2016-05-18 15:00:00

Australian Catholic schools pioneer energy saving project


(Vatican Radio) “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” Pope Francis asks in his encyclical Laudato Si’ dedicated to caring for our common home.

In an attempt to answer that question, a number of Catholic dioceses in Australia have begun rolling out a pioneering environmental programme which aims to cut energy consumption and costs by up to 80 percent. Using a combination of solar panels, LED lighting, battery storage and energy efficient air conditioning systems, the project not only reduces the carbon footprint of buildings but also promises big savings for its users.

The project, entitled Eco community, has already been implemented  in almost a hundred Catholic schools, early learning centres and other building in the dioceses of Townsville, Cairns and Darwin on the north east Australian coastline.

This week the founders of Eco community, Jesuit-educated brothers Justin and Martin Oldfield, were in Rome to seek support for their work from top Vatican officials. Accompanying them was Dr Cathy Day, Director of Catholic Education for Townsville diocese. She spoke to Philippa Hitchen about the project and about the broader implications of environmental awareness for children in those Catholic schools…

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Cathy says the project built on a growing desire to take some practical steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions, to look at energy efficiency in the 30 schools in the diocese and to make a statement to the students.

Payback in the pipeline

She says the diocese has invested about six million dollars, including some government subsidies, but that payback from savings “are already in the pipeline”. She points to the region’s longstanding history of environmental awareness, “being part of the wet tropics, the lungs of the world, and with the Great Barrier Reef right beside us”.

Consciousness raising

The diocese is the first in Australia to build an environmental centre offering students a consciousness raising programme. Cathy notes that the neighbouring dioceses of Cairns and Darwin are now coming on board and says she’s delighted the solar project is also being turned into an important part of the curriculum for the students who study the maths, the science and the social innovation.

Care for our common home

Cathy also speaks about the importance of Laudato Si’ which “reinforced everything that we’d already started to do”. She says the Pope’s words about sharing the planet as our common home “really resonated with the students” who understand their connectedness to the rest of the world. Neighbouring nations in the Pacific are struggling with rising sea levels, she says, and that is having an impact on how students are responding.

Learning from indigenous Australians

Commenting on the pioneering role of the Australian Church in responding to the environmental crisis, Cathy says “we owe a lot to our indigenous Australians who teach us every day” about connectedness and respect for the land. “It’s taken us 200 years to recognize”, she says, but there is a growing understanding that “we’re not just stewards of the land, but we live with the land and with all of creation”.

 








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