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Congratulations to Dr Phil Roetman, Hazelwood Park resident and Council’s Environment & Sustainability Officer, who was named Unsung Hero of South Australian Science Communication at an awards ceremony on Friday night, which kicked-off National Science Week in South Australia.

For the City of Burnside community Phil supports the development of citizen science through the Australian Citizen Science Association and leads the Burnside Urban Foresters, a project focused on trees and the wildlife they support. Residents can register their interest to participate at: http://trees.burnside.sa.gov.au/

“It was an honour to receive this award as recognition of the work I have done over the years with the community, which has been really rewarding,” Phil said.

He has also been recognised for his work in running innovative citizen science projects and events at UniSA for many years. These projects involved thousands of citizens in activities such as counting koalas, tracking cats, spotlighting in rockpools and recording bat calls. The data collected has helped in understanding the distribution of species, the home-ranges of domestic cats, the management of abundant species and the locations of threatened species.

Phil was the founder of Discovery Circle, a major citizen science initiative which delivered such projects as Corella management engagement, the Great Koala Count and Cat Tracker.

The City of Burnside is part of the Smart Cities program which uses technology to create opportunities for people to connect with council and each other to exchange information, experiences and opportunities.

Smart Cities use technology and data to do good things better.

As part of the project 29 smart sensors have been installed in Tusmore Park to measure the live usage of facilities including tennis courts, the wading pool, playgrounds, barbecues and carparks.

Car parking and traffic technologies that identify vacant parking spaces and road congestion points have been installed, along with sensors that register if the tennis courts and barbecues are being used. You can check to see if they are available to use before you head to the park for a barbecue or a hit of tennis

This data will be available to the public in the coming year.

Burnside was other smart technologies already running that you can access like Action Burnside where you can report potholes and footpath damage online, for example, and track in real time the priority and schedule for repair.

Smart rubbish bins are being trialled at the Glenunga Hub. These bins know when they need to be emptied sending an alert to the Depot team - keeping public spaces clean and tidy, and streamlining collection services.

The Urban Forest Interactive (UFI) map was launched in 2018 storing the data of more than 40,000 public and street trees. You can view data for individual trees throughout the City, including tree species, age, height, environmental benefits, and more. You can also find useful information about the importance of conservation as well as how Council are planning to grow the Urban Forest. Future plans for the UFI may include Citizen Science opportunities for the community to be able to report on the trees using this platform.

Burnside’s Library and the Glenunga Hub are also smart community hubs that connect people physically and virtually with each other, with council services, and with the digital landscape.

We chatted to JP, Fit and Fab instructor and Auldana resident Kana Nathan about his sporting achievements, his love of gardening and his plan to never retire!

Kana was very active at school and university. “I used to play a lot of sports at school and at uni– I was an athlete. Then marriage and children and work got in the way and sport went by the side.”

At the age of 61 he saw a promotion for the Australian Masters Games in Adelaide and made some inquiries. “I didn’t want to make a fool of myself so I asked the organisers for the results of participants in my events of previous years,” he says. “When I saw the results, I thought ‘I can do this’.”

He has since competed in the Australian Masters Games at Regional, Interstate and international venues for 20 consecutive years in pole vault, high jump, triple jump, long jump, 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres, the field pentathlon and in multiple throwing events.

As an 81 year old Kana has close to 500 medals “I lose count” and keeps them in a box. “My grandchildren loved to play with them when they were little.”

In October Kana will be competing in National Masters Games Adelaide in seven events (in the 81 – 84 year category): javelin, discus, hammer, weight throw, shotput, throws pentathlon. He will also compete in the high jump but gave up the pole vaulting, long jump, triple jump and the running events in 2016 after surgery.

He has had his share of health issues with 2016 being particularly bad. “I had a heart attack and now have five stents in my arteries. I had an abdominal aneurysm which almost burst and a mild stroke - it was a bad year.” But Kana credits his fitness with getting him out of hospital quickly and back into his normal routine; going to the gym at least three times a week for a minimum of one hour, all year round, to build muscle power and strength.

His love of fitness also translates into his volunteer work. He runs Fit and Fab classes for seniors twice a week at the Civic Centre with his team. “I want to keep seniors out of nursing homes by improving their strength, balance and mobility – and to have fun! It’s a bit of Tai Chi, weights, bands, meditation and a little bit of jazz.”

His youngest clients are in the mid-70s, lots in the 80s and he has two 94-year-olds. “I call them mature people not oldies.”

Kana is also a Justice of the Peace (since 1980) and has volunteered at Burnside for 11 years.

But his big love is his garden of tropical and sub-tropical fruit trees. “I believe we need to grow as many trees as possible to keep our air clean. But instead of growing 10 apple trees I can graft 10 types of apples on one tree,” he says. He also grows multiple grafted stone fruits, persimmons and lots of exotic fruit trees. He also does a lot of grafting for friends and family. In 2016 Kana won the inaugural City of Burnside Garden Award for his edible garden.

Kana is also a biology graduate and worked as a teacher. His lust for learning sees no bounds. “I had a bad back and went to a chiropractor who fixed it so I decided to study chiropractic.” He still operates his business one day a week and has no intention of retiring. “Retirement is for people with no imagination,” he says. “My ambition is to serve the community.”

Achievements:

Awarded ‘The Celebrate Age Award 2017’ by Active Ageing Australia, in recognition for his contribution to Active and Positive Ageing through his exercise program at Burnside. He received this award from the SA Governor.

In 2018 Burnside City Council awarded him ‘The Certificate of Appreciation’ in recognition of his Outstanding Achievement as a volunteer at the council in the community centre.

Represented Australia in the Masters Games in New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Cook Islands and Malaysia.

Represented Malaysia at the Asian Masters track and field games.

Certified fitness leader by Active Ageing Australia.

Athletic Capitan of Royal Military College Malaysia and received the college colours for athletics 1957.

Capitan of the Mysore University Athletic team 1964.

Holds the South Australian State Master track and field record in triple jump, pole vault and hammer throw.

Mount Osmond resident and internationally renown artist, Emma Hack, will launch her SALA Festival ‘Be Still…' exhibition at Burnside Village, at 5.30 pm tomorrow (Tuesday 6 August) in the Fashion Mall. Emma will be onsite Monday, Wednesday & Fridays 11 am -1 pm; Artist Talk Saturday 10 August 3 pm. The exhibition runs 6 - 25 August.

This SALA sees Emma create her latest collection featuring multiple bodies, a true test of her talent and vision. COLLAGE (2008) and her collaboration with Designer Rugs will accompany the new works exhibited within the beautiful Burnside Village Fashion Mall.

Emma works in the unique medium of her refined body paint installation through a combination of painting on canvas, body painting and studio-based photography. Exhibiting extensively worldwide since 1999, Emma’s astounding artworks have since captured the attention of collectors and art lovers worldwide.

For the past three years Jann Seymour-Smith has volunteered each Wednesday morning on the City of Burnside Community Centre Desk and loves it. We talked to Jann about being a local and why she volunteers.

Left: Eliza Bartlett visiting the JDRF office in London after walking 100 days on the trail

Linden Park local Eliza Bartlett is 800 km from completing her solo 4000 km walking challenge on a trail in Europe to raise awareness and funds for Type 1 diabetes research. The 27 year old St Peter’s Girls’ School Old Scholar, who was nine years old when she was diagnosed with the condition, is taking the trek with only a pair of sturdy boots, walking sticks, and a backpack.

Eliza’s parents, Jane and David (also of Linden Park), have just returned from a trip to check-in with their daughter. “We have just had a short trip to France to visit Eliza,” says Jane. “It was definitely inspirational, even as her parents. She has so much determination and resilience, never complains or beaten by the challenges.”

Eliza’s 4000 km walk started on 1 April in Brindisi, Italy, and will end in Aberdeen, Scotland at the end of September, encompassing the Via Francigena route - an ancient route from Canterbury to Rome that crosses the Swiss Alps and, in medieval times, pilgrims travelled to see the Holy See and the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul.

The Sturt Cricket Club women’s captain that led her team to a 2019 SACA premiership win, Eliza is currently in Watford with 65 km to travel to Birmingham where she will stop to see the 1^st Ashes test before heading to Scotland.

Along the way Eliza must maintain her condition on a daily basis with regular blood sugar testing and insulin management. There is very little room for much in her backpack with half of it devoted to medical supplies to manage her Type 1 diabetes. More information on the trek and how Eliza is managing can be found on her webpage https://www.elizabartlettjdrfwalk.com/about or on Facebook @ElizaBartlettJDRFWalk.

3200 km along, Jane said Eliza is determined to complete this trek. “I do however still think she is a little crazy but it is something she has been determined to do since completing the Adelaide to Melbourne walk 6 years ago,” says Jane.

“Her final destination is Royal Aberdeen Golf Club because of her passion for golf and to ensure she completes more than 4000 km.”

The City of Burnside's waste and resource management subsidiary, East Waste, will lead the way in the recovery and resurgence of recycling after last year’s China Sword shutdown on imports of recycling; and the crisis currently faced by councils in Victoria with the shutdown of a major recycling collection company.

It is the first long-term recycling contract in South Australia since China Sword triggered a recycling crisis throughout Australia and around the world.

East Waste, which collects more than 20 percent of Adelaide’s 120,000 tonnes of kerbside recycling, has struck a ground-breaking recycling contract with resource recovery processor Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority (NAWMA).

Under the contract, the recyclables that East Waste collects from homes and commercial premises will be processed at the lowest possible cost and with transparent public reporting on where recycling materials end up.

There also is an assurance that all East Waste recycling will be processed within Australia as a result of NAWMA’s commitment to next year achieve 100 percent onshore resource recovery processing.

This is a significant advance in the circular economy that minimises waste and makes the most of community resources.

East Waste is a subsidiary of the Cities of Burnside, Campbelltown, Mitcham, Norwood, Payneham & St Peters and Prospect, the Town of Walkerville and the Adelaide Hills Council. NAWMA is a subsidiary of the Cities of Playford and Salisbury and the Town of Gawler.

The two subsidiaries have agreed to an unprecedented contractual concept in which the risks and the rewards are shared. If gate prices for recycling rise, the benefit is shared and, if prices are depressed, the impost is also shared.

The agreement also provides transparency on where recycling materials end up - a topic that is difficult for private companies as they will not divulge information for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

With NAWMA, there is no such constraint so the partner councils can confidently and openly report to their communities. This transparency provides reassurance to our community that their recycling efforts are honoured all the way up the chain.

Leabrook resident Shannon Napier is the only South Australian to be selected to go on the United Nations Young Diplomats Tour of Europe later this year. Eighteen-year-old Shannon has always been interested in law, is an avid debater and public speaker.

“I have always been interested in social justice, humanitarian issues and the law,” Shannon says.

Her successful application means she will travel to seven countries in Europe, visiting major political and historical sites including The Hague and Auschwitz.

“I am really honoured to have been chosen,” says Shannon. She went through an extensive selection process with 42 other Australians before being chosen for the final 16.

Shannon has been active in United Nations Youth for three years, having attended one national conference and three state conferences. She has met only one of her fellow candidates and will not meet the rest until she arrives at Sydney Airport.

The UN tour heads off on 30 December and takes in Germany, France, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Belgium and the Netherlands.

As for the future, Shannon is applying to the Australian National University in Canberra to study international affairs or a Bachelor of Languages (she is currently studying Year 12 Japanese and Chinese.)

She carefully considered her preference of university and decided ANU in Canberra was her first choice. “The Australian Parliament is just down the road as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs – it’s perfect!”