A ground-breaking new application of the multi-State biodiversity B&B Highway project is bringing seniors and school students together.
Based in Mordialloc in Victoria’s City of Kingston, the inter-generational program, featuring school students from St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School and seniors from Mercy Place Nixon Residential Aged Care, is supporting generations and regeneration.
PlantingSeeds’ B&B Highway – Bed and Breakfasts for Birds, Bees and Biodiversity – educational and practical program has been implemented in over 120 schools in three States and is supported by the Department of Education and the CSIRO’s Atlas of Living Australia. B&Bs join together to form regenerative corridors to help arrest the alarming decline of bees, birds and other pollinators.
The City of Kingston B&B Highway ‘intergen regen’ is a first for the B&B Highway program. The PlantingSeeds’ team, with the help of students and seniors, planted flowers and shrubs, created pollinator homes and undertook citizen science activities at St Brigid’s school and Mercy Place Nixon which is located next door to the school.
Students and seniors helped one another with plantings, the making of habitats for Blue-banded bees and citizen science and shared and swapped tips and creative drawings.
The City of Kingston supplied native plants for the program. The B&B Highway supports native and threatened pollinators and plants native plants to support these important species. For example, a local butterfly, the Eltham Copper Butterfly, is threatened and supported by plantings of the Sweet Bursaria shrub, a common understorey plant of eucalyptus woodland.
The initiative came about when members of the Catholic Justice Action Group heard about the B&B Highway program and its inter-generational program.
‘When I was contacted by the Justice Action Group who are part of the St Mary of the Cross Parish, I thought it was a wonderful opportunity for our students to re-engage with the residents of Nixon/Mercy House like we did pre-pandemic,’ said St Brigid’s principal, Wendy Sullivan.
‘Both the children and the residents thoroughly enjoyed the process of planting native plants that will attract our native bees. The conversations between the two groups was truly lovely to see and we are looking forward to continuing the relationship.’
More information on the B&B Highway can be found here.