About the Centre for Sustainable Living, Denmark

Green Skills Centre for Sustainable Living

Location & Setting

Come and experience how you or your school, community, organisation or industry can live and work sustainably from those who've been doing it successfully for 20 years on WA's beautiful South West Coast.

We offer a broad range of interactive workshops, seminars, and, live-in programs passing on knowledge, skills and practices acquired over many years.

The Centre is an inspirational training, education, conference and accommodation facility supporting sustainable living. It provides many demonstrations of sustainability in action, including passive solar heating, onsite wastewater management systems, constructed wetlands, active solar space heating, the use of low toxic materials, sensitive landscape design, and recycling.

The Centre caters for school and community groups, higher education students and people from industry and government.

The Centre sits on a hectare of land adjacent to the Denmark High School, Denmark TAFE and Denmark Agricultural School and within a 10 minutes walk from the centre of Denmark. From being ear-marked for demolition in 2000, it has been renovated, extended and restored by a team of dedicated local builders and craftsmen. The Centre is near to the shores of the Denmark River and its adjacent bicycle/walking paths leading to the Denmark township, local parks and the beautiful Wilsons Inlet. Green Skills manages the Centre for Sustainable Living on behalf of the Denmark Education and Innovation Centre.

The Denmark region offers visitors a range of experiences as diverse as its incredible scenery. Some of Australia's finest wineries, a wealth of creative artistry, and world-class natural attractions - magnificent karri forests, idyllic estuaries and glorious coastline are all available in or within a few kilometers of the centre. The town itself offers artistic venues, shops and a wide range of local craft outlets.

Centre for Sustainable Living on Facebook

About the Centre for Sustainable Living

The Centre for Sustainable Living is leased by the Denmark Education and Innovation Centre Inc. and managed by Green Skills Inc.

Green Skills Inc. is a not for profit registered training organization established in 1989. Green Skills is a registered training provider, runs a wide range of sustainability projects also runs ECOJOBS employment agency in metropolitan and regional areas.

The Denmark Education and Innovation Centre (DEIC) is a not for profit community organization formed to support the Denmark community in progressing into the 21st Century. The DEIC Board of Management was responsible for steering the overall direction of the centre; liaising with the Education Department and meeting leasehold obligations.

North courtyard before refurbishment.

North courtyard after refurbishment.

CSL Staff
	Louise Duxbury BA(Hons) PhD Centre Manager: Projects manager with Green Skills, Louise founded Green Skills Inc. with a passion for showing how meaningful work that respects the environment can be created. She has assisted in establishing a wide range of community based enterprises and projects. Her particular skills lie in communications, facilitation, conflict resolution, strategic planning, submission writing and project development.
	Stan Vermeeren MSc, DipEd Green Skills Denmark Manager, joint manager Centre for Sustainable Living: Stan has extensive experience working within not for profit organisations such as CERES in Melbourne, as a teacher as well as an envrionmental consultant to local governments and private industry. He has a passion to not only communicate sustainability but to see sustainability translate into practical action. He is delighted to be part of the team at the Green Skills Centre for Sustainable Living.
	Administration Officer Our administration officer works on a part-time basis, taking care of bookings, our fortnightly newsletters and general enquiries.
	Nicola-Jane le Breton Project Officer Nicola joined Green Skills in 2008 with a varied background in administration and creative writing. She offers regular writing sessions and weekend intensive workshops, and is active in the local community Arts scene. Nicola is studying Conservation and Land Management at the Great Southern Institute of Technology (next door) and is interested in creating experiential workshops where creative writing and other artistic modalities are used as vehicles for connecting with the local environment in a very personal way.
	Indy Ashbolt Administration Officer Indy joined Greenskills in late 2011 with a varied background in Administration, including many years experience in the health and community service sectors. Indy balances her time between the Centre for Sustainable Living and operating her small business in Denmark.
	Mirjana Basic On site Caretaker Mirjana joined the CSL as a volunteer in June 2010 before taking on the role of assistant caretaker. In February 2011 she became full-time caretaker. With a background in hospitality and horticulture, Mirjana supports visitors to the centre whilst maintaining the centre and its' grounds. Applications for Voluntary Assistant Caretakers Welcome - send us an email.

The History of the Centre for Sustainable Living

The Centre for Sustainable Living building was made available when the old dormitory belonging to the Western Australian Education Department was to be decommissioned and then demolished. A community ideas forum held in August 1999 determined the vision to develop the facility as a Centre for education on sustainable living. An AgSchool 2000 committee backed the execution of this vision with representatives of 13 community groups, led by the Historic Society and Green Skills. Green Skills prepared a pre feasibility study followed by a business plan to outline how the Centre could operate. The AgSchool 2000 committee successfully lobbied the Education Department to save the buildings. Exhaustive fundraising by Green Skills enabled the transformation of 1950s architecture into an exemplary sustainable convention centre suitable for hosting social, cultural, environmental and educational events. The creation of the centre was sponsored by National and State Government agencies and non-government philanthropic agencies. The result is an events centre with accommodation and catering facilities that leads the way in demonstrating sustainable building practices.

Half way through
the rebuilding process

Drawing on inspiration from the very successful Schumacher College in England, the Quarry in Wales, the Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado and similar centres elsewhere, the decision was made to focus on sustainable living. There were no other demonstration and education centres in Western Australia with accommodation which could offer a comprehensive range of options to support sustainable living for a wide range of clients from the community, intrastate, interstate and overseas.

Activities include courses on, and practical examples of, waste water management, energy efficiency, organic horticulture, bush regeneration, bush products, strategic wetlands management, health and wellbeing, art, writing and eco-tourism. The centre is attractive to school groups, higher education students, and people from industry, government and community organisations.

Recognition by the government of the importance of the site and the economic contribution that the enterprise would make to the region resulted in the sizeable funding and support secured from a wide range of major sponsors and supporters,

Funding & Management

		Green Skills Inc. Green Skills is community non-profit organisation, specialising in linking environmental training and employment programs to practical conservation work and sustainable development. It has formed long term partnerships with local businesses, community groups and individuals, and state and local government agencies. Green Skills has played a significant role in the project management of the Centre for Sustainable Living to ensure its success.
		Denmark Education and Innovation Centre Inc. The Denmark Education and Innovation Centre is a non-profit community group of volunteers that facilitates community development in the southern region of Western Australia. Its vision is to utilise the resources of the region combined with new and alternative technologies to enhance employment and business opportunities to benefit the community. DEIC has been instrumental in the development and coordination of numerous community based projects, including the Centre for Sustainable Living Denmark.
		Lotterywest Lotterywest is the official state lottery for Western Australia, responsible for selling lotteries games and distributing the profits for the benefit of the Western Australian community. Hospitals, sporting organisations, the arts and hundreds of community groups are all supported by Lotterywest. The Centre for Sustainable Living has received large grants from Lotterywest to assist with the development and refurbishment of the old Ag School building and further upgrades.
		Sustainable Energy Development Office The Sustainable Energy Development Office was established in November 2001 to implement the Government of Western Australia's sustainable energy policy. SEDO's role is to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and to further develop a sustainable energy industry which contributes to the state's economy. As part of its demonstration focus, the Centre for Sustainable Living has been funded by SEDO to install passive solar space heating and cooling systems.
		Great Southern Area Consultative Committee The Great Southern Area Consultative Committee Inc. is a locally managed organisation working to create jobs and economic growth in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. The GSACC is a community-incorporated committee of volunteers from around the Great Southern region. Funded by the Australian Government, the GSACC has played a major role in helping the Centre for Sustainable Living become a reality and has assisted it to pursue various funding avenues.
		Westnet The Centre for Sustainable Living would like to thank Westnet who generously subsidise our broadband service and daily communications via email.
		Uplift Design Pty Ltd. Uplift Design specialises in developing websites for businesses committed to finding a balanced way of living. Sustainability is a major benefit of the internet; as it saves lots of carbon! Uplift Design has contributed much to the Tourism and Wine industries of the South-West Coast, adding daily to the online presence of the Region. This website was co-created and their time donated to support the continued success of our Centre.
		Great Southern Development Commission The Great Southern Development Commission is a state government agency with offices in Albany and Katanning. The Commission is one of nine development commissions established under this act by the Government of Western Australia. It is directed by a nine member community Board, responsible to the Minister for Mid-West, Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions.
		Department of Transport and Regional Services This Australian Government Department is helping to ensure that regional communities have better access to opportunities and services and are able to take the lead in their own planning and development. DOTARS has provided substantial grant funding through the Regional Assistance Programme for the employment of the Enterprise Development Officer and from the Regional Solutions Programme towards refurbishment of the Centre for Sustainable Living.
		Department of Local Government and Regional Development The Department of Local Government and Regional Development is helping communities in Western Australia to take charge of their future by working together on projects that will bring growth, businesses and people to their towns and regions. The Centre for Sustainable Living was fortunate to obtain finance under the Regional Infrastructure Funding Program to assist with major infrastructure costs associated with the development and refurbishment of the CSL building.
		Ian Potter Foundation The Ian Potter Foundation was established in 1964 and is today one of Australia's largest private philanthropic foundations. The foundation makes grants to the arts, education, environment and conservation, health, social welfare, science and medical research. A grant from the foundation has facilitated the employment of a Technical Services Manager to oversee building renovation and refurbishment and to handle all technical aspects of the project.
		The Myer Foundation Myer family philanthropy has its origins in the will of Sidney Myer who founded the Myer retailing business. On his death he left one tenth of his estate for the benefit of the community in which he made his fortune. The Myer Foundation was established and initially endowed by Sidney Myer's sons in 1959. It is now supported by three generations of Myer family members, and represents their continuing commitment to philanthropy, with integrity and ethical service.
		Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal The Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal is responsible for the development of this web site having provided money for web page development and associated marketing material. The foundation supports the development of regional community foundations, and uses seed funding and challenge grants to move regional development project funding into a more dynamic context.