District Chair: Patricia Armstrong
Pat Armstrong, from the Rotary Club of Doncaster, is Chair of the District 9810 Sustainable Communities Committee and Chair Elect of the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG). Pat and her District team can help you with guest speakers, assistance with setting up an environment committee in your club, tips for applying for an EnviroClub Award, plus ideas for environment projects that will get you started and engage your members.
 

Supporting the Environment Becomes a New Area of Focus

The Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of Directors have both unanimously approved adding a new area of focus: supporting the environment.
 
More than $18 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related projects over the past five years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact.
 
Supporting the environment becomes Rotary's seventh area of focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.
 
Grant applications for projects will be accepted beginning on 1 July 2022. Gifts and commitments from Rotarians and others will be sought to provide global grant support for the new area of focus.
 
More information about this new cause will be announced soon.

District Chair:  Pat Armstrong  - Doncaster

1.Sustainable Communities Committee of Rotary District 9810

The ECC aims to help Rotary and Rotaract members and clubs create more sustainable communities through their Rotary work and everyday lives. The committee is a group of concerned Rotarians with members from both Rotary and Rotaract clubs.
Committee members see ‘sustainability’ as having several wide-ranging, yet connected meanings. These include something that is self-sustaining or self-efficient, something planned for long-term use or something ‘good for the environment’. These multiple meanings of sustainability are relevant to Rotary in many ways.
The Committee promotes and supports projects and initiatives within and outside the District which have an environmentally sustainable focus. This includes projects which aim to protect or restore the local environment and ecosystems, those which make use of sustainable technologies or those promoting the uptake of everyday sustainable practices.

2.How the Sustainable Communities Committee can help clubs

  • Offer tree planting days at Andersons Creek near (Warrandyte) and on properties near Beaufort in Central Victoria
  • Provide practical resources
  • Planning for Success and Environmental Sustainability resources (guide, templates and worked examples)
  • Tree Planting Guide
  • Green Tips
  • UNEP/ESRAG World Environment Day Handbook
  • Guest speakers
  • Provide guest speakers
  • Advise on environmental projects
  • Conduct environmental workshops and forums
  • Coordinate the District EnviroClub Awards

3.How clubs can get involved

  • Check out our website: https://rotary9810.sustainablecommunities.org.au/
  • Invite speakers from environmental groups to speak to the club
  • Join ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group): https://www.esrag.org/
  • Create a club Environment Committee and an Environmental Coordinator position
  • Apply for a District EnviroClub Award (Bronze, Silver and Gold)
 

Read how your club can be involved in envoronmental projects as outlind in the D9810 Presidents meeting August 2020
 
Stay Connected