Caring for Country Initiative
What if you changed your mindset from what you can get to what you can give?
The problem
We consistently hear that the challenges of human-induced climate change require grassroot, place-based actions to repair the ecological and socioecological networks of local communities.
Whilst 79% of Australians believe climate change solutions can be found through collective community action, there is a volunteer shortage to undertake grassroots activities that move us towards climate action.
“We are all responsible for caring for Country. Country holds everything within the landscape… Earth, Water, and Sky Country as well as people, animals, plants, and the stories that connect them.” Tessa Carnegie, project co-lead.
Our approach
First Nations knowledge systems recognise all things are of and from the land. Country includes both living and non-living elements. It holds everything within the landscape, including Earth, Water, and Sky Country, as well as people, animals, plants, and the stories that connect them. We exist in a reciprocal relationship with Country, and we have a responsibility to give back to it.
The Caring for Country Initiative is proactive and preventative climate action. It provides UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA) staff with up to four days of additional leave to give back to Country through culturally and environmentally appropriate activities across Australia.
By engaging in and reflecting on reciprocity, we can become a part of a collaborative responsibility to care for and honour the land and the community of all beings that support it. Connecting with and giving back to Country allows us to demonstrate real action towards climate change together with First Nations communities and all life within and across stolen and unceded land in Australia.
The outcomes
The team developed and soft-launched the Caring for Country Initiative policy.
The project also gained significant visibility among UNSW stakeholders, generating interest from other faculties and from the Division of Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement.
Many of its partnerships were fostered through the Unconvention in March 2024, where Massive Action projects pitched to government, industry, and community visionaries.
The Caring for Country Initiative project is always on the lookout for new partners to grow its network of volunteer pathways. Partner with the project to provide opportunities for people to volunteer and give back to Country.
This is a Massive Action Sydney project.
“As a non-Indigenous Australian, this project is really important to me. I always have, and always will, champion allyship with First Nations Peoples. This project provides a foundation for the repair work that needs to be done, and an avenue for us to move forward together.” Dr Sara Padgett Kjaersgaard, project co-lead.
In September 2025, the Caring for Country Initiative launched.
Academic and Professional staff across ADA participated in volunteering activities with our partners, Greater Sydney Parklands and Randwick City Council.
Greater Sydney Parklands: In Centennial Park, participants supported propagating and germinating banksia seed pods, assisting with seeds and cuttings in the nursery and assisting in the gardening, maintenance and pruning of the community vegetable garden and the Indigenous bush tucker garden.
Randwick City Council: At the Malabar Wetland, participants learnt about wildlife and enhanced the wetland habitat by revegetating 162 plants and removing invasive weed species.
In November 2025, the Caring for Country Initiative won the ADA Audacious Vision Award, recognising the team’s bold, creative and deeply inclusive approach to climate action and cultural engagement.
Project partners
- Randwick City Council
- Greater Sydney Parklands
- Greening Australia
- Habitat for Humanity Australia
Work with us
The UNSW Innovation Hub tackles diverse problem-solving projects, varying in size, complexity and subject matter. We specialise in complex challenges that require collaboration, a design-led approach, and that can’t be addressed by a single discipline.
If you have a project proposal or potential partnership that you would like to discuss, please get in touch.
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