Living Smart at Home and Work

Living Smart and Living Smart at Home and Work programs are community environmental education programs that empower participants with the knowledge and skills to take action to improve the sustainability of their homes and their workplaces.

The aim of the Living Smart program is to:

• Raise knowledge and understanding of sustainability issues;
• Create positive behaviour change in participants; and
• Develop a sense of community and empower participants to actively participate in their community.
  

Living Smart is different to other environmental education programs in that it does not focus on a single environmental issue but adopts a holistic approach by looking at environment, lifestyle and community. It also includes a winning formula to facilitate behaviour change both in the home and workplace.

If you are a host, facilitator or participant keen to introduce Living Smart within the workplace, then Living Smart at Home and Work is the model to use.  

Living Smart at Home and Work is the specific extension program that focuses on businesses.  It starts with running the household Living Smart program with the additional Work Smart topic and then inviting participants to join the Living Smart at Home and Work program to suit the needs of their workplace.  The rationale is that those that are interested are most likely to make the changes necessary for sustainability (based on the Enterprise Facilitator Model by Ernesto Sirolli and Community Based Social Marketing).

The approach for Living Smart at Home and Work is based on:

• linking behaviours at home and the workplace together to support behaviour change through the Living Smart program;
• identifying clear and common sustainability issues faced by most small businesses;
• helping participants set realistic goals based on an understanding of the costs associated with practices which have the potential to damage the environment and the actual environmental impact of their business;
  
• working with the businesses to develop individualised action plans to meet participant’s individual goals for increasing the sustainability of their business;
• providing tools for measuring progress;
  
• providing individualised support in the participant business’ workplaces; and
• monitoring progress and improvement on an ongoing basis.
  

The Living Smart at Home and Work recognises that most businesses can only maintain actions and activities that result in either measurable savings or increased revenue.  It is a clear intention of the Program that participants will incorporate sustainability actions into their ongoing business planning as a way of self-improvement.

To run Living Smart at Home and Work:

Download the How to Host Living Smart at Home and Work Guide
Download the How to Facilitate Living Smart at Home and Work Guide
Download the Living Smart at Home and Work Action Guide

And to read about our experiences in running the Living Smart at Home and Work program, here is our Evaluation Report.

If you have any questions, please call the Sustainability Officer at the City of Fremantle on 08 9432 9999.