce car dependence and improve sustainability of transport, increase safety on roads for cyclists and encourage a collective increase in personal health and wellbeing through exercise. Ashbug and Canada Bay BUG ( Bicycle Users Group) are examples in Sydney’s Inner West.
Resident Action Groups
Resident Action Groups are a form of social movement at a smaller scale, and usually involve issues of a short term nature. RAGs often tend to be localized and single-focused. Although these groups are usually designed to force significant changes in society as a whole, they can at times bring about change at a smaller scale. Unlike social movements more generally, RAGs are more obviously limited and can be interpreted as having NIMBY (not in my backyard) motives. Recent transport infrastructure development and proposals for high density throughout the Inner West of Sydney have created an increase in the number of RAGs and concentrated the patterns of RAGs around development sites. There are currently a large number of Resident Action Groups in the Inner West of Sydney protesting and lobbying against WestConnex and increased development. Examples include Rozelle Against WestConnex, Save Dully, and Newtown WestConnex Action Group.
Lesson Activity: Individual and community action
Examine the ways that individuals and communities have contributed to the political process and discussions about the WestConnex project. Write a paragraph about 5 actions taken by individuals and communities. Do you think these have been effective? Do you think these actions are justified? What other actions could individuals or communities take?
Examine the ways that individuals and communities have contributed to the political process and discussions about the WestConnex project. Write a paragraph about 5 actions taken by individuals and communities. Do you think these have been effective? Do you think these actions are justified? What other actions could individuals or communities take?
Fieldwork: Questionnaire
Conduct a questionnaire on residents that live in the Inner West of Sydney. Design 8-10 questions to ask. Some examples:
Conduct a questionnaire on residents that live in the Inner West of Sydney. Design 8-10 questions to ask. Some examples:
- Do you have concerns about the WestConnex development?
- What might be the benefits of WestConnex?
