School Strike for Climate organiser Aoibhinn Crimmins on action, opportunity and hope
A conversation with Chris Hubbard, member of the Climate Change and COP28 Youth Advisory Group
Looking ahead with the Canberra College Sustainability Action Group
Bringing the community along for the ride when it comes to electric transport
The future is electric — that’s the firm conviction of the volunteer-run, not-for-profit organisation AEVA (the Australian Electric Vehicles Association). AEVA is passionate about reducing emissions and decreasing the country’s reliance on fossil fuels by promoting community uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) across Australia.
AEVA’s ACT branch is working to achieve this in Canberra, where an ambitious government target has been set to reach net-zero emissions by 2045. At present, transport represents the largest source of Scope 1 emissions in the ACT, making it a crucial sector to address if we are to reach the goal of net-zero.
In 2021, with the support of a Community Zero Emissions Grant, AEVA’s ACT Branch launched the ‘Zero Emissions, Go Electric’ project. Its purpose was to educate the ACT public about electric vehicles and their benefits, which it did through a range of means including EV experience events and the Zero Emissions EVenture.
EV experience events
Between August 2020 and June 2022, AEVA ran eleven EV experience events across the Canberra region, including two that preceded the grant funding. At these events, AEVA volunteers set up a public stall and displayed a range of different electric vehicles (including various models of cars and motorbikes). The public was provided the opportunity to go for a ride, ask questions and learn more about electric transport, charging infrastructure and relevant ACT Government incentive schemes.
The Zero Emissions EVenture
A major component of the ‘Zero Emissions, Go Electric’ Project was the Zero Emissions EVenture — a community event in which teams of participants traversed a course around Canberra using only electric powered transport and walking. The route started and finished outside the National Library and passed through the Kingston wharf, Parliament House, Civic and Lyneham. Each leg of the journey featured a different mode of electrified transport including cars, buses, scooters, bikes, GoBoats and the light rail. At each checkpoint, participants were given quiz questions about zero-emissions transport.
A total of 84 entrants participated, and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive. As one participant stated, “the support crew were informative and helpful, and the event itself was a lot of fun to participate in… [We] learned a lot from talking with the drivers of the e-cars and from others in the group”.
EV informational resources
Want to be part of ACT’s electric future? You can learn more by exploring the educational resources AEVA developed as part of the ‘Zero Emissions, Go Electric’ project.