Landcare Link-up – July 2019

Posted on 22 August, 2019 by Asha

The theme of our July 2019 Landcare Link-up was volunteer engagement, with a training session on attracting, recruiting, and retaining volunteers. A couple of representatives from each group in the Mount Alexander Region Landcare Network were invited to attend. As well as the training, Landcare Link-ups are always a great chance to meet people from other groups, have a chat, and learn from and support each other.

A small but engaged group of about 13 Landcare volunteers came together for the Link-up. Jenny from Non-profit Training got everyone thinking about the challenges involved in engaging volunteers with a Landcare group. We discussed volunteer burnout, bringing in new people, removing barriers and being inclusive, the different volunteer roles within groups, and much more. Attendees were able to share lessons and ideas with each other, bringing a range of perspectives from their different groups.

Brian from Taradale Landcare, a recently reinvigorated group, shared four ‘pillars of success’ for engaging volunteers with their group:

Visibility and accessibility – easy to contact and responsive to communications.
Motivation – doing work that people are interested in.
Organisation – the value of planning and good governance.
Sociability – making new people feel welcome, good food and drink!

Thank you to everyone who helped make the Link-up an enjoyable and valuable event. Our biannual Landcare Link-ups are organised by Connecting Country with funding through the Victorian Landcare Facilitator Program.