Setting the environment

Keeping all this primary evidence in mind, I think it would be great if the site was for Melbourne school and pre-university students who are passionate about the cause of the Environment. A site that helps them take environmental sustainability to the streets, everyday practical living. A site that helps them promote sustainable living in their houses, in their schools (later in universities) and in their communities and grow to be socially and environmentally-responsible citizens. I think school and pre-university, TAFE students in Melbourne can benefit in the following ways:

• stay abreast of all environment related news, more specifically how it affects them in their everyday life
• stay abreast of all the events, festivals, conferences, meetings, etc regarding the environment, within Melbourne, that will be of interest to them, for their level and that they can participate in, in some degree or the other
• gain awareness about other projects that are being carried out by other students from other schools in Melbourne and get involved in projects that interest them as an individual or as part of larger group
• collaborate and interact with other students in Melbourne
• build a student portfolio by using this forum to gain practical hands-on experience, which can later be translated into relevant work experience for those interested in pursuing higher education (tertiary) in environmental studies, etc in university
• stay abreast of relevant courses, certifications, university, study-abroad exchange programs related to environmental studies

A fairly significant contributing section of the student population in Melbourne are school and pre-university, TAFE students. This is an important section because their needs and remarkable achievements, potential to collaborate and achieve more, have not been addressed in any other forum.

Thus, the proposed site basically targets school and pre-university, TAFE students, aged between 13-21, in Melbourne who fall under any or a combination of the following traits:

• are passionate about the cause of the environment but not sure what to do about it, looking for some channel
• have contributed and contributing in one way or the other towards this cause
• collaborate with others in the same age, socio-economic bracket, with similar interests
• like to build a student portfolio to use later for tertiary studies
  

This audience profile is similar to the target audience of the Melbourne-based radio station, SYN FM (a PDF):

“SYN FM claims to represent students and youth with a focus on the 12 to 24 year old age group. According to the 1996 ABS Census, 220,169 people, or 7.3% of Melbourne’s population, attended secondary school; 79,855 people (2.7%) attended TAFE; and 143,798 people (4.8%) attended a university or other tertiary institution. The 1996 Census also indicates that in Victoria there was an 86.9% participation rate in education for the 12 to17 age group, 34.3% for the 18 to 25 age group and 5% for people aged over 26 years. Based on the participation rates in education in Victoria and the size of the 15 to 24 year old age group in Melbourne (498,178 persons), SYN FM estimates the size of its community at about 293,925 persons, or 9.3% of Melbourne’s total population.”