QORF eNews August 2016
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Visioning the Outdoors 2016
Ngungun Summit by Sarah Haskman
Spring is approaching - and all the outdoor activities that you can participate in, organise, and share with the community as part of Outdoor-tober (have you planned your activity yet?).
The annual Queensland Outdoor Recreation Awards is open for nominations (who are you nominating?) and bookings for the QORF hosted symposium "Outdoors Queensland - Strengthening Connections" (on October 28th before the Awards Dinner) will be opening soon.
EO's Report
Dom Courtney, Executive Officer
“… the environment does not need fixing. It is our behaviour in relation to it that needs to change.” – His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
QORF can provide information and encouragement, but ultimately, it is up to each individual to make decisions to change behaviours regarding our environment. QORF can highlight issues and discuss problems relating to the outdoor sector, but we need you, the interested reader, to become an active participant in the solutions.
Your participation could include letting us know about issues, informing us what is happening in your area, making submissions to all levels of government on policy or legislation relating to the outdoor world and completing our surveys.
You could nominate someone for a Queensland Outdoor Recreation Award to celebrate the great things that are happening in our environment, setting an example for others to follow - you can even nominate yourself!
You could attend our symposium, “Outdoors Queensland – Strengthening Connections”, which will celebrate the diverse benefits that the outdoors provides for our community, looking at how the outdoors connects people, places and activities.
Perhaps the symposium will inspire attendees to think about their behaviours in relation to the environment. To avoid anyone getting the wrong impression, I need to be clear that the Dalai Lama has not yet confirmed his attendance at the symposium, but there is still time for his people to connect with us.
As always, please contact us if you wish to become a QORF Green Circle Member or we can be of assistance in any way.
Yours in the outdoors environment,
Dom
DATE CLAIMER: Fri. October 28
Outdoor Recreation Symposium
The theme is "Outdoors Queensland - Strengthening Connections" and will focus on how we can strengthen the relationships between the various players in the outdoor sector and better develop the transitions people go through as they move from a childhood to adulthood lived outdoors.
Set aside Friday 28 October for the bi-annual QORF-hosted Outdoor Recreation Symposium to be held in conjunction with the annual Outdoor Recreation Awards. More detail to follow soon.
Queensland Outdoor Recreation Awards
The annual Outdoor Recreation Awards are now OPEN for nominations. The Awards have been updated so please read the Awards Criteria page carefully before selecting the appropriate award for your nominee.
The Queensland Outdoor Recreation Awards are your awards - your opportunity to acknowledge your team, your boss, your colleagues, your clients, a new program, a great venue, a staff member ... NOMINATE today!
Did you know you can:
- Nominate in more than 1 category?
- Make more then 1 nomination?
- Nominate yourself or your business?
The award winners will be announced at the Queensland Outdoor Recreation Awards Dinner held at the Rydges South Bank Brisbane on Friday October 28th. Book a table HERE
QORF Life Members
Life Membership is the highest honour QORF can bestow, and Life Members are held in the highest esteem.
There have been five Life Members in our 20 year history. This month we feature Dave Batt who has been interested in nature conservation and outdoor recreation since childhood.
Australian Adventure Activity Standards
Core Standards Released for Public Consultation
The core standards containing all of the common content for all the Australian AAS has just been released for public comment. All members of the outdoors community can now have their say about the core standards. The release is a significant step, as no matter what the adventure activity, the core standards will provide the overarching system that they all use.
Details and downloads available:
Get involved in the public consultation
http://yoursay.australianaas.org.au/core-standards/
Download the core standards consultation draft
http://yoursay.australianaas.org.au/core-standards/download-draft/
Provide feedback on the draft
http://yoursay.australianaas.org.au/core-standards/your-say/
Q&A
http://yoursay.australianaas.org.au/core-standards/qa/
Planning is underway for the 2017 QORF Wall Planner. For advertising rates please go to and/or contact QORF by EMAIL or call: 07 3369 9455
Anglesea Kayak Incident
Maritime Safety Victoria has released its report into the rescue of eight kayakers and the loss of four kayaks off Anglesea in May ... strong winds and high seas along the south west coast but the people in charge of this activity didn’t appreciate its significance ...
“Kayaking and canoeing are becoming very popular so it is important that everyone involved reads this report and learns the lessons”
READ MORE
Traditional land opens to tourists
Nearly 2 years after an historic land hand-back, an Aboriginal group is taking tourists to its traditional land on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula. The Olkola traditional owners have partnered with Intrepid travel for the six-day trip which will traverse rainforest, ancient rock art sites and endangered bird habitat. READ MORE
10 Reasons
10 Reasons Why Being Outdoors is a Big Deal: Most people believe that the outdoors is good for us. Now a raft of research proves that time out in nature is essential to our physical, psychological health and wellbeing.
READ MORE for 10 reasons why time outdoors is time well spent.
Ropes Standard update
AS 2316.2.1 & AS 2316.2.2 on artificial climbing structures and challenge courses have been approved through the Committee ballot process and are now being prepared for publication. A publication date is being confirmed with Standards Australia.
GROW with Nature Play
Check out the new GROW with Nature Play app Facebook page. LIKE it and share it with all the mums & dads you know. The app has been developed for grown-ups to develop your child's connection with nature from birth to three years.
The Shop
New titles coming soon: The Living Rock (Micheal Meadows); Survival Wisdom (Rich Hungerford) - do you know a title we could be carrying? Email industry@qorf.org.au with the details.
NEW: eNewsletters
Do you have an eNewsletter? Can we help distribute your eNews to a much wider audience? Go to eNewsletters for more information. Note: Green Circle Members only!
Social Media
With the ever increasing importance
of social media as a marketing tool and way of keeping in touch, QORF is developing a solid social media presence. We encourage you to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter,
subscribe to us on YouTube, follow us on Instagram and follow us on LinkedIn.
LIKE, FOLLOW and SUBSCRIBE to us and we will reciprocate!! A good way for us all to keep in touch and improve our effectiveness.
Use a QORF hashtag (#QORF) with your Instagram photos
and they will be displayed on our homepage
Outdoor-tober
October might seem like a long way off but Outdoor-tober will be here before you know it! What are your plans? What new events or activities will you be trying this year? Can we help Seed Fund this NEW event or activity?
National Threatened Species Day on Sept 7; Bushcraft & Survival Introduction Camp at Mr Barney on Sept 19-21; the International Camp Directors Course on Sept 25-28 and the Australian National Parkour Gathering from Sept 29 - Oct 3.
BeachCare, a series of days spent helping restore QLD beaches;
New on the QORF Website
The QORF website is constantly being updated. Recent additions include: eNewsletters to highlight Green Circle Member newsletters; Trail Development, resources for trail builders and Jobs Wanted, a new place to promote yourself and let others know you are looking for a job.
Want to share your stories, resources and more with us ... simply go to the (I WANT TO...) SUBMIT page and follow the prompts!
Apps for Outdoors
Two newly added apps for budding ornithologists or 'twitchers': The Michael Morcombe and David Stewart eGuide to the Birds of Australia, Bird Song Id Australia and updates to Geocaching
Jobs
Several new jobs are listed on our Jobs Available page in the Industry / Jobs & Careers section
Looking for a job and want to let people know - promote yourself on Jobs Wanted
Member Opportunities
If you have jobs to fill, gear to sell, links & eNewsletters to share, events to promote or information to pass on, send us the details and we'll put it online.
New Members
Welcome aboard to new QORF Green Circle Members: Camp Cooby and Seaforth Pines.
Go to the Membership section to become a QORF Green Circle Member today. New members will be acknowledged here, on the QORF home page and on Facebook.
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