A few weeks ago our great group of mentors and mentees got together in Bendigo to catch up on how our mentoring partnerships and projects are coming along. As the facilitator of this group, ably supported by Lucy, Shelby and Adam from Glenelg Hopkins CMA, I was delighted to see the progress that is being made. Here are some photos from our recent get together with the image above of Adrian (NCCMA) and James (Loddon Landcare) out in the Tang Tang Wetlands looking for brolga.
With a mix of room and outdoor activities we reconnected and shared what has been working well, and where we might need to put a bit more effort to get our mentoring relationships really ‘humming’ along. For everyone time management was an issue, which is really common in all our workplaces. I reminded our group that relationships and building our ‘social capital’ of people and networks, is just as important as all those reports and ‘must do’ lists we have guiding our working day. Stopping, having a chat with someone, and reflecting on why you do what you do, can make such a difference to your outlook and priority setting.
So, to our projects, we have:
- Adrian (NCCMA) and James (Loddon Landcare) working together on wetland protection and rehabilitation.
- Amy (NCCMA) and Joel (DEWLP) focusing on raising awareness and hopefully funds for screens on farm pumps to protect fish.
- Jarod (ARI) and Lisa (GBCMA) running a workshop to look at reintroducing Souther Pygmy Perch and Catfish to Barmah Millewa.
- Mark (GBCMA) and Matthew (Yarra Valley Water) looking at managing pollutants and engaging community in waterway management.
- Helen (GHCMA) and Daniel (Melbourne Water) participating in workshops to engage urban residents in a new waterway strategy for Melbourne.
- Sharnie (MILDRIN) and Adam (DEWLP) sharing perspectives and knowledge about Aboriginal Water Assessments.
- Dan (WGCMA) and Chris (ARI) collaborating on riparian assessment methodologies and a useful ‘how to’ guide on which tool to use where.
- Les (DEWLP) and David (WGCMA) planning some community activities to reflect on the history and impact of Rainbow Creek and future management approaches
- Lori (ARRC) and Kerstie (Up to Us Landcare) examining the Rivers of Carbon approach to engaging community led river restoration.
Pretty impressive aren’t they? What these projects show are the benefits mentoring provides of being able to take time out, discuss, consider and throw around ideas with someone else committed to working with you on getting a good result.
We also started a Happiness Challenge led by Lucy Cameron who has devised ‘The way of the Unicorn’…. this will involve putting time aside in our days to meditate, reflect and ensure we are connected with the ‘WHY’ for all that we do.
Stay tuned as we are all getting together in October to share our final project results, make some videos and tell more stories. Check out our website for more details: www.twinningiswinning.com.au.
The picture below sums up our few days together – thanks Karen 🙂
The great Karen Dickinson from DEWLP funding partners for this year’s Waterway Management Twinning Program – Karen is really excited because she is out of the office and connecting with her ‘WHY’ – Tang Tang Wetlands, people and making a difference.