Thirty-one school sustainability projects around the rohe are about to get underway, thanks to Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s School Sustainability and Resilience Fund (SSRF).

Established in 2022, the SSRF aims to support educational facilities that want to raise awareness and understanding of climate change, hazards, resilience and sustainability within local communities. This year up to $85,000 was available thanks to additional funding from TECT, BayTrust and Trust Horizon.

Regional Council’s Community Engagement Team Leader Stephanie Macdonald says the applications received this year were of an extremely high calibre.

“Every application we received was well thought through and it’s encouraging to see so many people, especially our tamariki, willing to get started on their own project.

“It’s our responsibility as a Regional Council to support, educate and empower local communities to make a difference in their own backyards. The School Sustainability and Resilience Fund is just one way we can help do this."

Te Puke High School was one of the successful applicants, with their project focused on harvesting rainwater for a sustainable irrigation system.

Teacher in charge, Hayley Dodd, said the school appreciated the help the Regional Council had given them.

“We’re looking forward to making our school more sustainable.”

The School Sustainability and Resilience Fund is founded in being ‘by the community, for the community’, with all funding allocated by the public through two rounds of voting.

This year, more than 700 people cast their votes. For the projects that missed out during the first round, a Youth Panel consisting of 21 members aged 16 to 24 years gave them their second chance.

2024 School Sustainability and Resilience Fund Youth Panel member Caitlin Harrison says she enjoyed the unique learning opportunity that being involved in the panel gave her.

“It was awesome to learn about the amazing projects happening in our community and the positive impact they will have. I really enjoyed discussing ideas with panel members and considering other perspectives.”

For the full list of successful applicants, visit: participate.boprc.govt.nz/ssrf

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