The wararack

(silver wattle)

is the spirit of our climate emergency response. The sap of this plant is the glue that connects community and Djaara Country
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The Wararack is a coalition formed to regenerate Mount Alexander Shire. Our goal is to collectively build resilience, equity and care for Country into our systems and culture, while transitioning our shire to zero net emissions. Come and join us.

Who we are

Mount Alexander shire is home to 20,000 people and many diverse community groups. Situated in Victoria’s central goldfields, the shire is presided over by Mounts Leanganook and Tarangower, nourished by the Loddon and Coliban waterways, and shared with extra-human life from phascogales to box ironbark forests. 

‘Wararack’ is the Dja Dja Wurrung word for silver wattle. Among traditional uses, the sap of the wararack can be used as glue. The word was gifted by Uncle Rick Nelson and Aunty Julie McHale to represent the binding of people with Country and with each other.

Valuing First Nations knowledge and leadership, listening to and caring for our unique natural environment and ensuring our processes leave no one behind, are foundational values our community expressed in 2019 – when we urged local council to act immediately and decisively on climate.

A trigger for deep change

In 2019 the Mount Alexander Shire council convened a Climate Change Forum and invited all in the community to advise them on whether or not to declare a climate emergency.

LISTEN to this extract from Endgame Podcast for what happened next…

After the party

In 2020 council convened a local think tank of community members to review the Climate Change Forum submissions, and develop a strategy to address concerns and reflect shared values. This work produced the Wararacks’ regeneration goals and vision for a project-based approach to achieving them. 

The Castlemaine Institute then took over stewardship of the project and led its development as a Community Climate Transition Plan, launching as The Wararack Initiatives in 2021.

Over 2022 the task of steering the project fell to a small group of volunteers. This group redrafted the Community Transition Plan, launched the project website and reimagined the project as a coalition, renaming it The Wararack.

Download | THE COMMUNITY CLIMATE TRANSITION PLAN v.1 (23/02/23)

Contributors to the Wararack:

Vicki Anderson, Rosie Annear, Deane Belfield, Michael Billington, Peter Brain, Kyla Brettle, Kath Coff, Step Forbes, Sharon Fraser, Elizabeth Geddes, Alison Hanly, Taryn Lane, Rob Law, Bronwen Machin, Domani Madigan, Melanie Marshall, Damien Melotte, Natalie Moxham, John Neiman, Anitra Nelson, Jodi Newcombe, Cohen Saunders, Cate Sinclair, Sam Thomas, Warwick Smith, Jane Staley, Terry White, Euan Williamson, Lucy Young 

Organisations involved in the Wararack 2020 steering group include Mount Alexander Shire Council, The Hub Foundation, Castlemaine Institute, Mount Alexander Shire Sustainability Group, Nalderrun, Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance, and ReNew Consultants.

The Castlemaine Institute and Mount Alexander Shire Council supported the project in 2021

Work in 2022 was resourced by Mount Alexander Shire Council, Castlemaine Institute, Clarion Call, Castlemaine Free University, Endgame Media and PowerHub.

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