Director’s Note — December

Wow, the year is winding right down (the workload, however, is not!) and summer is knocking at the door. We made it through the gnarly Canberra winter and here we are — enjoying blue-sky days, reconnecting with bike and walking trails, and looking back on the year that was.

For me, this has been a year of reconnecting with my hometown. Working at CEC is a constant reminder of this, but Canberra is full of good people. To see this in action, most days I need only wander a few metres from my office down to our Recyclery at Gungaderra Homestead, which hums with hard-working volunteers and good energy. A big shout-out to our regulars: Daniel, Ed, Graeme, Trevor, Dave and Paul.

See Ed here, front right, chatting to CEC’s Saturday bike sale guru Ying

Similarly, our city has a growing network of social enterprises that go well beyond traditional business models to offer more to our communities. I was lucky enough to dive deeper into these practices last week at Canberra’s Big Day Out, hosted by the Social Enterprise Council of NSW and the ACT. You might like to stop by Little Luxton café, Café Stepping Stone, and Women’s Shed Canberra to find out more for yourself and to support the good work they do.

Gungaderra Homestead

Back inside our little office, goodness also abounds. The CEC team has grown this year, and we’ve recently welcomed two new Project Officers. You met Bianca last month, and this issue we introduce you to Tina.

Next week, we’ll be hosting our final Saturday Bike Sale of the year on the morning of 6 Dec, a great chance to pick up a quality pre-loved bike before the summer holidays. If you already have a bike you love, but you aren’t sure how to repair any niggles, come along to a Bike Kitchen session on Dec 4 or 11, or to our Women and Gender Diverse Cycle Jam on Dec 10, both of which offer warm, welcoming spaces to build your skills and confidence. And don’t forget our drop-in Community Garden Sessions every Thursday morning, running until Dec 18 before we take a short break over the Christmas period.

Looking ahead, in late January we’ll be hosting a community clothes swap, plus an (ever-popular) visible mending workshop.

What else would you like to come along to in 2026? We’d love to hear from you. Our community survey is open: tell us what you want to see in coming months, what workshops or events you’d like to see us run, and how we can support you on your sustainability and climate resilience journey.

Lastly! If you read my last director’s note, you might have noticed I’ve taken very seriously Saint Bob Brown’s advice to get my kids to the beach or bush EVERY WEEK. Last week, I got ambitious and did a day-trip to Collector and Bungonia National Park. Here’s a pic from one of its many lookouts. Next on my hit list is the Cherry Festival in Young.

Bungonia National Park, just outside of Goulburn

Do you have favourite day trip ideas in the region? Walks, swims, lookouts, hidden gems? Share yours with us — we’d love to feature a few in a future newsletter.

Wishing you a restorative end to your year. Don’t work too hard!

Jennifer
director@canberraenvironment.org