Applications for the 2025 course are now open. 

Please email your 'expression of interest' to join the course to enviro@portphillip.vic.gov.au

About the course

This free 10-week course supports you to develop and lead your own community-based environmental sustainability project and make a difference in your local community. 

This course is aimed at anyone who wants to become an environmental leader and will focus on individual growth in a team-based environment. There are no pre-requisites and no skills required. In terms of executing a project, don’t worry. You don't have to have a project idea to take part. And it does not matter if you are a seasoned environmental project manager or someone at the beginning of your environmental journey. Your ideas, enthusiasm and openness are what we require.

How is the course structured?

The course consists of 2.5 hours per week in class, around 2-4 hours per week of homework, and further team-based project work which will take place both during and after the completion of the course. Aspiring leaders will be supported throughout the training with easy and regular access to facilitation staff.

We will be working in project teams and we will walk the path together, so you don’t need to know or be everything.

The course will be a mixture of in person and online interactions and it is essential that you have access to a computer and an internet connection.

Who can apply?

The project work must be undertaken within the City of Port Phillip. Priority will be given to applications from Port Phillip residents and employees of businesses within Port Phillip. Applicants outside of the City of Port Phillip will need some justification as to why they should take part in this training, together with a clear undertaking to participate in environmental project work within the City of Port Phillip.

How to join the next course in early 2025?

If you’re ready to learn more about yourself, meet other people and take action on climate change, then this is the course for you! Send us an email to 'express your interest' to join the course or if you're interested in finding out more at enviro@portphillip.vic.gov.au.

Congratulations to our past graduates!

Past projects

Port Phillip Pickers

Meet the Port Phillip Pickers, a project born out of this program. Made up of volunteers from our community and led predominantly by Isabel Gardner and Agnieszka Majer, the program harvests olives from trees around Port Phillip and presses them into olive oil. An impressive 105 kilograms of olives were harvested in the last pick and pressed into 12 litres of olive oil! The program ensures the olive trees are maintained and the produce doesn’t go to waste.

Environmental Leaders founded the following projects:

Feedback from the course

"Thanks for a heartwarming, informative and engaging program. I am excited about getting my project up and running, and look forward to catching up with the Leaders I met through the program and hearing about their project successes."

"This course brings together like minded people who care about the environment and community, a great way to find your voice and feel supported in your passion projects to make the world a better place."

"An incredible course that lets you gain valuable insight into community, self and how we can better our immediate environments!"

"If you think "maybe I could", then this course is for you. It will help you discover practical ways to make your dreams and ambitions happen. All the way through, you will be guided and supported, inspired and encouraged."

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