Environmental Leadership course
Apply now for our 2026 course
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. You don't need a project idea to take part as you can develop a project through the course. Whether you are someone at the beginning of your environmental journey or a seasoned practitioner or volunteer, your ideas, enthusiasm and openness are all we require.
Course details
The course will kick off on Tuesday 21 April 2026 and will run weekly on a Tuesday evening, with the final session concluding on Tuesday 23 June 2026. The course will run from 6.30 pm until 9.00 pm with most sessions held at the Middle Park Community Centre.
How is the course structured?
The course consists of 2.5 hours per week in class, some 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. It is essential that you have access to a computer and an internet connection.
Who can apply?
Anyone who lives, works or plays in City of Port Phillip. Projects developed through the course must be undertaken within the City of Port Phillip. If the intake of applications exceeds capacity of the course, applications from Port Phillip residents and employees of businesses within Port Phillip will be prioritised.
How to join the course
If you’re ready to learn more about yourself, meet other people and develop a project that helps the environment, then this is the course for you! Send an email to enviro@portphillip.vic.gov.au to express your interest to join the course.
Congratulations to our past graduates!
Course Snapshot
Want to see what our Environmental Leaders have achieved? Our Snapshot celebrates 10 courses of the Environmental Leaders. Send an email to enviro@portphillip.vic.gov.au and we'll send you the Snapshot.
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."