Sustainability at its core is about establishing or re-establishing connections. Closing the loop on water and waste involves digesting the consequences of our extraction, consumption and disposal of resources, and building up the cycles that ensure healthy flow. Biodiversity depends on maintaining a complex web of relationships. Understanding that we as humans are actually part of that web is perhaps the most important connection for us to make.

Working in partnership with other organisations or communities helps us to put this connecting principle into action, ensuring that awareness and enthusiasm sparked by our work naturally flows into ongoing sustainable practice through connection to campaigns, programs and infrastructure. Examples of this integrated approach to effective environmental education include:

The Sustainables.

In 2006 the Department for Sustainability and the Environment launched 'The Sustainables Schools Challenge', a curriculum-based program centred around 10 key sustainable actions and delivered to 40+ schools per year. Designed to bring the program’s existing cartoon family to life in a 50 minute show, ‘The Sustainables’ satisfied the brief to highlight the 10 actions whilst exploring the values that underpin sustainable behaviour. Development of the script over subsequent seasons has strengthened this focus on values and ongoing evaluation has revealed the show’s key role in motivating and informing student participation in the program. More information...

The Beast.

In 2008 Melbourne Water commissioned OPE to craft a short energetic performance to burst unannounced into their offices aimed drawing attention to the organisation’s Key Performance Indictators for paper usage and spark employee engagement in sustainable practices. Performed 9 times across 3 Melbourne Water sites “The Beast’s” impact was both immediate and ongoing, generating an overwhelming positive response from staff, a flood of suggestions to the sustainability team, discussion of the topic in communal spaces, and finally success in meeting the target some months later. More information...