Members zoomed in  22
Guests  Sossi and Tony Fritzlaff
Apologies  Peter Lewis and Geoff Gartley
Guest Speaker  Pat Armstrong from the RC of Doncaster.
President Geoff welcomed guest speaker and members. He then spoke about his message in this week’s Bulletin and what the club can do in tis post lockdown covid situation.Helen introduced Pat Armstrong.
Pat is an educator and an advocate for Environment and Sustainability.  She chairs the Environmental and Sustainability Rotary Action Group  (ESRAG)
Pat spoke of the support that Rotary International makes to environmental sustainability from the time Ian Riseley was R.I. President and all three R.I. Presidents after him. They all made a strong case for Rotary to do more to preserve the environment by undertaking environment protection and sustainability in our service projects. Many clubs are already doing it but we must give these issues priority.
Pat the spoke about the Rotary Environment Policy Statement which was approved by the Rotary Trustees in September 2020. The Final Statement and Implementation Plan was released in Jan 2021. Clubs can apply for grants for projects from July 2021.
Pat then showed slides of Projects/themes in environmental protection in different parts of the world.
Pat stated that ESRAG has 1050 members worldwide and 12 active regional chapters. 85 Districts have an environmental committee. District 9810 has a sustainable communities committee. There are District Environmental club awards Bronze, Silver and Gold. Examples of what is required to attain them were given.
The take away message from Pat was:
_    there are many serious environmental Challenges
_     we have to “flatten the curve”
_     consider sustainable development goals with the focus on protecting the environment.
Pat then gave some suggestions for club action. After a Q&A session, President Geoff closed the meeting saying next week’s meeting will be at Virginia Park.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Link to District Sustainability & Environment here.