Want to make meaningful sustainability moves in 2022? Achievement Program can help

A unique program delivered by Cancer Council Victoria in partnership with The Achievement Program is supporting members to adapt to climate change and take actions that co-benefit health and wellbeing through its Climate and Health pathway.

 

A total of 21 Victorian early childhood services, schools and workplaces have already completed the pathway, which is available to all Achievement Program members.

 

The new pathway, Cancer Council Victoria’s Head of the Achievement Program Tope Adepoyibi explained, was initially devised to help make the link between the climate and health actions that Achievement Program members were often already doing, and to encourage members to make positive changes.

 

Ms Adepoyibi said “As a large prevention program reaching early childhood services, schools and workplaces across Victoria, we seized the opportunity to support our members to adapt to climate change and take climate actions that co-benefit the health and wellbeing of their students and/or employees.”

 

The pathway is aligned with the climate and health focus area of the Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2019-23 and supports settings to undertake six actions:

 

1. Increase active travel
2. Eat more plants
3. Reduce waste
4. Use less energy
5. Connect with nature
6. Get climate-read.

 

Embedding climate action in a meaningful way, Ms Adepoyibi said, is something the Achievement Program is proud to be a part of. 

 

“Our motto became ‘if we want to be healthy, we need to keep the planet healthy too’,” she said.

 

“Our current activities are focused on spreading the word about the Climate and Health pathway as the profile of climate change as an urgent societal issue continues to increase. We would love to see all our Achievement Program members take part, and be acknowledged for the great work they’re doing to address climate change and health and wellbeing.”

 

For one early childhood provider, participation in the program has meant an expanded worldview when it comes to measuring sustainability. 

 

“After learning about the link between climate and health, and seeing all of the Achievement Program resources and suggested activities within the Climate and Health toolkit, we intend to look at reducing our energy use, implement meat-free Mondays, serve more fruit and vegetables for morning tea, promote local markets and encourage families to walk and ride to kinder,” the participant noted. 

 

More information about the Climate and Health pathway is available here. You can sign up to the pathway as an existing Achievement Program member here or start taking climate action by joining the free Achievement Program here.