TAFE Queensland Robina Campus
EN-10: Community Partnerships

The City of Gold Coast has an Active Transport Strategy 2031 which provides details on the types of actions required to implement better cycling and walking facilities on the Gold Coast. Investing in active transport is part of the Council's work to build an integrated, sustainable transport network that will allow all residents and visitors to experience the benefits of walking and cycling more, and driving less. During the planning to build phase of the Robina Campus, the senior leaders connected with the Council to develop a specific Active Transport Strategy for the Robina Campus.

Robina Campus was planned and built to include a number of features supporting the use of active transport options including:
*End-of-trip facilities - showers, change rooms, and lockers
*Secure bicycle and scooter storage area
*Bicycle and scooter repair stations
*10 electric charging stations.

The partnership with the City of Gold Coast Council (CGCC) includes:
*Sharing existing CGCC active travel strategy information with staff and students
*Promoting the use of public transport, walking, bikes, scooters, and ride-share as alternative ways to travel
*Interactive Maps developed and distributed to assist students and staff in finding their way to campus
*Location markers added for all TAFE Queensland campuses including Robina
*Pathway decals which are cobranded have been developed and placed to assist in promoting walking from the campus to nearby public transport locations or key services and facilities
*Robina public walkway signs, using TAFE Queensland directional arrows, have been placed on the CGCC Robina walkway.

A game has been developed so staff and students can collect virtual tokens via QR codes each day when they choose to come to the Robina campus by one of the nominated active travel methods. These tokens can be redeemed for services and or discounts at our Seedpod Café. The tokens will assist in measuring our benchmarks and successes in this space. The game has been sponsored in partnership with CGCC where staff and students could win an electric bike or a number of $50 Go-Cards.

Extensive research was undertaken to confirm where students were travelling from with individual maps for local residential areas to the Robina campus created and distributed during orientation sessions.

A range of other initiatives supports the Robina Campus Active Transport Strategy including:
*On-campus delivery of bike/scooter education programs, safety inductions, and maintenance workshops
*Scheduled lunchbox sessions with the Council to inform staff and students about active transport options and other environmental initiatives such as 'Saving our Waterways' and 'Keep Safe in the Water'
*The partnership with LIME bikes includes a dedicated bike station with 20 -25 bikes available on-site with a 20% discount, making the choice for alternate transport even easier.

The partnership between Robina Campus and Raba Urban Community Farm is mutual. The Farm is located only 8kms from the Campus and grows produce for the local community. Highly trained farmers, that are not only passionate about the environment but also passionate about peoples’ wellbeing, work hand-in-hand with the community. The Farm works closely with the local First Nation's mob to grow native bush tucker species. Robina Campus is also focused on being part of this community.

The Farm has allocated an initial plot for the campus where fresh produce is grown. Raba Farm provides opportunities for our students to visit and work on the Farm in order to understand organic farming and sustainability principles and practices. The aim of the partnership for the Robina Campus is to eventually grow sufficient produce to meet the supply requirements of the campus restaurant and cafe.

In return for the plot allocation and opportunities for our students, Robina Campus provides compost to the Farm. All organic matter from the Campus is turned into compost. Compost not used onsite is given to the Farm to fertilise garden beds and in particular the Campus patch.

A range of different student groups work on the farm i.e. commercial cookery students however it is the Adult Migrant Education Program (AMEP) and the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) Program students that have a high representation of underrepresented groups and vulnerable students. AMEP students have a strong representation of mature-aged females who are seeking to connect with the community to improve their language and employability skills. A number of the Asian students have a strong connection with the land prior to migrating so the Farm is a safe haven to learn about sustainable practices. The SEE students have a high representation of young people disengaged from formal learning with some students identified as youth offenders. The Farm provides hands-on learning opportunities for these students which is more engaging than traditional classroom learning.

Raba Urban Community Farm hosts events and groups of students completing educational activities. The farmers also attend our weekly lunchbox sessions as speakers.

Benefits include:
• Students and staff from all qualifications are invited to attend Raba Urban Farm to undertake work in our community garden plot, and assist with the wider farm initiatives.
• Raba Urban Farm collects our concentrated compost from our closed-loop system every Monday, and uses it to nourish the vegetable beds.

W: https://rabaurbanfarm.com/

Behive encourages people and businesses to start their circular journey of low carbon. Behive strives to promote circular thinking by leading innovation and awareness to people, brands, and businesses about how to join and be inspired by this transformative way of collaborative thinking. It promotes 'Let's be circular, Let's be 1% better everyday!'

Our partnership with Behive provides the following opportunities:
• Behive guest speakers come to the campus to promote recycling, and what goes into which bin – encouraging everyone to be 1% better every day.
• Behive has launched an app that encourages people to be 1% better every day, by simply putting the right thing in the right bin and thinking about the power of their small actions to build change, boost recycling, and make the circular economy happen The app educates people about recycling and gives points and rewards when the action is achieved. Robina Campus has QR codes located around the campus to promote the downloading and use of this app.
• Several 'Behive Boxes' are located at each level of campus - collecting recyclables that cannot be put in the typical recycling bin and, if they are, would otherwise end up in a landfill i.e. batteries, coffee pods, etc
• Behive delivers 2 workshops per month for students and staff on sustainability topics, recycling, and the circular economy.

Robina Campus partners with other organisations to empower staff and students to embrace sustainability. These partnerships are listed.

1. THE SUSTAINABULLS PROGRAM
• Working in partnership with a group of students and staff, known as 'The Sustainabulls' we built our relationship with the Robina State High School to join forces on many projects. The group is led by our Robina Campus Sustainability Committee.
• The first project together during the month of November 2022 was the Sheridan Recycling Program, supported by the local Sheridan Store at the Robina Town Shopping Centre approximately 1 km from our campus and the School.
• This is the first Australian homewares brand with a recycling program, making a commitment to setting the standard for textile waste reduction, ensuring old bed linen and towels of any brand are diverted from landfill and made into recycled yarn that is re-purposed into new products.

2. SUSTAINABLE SALONS PARTNERSHIP
We partner with Sustainable Salons to contribute to reducing our impact on the planet, and supporting local communities and charities. This partnership has provided the Robina Campus with an opportunity to actively contribute to improving our impact on the environment, with benefits to people in our local community. The benefits of this partnership result in :
• Embedded practice every day - partnership with Sustainable Salons in our Nature's Escape - Hair, Barbering, and Beauty.
• Together we contribute to reducing our impact on the plant and supporting local communities and charities.
• Sustainable salons collect our used plastics and salon metals to be sold and upcycled into products such as reading glasses and outdoor furniture. Proceeds from these sales are donated to charities such as Ozharvest which supply food to communities of people who are hungry.
• Hair is collected and made into hair booms as a natural way to clean up oil spills on land and in oceans.
• Long ponytails are collected and donated to charities that make wigs for those undergoing cancer treatments or with alopecia.
• Paper, including cardboard is collected from salons and is recycled into new paper products, saving nearly 31780 litres of water per tonne.

4. CONTAINERS FOR CHANGE
• We partner with Envirobank to inform staff and students about recycling and knowing what goes where. Envirobank provides information via lunchbox sessions and collects our containers.
• Our 4-bin recycling system on every level of the building has one bin allocated to collect 10c refundable containers
• The money collected goes directly toward the TQ Scholarship Program to support students needing financial assistance.