Upper Jukskei River Clean-Up Project
The purpose of the Upper Jukskei River Clean-Up Project is to
implement a labour-based river clean-up programme that also
incorporates training, capacity building and increased environmental
awareness amongst the local community.
The Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD)
is the funder for the project with the City of Johannesburg (CoJ)
appointed as the Project Manager, while Johannesburg City Parks
(JCP) was contracted by CoJ as the implementing agency for the
project.
The Environmental Education Unit (EEU) of JCP was tasked to lead
the process of environmental education and awareness campaign,
including:
- Development of training materials for community based educators
(CBE's);
- Training of CBE's;
- Implementation of door-door education and awareness from Vincent
Tshabala (London Road) to Marlborough Drive/Bridge.
Through assistance from the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) 80 CBEs
and 8 supervisors were recruited from the local community
non-governmental organisations (NGO's) for the implementation of door
to door education and awareness programme. They were trained on the
following topics:
- Background to Upper Jukskei River Clean-Up Education and
Awareness Project;
- Project Location and time frames;
- Roles and responsibilities of CBEs including terms of reference;
- House-call protocols;
- Key messages to be delivered during door-door education and
awareness campaign;
- Education and Awareness project monitoring tools e.g. CBEs time
sheets, house calls registers and reflection reports.
Each CBE was tasked to reach 50 households per day. Initially the
CBEs were targeting households three streets away from the river
system. This resulted into the targeted areas being covered over a
three days period. Due to this, the project was then extended to cover
other areas away from the river system. As part of the project, the
CBEs were required to write a daily reflection report on activities of
the day including challenges and questions/concerns from the
communities.
The education and awareness project was well received by the
community. A sustained effort of this nature backed by proper service
delivery support has potential of ensuring that the banks of Jukskei
River and others stay clean, green and conserved.
|
