September 30, 2015

Community engagement projects for 2015 to be announced

UOW community engagement grant projects to be announced at a special breakfast on 1 October.

Increasing the community’s involvement in Indigenous culture is a key component behind this year’s successful community engagement grant projects to be announced at a special breakfast tomorrow (Thursday 1 October) at UOW.

UOW has run a Community Engagement Grant Scheme (CEGS) for 10 years, awarding $450,000 in grants to 56 projects. It is a scheme where campus staff and students, in partnership with community organisations, are encouraged to apply for grants of up to $10,000 to address a community need.

Community Engagement Manager, Dr Melissa Thompson, said CEGS was a core university initiative representing the commitment of UOW to supporting those seeking to achieve the goals of our communities and enhancing the vision and reputation of the University.

“These projects often start a lifelong collaboration towards real social change. Many projects start small and go on to have significant and long-lasting results,” Dr Thompson said.

CEGS projects in the past have included improving physical health for individuals living with mental illness; family law pathways; improving nutrition for at risk elderly; support for refugees; an anti-smoking campaign for youth; a welcome to Dharawal Country DVD; a DVD resource kit to support children with cerebral palsy; and reading resources for community language schools.

This year’s successful recipients include:

·  Ask Illawarra Shoalhaven: collecting community knowledge: ‘Ask’ aims to train and support volunteers from across the region to engage with the community in conversations about their aspirations for their communities.  This knowledge will be collected and used by local communities to support further in-depth conversations and local action on issues of concern to the communities.

·  2016 Mogo and Mudji (Dhurga for friends): This project will provide greater awareness of local Indigenous culture by engaging in educational activities with local primary schools. Pride in culture plays a vital role in shaping people’s ambitions and choices. The project will raise both awareness and aspirations by field trips to significant cultural sites in the Eurobodalla region, speaking and teaching languages, protecting cultural materials and passing on Indigenous knowledge, arts and rituals from one generation to another.

·  Budbili Mudjingaal (Possum Rug friends): This project aims to foster a culture of continuous improvement by rewarding all with initiative of making a possum skin rug. A traditional possum skin cloak traditionally relied on everyone working together, thus creating a work environment which develops all participants and encourages the highest quality work output. The project requires participants to research cloaks used by Dharawal people and how they were sewn together. Tomorrow’s event is being co-ordinated by UOW’s Advancement Division.