Great Ocean Road GPS App

Gone are the days when we had to read outdated maps and sift through hundreds of brochures to find out valuable information on our favourite tourist destinations. A new App called the Great Ocean Road GPS Tour  has been designed for those who both love the Great Ocean Road and technology. As you travel along the [...]

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Green Mums want ‘greener’ groceries

When you are filling your trolley with your favourite fruit and vegetables from the supermarket, do you ever wonder exactly how fresh they are and where they come from? Well, there are a number of Surf Coast women asking these same questions. Green Mums, a network of environmentally-orientated women are working to establish a “farm gate” [...]

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There’s an environmental education opportunity out there for you!

There are lots of opportunities for people of all ages to get involved in learning to help the environment and volunteering on the Surf Coast. Is there one to suit you? Educational Opportunities offered by GORCC The Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC) has recently launched an education program which has been specifically designed to be flexible, catering for a [...]

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If we had a magic wand…

During the forum, the group was asked this question: If we had a magic wand that we could wave to make our work together everything we hoped for, what tangible things would we see? The following responses provide a glimpse into our goals and hopes for the future as coast carers: We have more volunteers, [...]

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Playful whale heralds in a great day for forum goers

The Community Forum for Coastal Volunteers last Sunday, 29 August 2010, turned out to be quite an experience for all concerned. Fairhaven Surf Life Saving Club was abuzz with the conversation and laughter of some 40 voices as Coast Action/Coastcare Facilitator Jess Brown welcomed everyone and introduced facilitator Geoff Brown. Geoff got straight down to business working with the group to map out the connections between the various groups and agencies represented. Three guest speaker presentations followed, highlighting different types of connections and the benefits of building constructive networks, before everyone had an opportunity to share their own stories via a ‘Jumpstart Story’ process. After lunch, the group settled into the task of future gazing, including identifying the ‘X factors’ for success. Meanwhile the various land managers worked on simple but enlightening role statements to support them in communicating and connecting with others. Finally, the discussion moved to the next steps needed to making the future a reality, with the first step being to share what happened at the forum via this blog. Over the coming weeks, the forum’s outcomes will be progressively added to this blog for participants to refer to and comment on, and to share with those who weren’t there, including people we don’t even know from coasts in other parts of the world. We look forward to sharing these experiences with you and invite you to post your impressions, thoughts and ideas to this blog – and to spread the word to others.

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Good connections hold the key

Traditional wisdom has it that good connections are vital to getting on in life. For us however, good connections are critically important to our beautiful coast. As coast managers, we share a strong connection with the coast and are passionate about its ongoing care, protection and conservation. Such passion also connects us with the many local coastal volunteer groups and individuals involved in caring for the coast, and with government agencies and other bodies who, like us, are responsible for managing the coast. Good connections are vital to building the foundation for an integrated approach to coastal management and provide the basis for sharing knowledge, skills and experiences about how to best care for the coast. Such connections also play a crucial role in helping to connect the ordinary person on the beach with the coast and hopefully contribute to raising their awareness of why they need to play their part in looking after it. Over the past few months, we have been working towards building our capacity to connect with people in the online environment. We have also been working to improve the way we connect via more tried and tested means. We know that the strongest connections come from sitting down and talking to people face-to-face. This is why we are looking forward to the upcoming Forum for Coastal Volunteers on Sunday 29 August 2010, which will provide an invaluable opportunity to strengthen connections that will benefit the entire Great Ocean Road coast from Torquay to Port Campbell. We can’t wait to be there and to see what comes out of it in terms of building the good connections so vital to our beautiful coast.

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Enter our brave new online world and join the conversation

Today marks the start of a brave new world for GORCC with the launch of our new website and associated social media tools, including this GORCC Talk Blog, to enable us to inform, educate, connect, interact and engage with people in the online environment. The new website’s development has been funded from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program. It provides an interactive and dynamic tool that allows people to learn about our organisation and its work, the issues confronting our coast and the simple things we can all do to help look after it. I encourage you to visit www.gorcc.com.au, to have a look around the site to see what’s there and to get the conversation going by telling us what you think.

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