The WA Landcare Network is building the skills of landcarers across the Western Australia through a series of ‘Landcare Build Skills’ training courses.

If you are a landcare professional or volunteer join us for a range of inspiring training experiences on a range of capacity building topics.

Our Landcare Build Skill are free for WA Landcare Network Members. A small charge applies for non-members to attend.

If you are not a members we encourage you to join to enable you to take advantage this training opportunity at the discounted rate.

Join here http://www.landcarewa.org.au/our-members/become-a-member/

Check out our upcoming Landcare Build Skills topics and catch up on past sessions below.

Landcare Build Skills – Soil Management Practices

Tuesday 29th October, 2024 at 1.30pm-3.00pm online on Zoom

In this engaging online Landcare Builds Skills session, landcarers will delve into the fascinating world of soil microbes, gaining a foundational understanding of their roles in ecosystem health. The session will introduce key microbial groups and explore their living requirements, supplemented by live video streams showcasing these essential organisms in action.

Join our guest speakers, Ellen Walker and Mark Tupman, as they provide a brief discussion on soil structure and nutrient cycling to illuminate how plants access vital nutrients and how healthy soil supports this process. Additionally, landcarers will learn about Plant Soil Management (PSM) strategies for enhancing pest and disease resistance.

Our speakers will share practical recipes for creating and utilising beneficial microbial cultures, empowering landcarers to manage their farmscapes effectively and support robust microbial populations for sustainable agriculture and increased productivity.

Landcare Project Design 101

Tuesday 27 August 2024

A landcare project starts with an idea! – something that an individual or a group wants to achieve to address an issue or to protect or enhance a natural area. Many landcarers are big picture thinkers and are amazing at coming up with great ideas for landcare projects, but it is only through solid project planning and design that projects come to fruition and are successfully funded and implemented with positive benefits for the environment.

Whether you are a small friends of reserve group, or a larger landcare organisation,  designing your projects in a consistent coordinated way will not only mean you can better communicate what you want to achieve, but you will also find you have stronger project support, and in the end deliver a more successful project.

Join the WALN Team and our presenter, Caroline Hughes who will walk participants through a project design process she has found useful and effective over her many years in the landcare sector. The process will be applicable to a small scale planting project that a friends group may want to deliver, or to larger more complex projects that landcare organisations may want to deliver. Caroline assures us her project design process doesn’t bog you down with unnecessary paperwork, but instead provides a user friendly step by step template for successful landcare project design.

Communities of Practice for Landcare

Tuesday 23 April 2024

Join WALN for a collaborative event with Perth NRM/RegenWA as we take a deep dive into the framework around developing a successful and coordinated Community of Practice (COP).

Guest speakers will include Dr. Kristin Exeter, National Landcare Network’s Partnership Manager who will provide an overview of the guiding principles and ideas around a COP and why they can be so incredibly valuable in the community landcare and environmental space.

We will also have presentations from two WALN Member Groups who are already putting the COP theory into practice. Kate Tarrant from Lower Blackwood LCDC and Tam Connor from Mulloon Institute will share their knowledge around the design and development of their COP programs, key learnings, helpful hints and tips around building a beneficial COP.

We will discuss the upcoming Expression of Interest process for WALN Member Groups regarding support towards the research, design and development of a Community of Practice.

Media and Public Relations for Landcarers

Tuesday 14 November 2023

Join us for our last Landcare Builds Skills session for 2023 to learn more about how to navigate the media and public relations space.

The session will focus on several topics including:

• The difference between paid, earned and owned media and how to leverage these for your organisation
• Interview Skills and how to stay “on message” and identifying the best person in your team for media tasks
• Managing when/if you find yourself in the “hot seat”
• Social media and communications in a changing landscape and what’s best for your group
• The power of story telling and how to do it effectively

Guest Speakers include:  Murray “Muzza” Munro – Fundraising and Engagement Expert  and Rosie Rayns – Communications and Campaigns Manager for the National Landcare Network.

Designing a successful coordinated weed control program – Arum Lily Blitz Case Study
Tuesday 12 September, 2023

Presented by Genevieve Hanran-Smith, this ‘Landcare Build Skills’ webinar provides information on how to develop a successful coordinated weed control program, using Nature Conservation Margaret River Region’s Arum Lily Blitz as a case study.

Since its inception in 2019 the Arum Lily Blitz has engaged over 1600 landholders across 20,000 ha and has worked closely with government agencies and community groups to improve arum lily management on public land. The Blitz is an ambitious 20+ year program requiring the involvement of many thousands of landholders and a persistent, concerted control effort over many years.

This webinar provides information on the elements that have contributed to the success of the Blitz including: development of project aims and guiding principles; strategic planning and building partnerships; identifying and addressing barriers to landholder engagement; providing incentives; provision of technical information and advice; the importance of communication; and data collection and record keeping.

Quality Reporting for State NRM Projects
Tuesday 25 July, 2023

Presented by Deb Slater-Lee, Program Manager from the State Natural Resource Management Office, this ‘Landcare Build Skills’ webinar gives guidance on what is considered quality reporting for your State NRM Community Stewardship Grant Project.

Good project reporting improves your chances of achieving a successful grant acquittal, and of securing funding in subsequent grant rounds. Quality reporting also makes it easier for the State NRM Office to report on the overall impact of the State NRM Program and to gain Government support for future funding rounds.

This webinar gives tips on what are the essential elements in your progress and final reporting and will provide case studies of quality monitoring techniques to demonstrate the success of your project.