A special presentation ceremony was held in the Armidale Dumaresq Council Chambers recently for Armidale based sustainability champions. Four local sustainability specialists were formally recognised for their successful completion of a National Certificate IV in Carbon Management, a brand new qualification which is now also being delivered internationally via extension to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
They were presented with an ADC badge by Member for New England, Tony Windsor, who was a guest speaker at the ceremony and the event was emceed by ADC’s General Manager Shane Burns.
The Certificate IV in Carbon Management course was organised by one of the participants, Lauren Zell, during her role with The Northern Inland Sustainable Business Network (NISBN) and delivered by Carbon Training International. It was initially organised to provide to NISBN organisations, to help New England and North West businesses upskill and educate their organisations about Carbon, including the management and reduction of their CO2 emissions.
In a fitting coincidence, the Carbon Management course commenced on November 11, 2011, the day that the Senate passed the Carbon Tax legislation. The course entailed eight sessions over eight weeks.
Participants in the course represented govern-ment, the private sector, and community-based organisations.
The graduates of this cutting edge course, who were recognised at the recent ceremony were: Mahalath Halperin – an Armidale resident, Architect, ESD Consultant, Energy auditor, assessor and trainer; Adam Blakester – Executive Director of Starfish Enterprises working as a community entrepreneur and social change strategist; Lauren Zell – an Industry Training Advisor with the Department of Education and Communities State Training Services; and Carol Davies – ADC Sustainability Coordinator.
Graduate apologies were: Paul Cruickshank – New England Coordinator for the NSW Renewable Energy Precincts Program and Tim Cotter – Regional Manager for the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
Story: Gary Fry