9 highlights from our first year as a National Park City

1. Gaining thousands of supporters

Becoming a National Park City relied on the support of the community, so having 2338 people sign our charter (and counting!) provided a great foundation for the movement.

Through our many events, forums and presentations, we’ve been building relationships with local and state government, business and industry, and the wider community to collaborate on building nature connections in many different ways.

Although we’re now a National Park City, you can still sign the Charter to have your say and opt in to receive ANPC updates.

2. Launching our ‘50 Ways’ to help you connect

To help our community to get involved in Adelaide National Park City, we launched a list of ‘50 Ways’ to get started.

These posters include ideas ranging from picnicing in your local park to gardening, volunteering and joining citizen science projects, in a bid to help everyone connect with nature everywhere, every day.

Our posters are available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Vietnamese, with specific versions designed for displaying at home, work, school or outdoors.

3. Connecting with community at Science Alive

In National Science Week in August, we were part of Australia’s largest science event, Science Alive – helping attendees learn about greener and cooler streets, wildlife-friendly gardens and how Adelaide National Park City can inspire everyone to contribute toward and benefit from nature.

This year 20,000 people visited, keeping the team on their toes to engage everyone our interactive displays, including canopy and heat mapping, demonstration of a raingarden, a tadpole aquarium, laser heat guns, and a colouring wall for children to colour their National Park City.

4. Hosting a month-long celebration of our new global status

We officially launched Adelaide National Park City with our National Park City Month in June this year, with a bumper line-up of events and activities.

In total, there were 155 opportunities for the community to take part, with offerings by Kaurna Miyurna, local councils, National Parks and Wildlife Service, SA Water, Green Adelaide, non-government organisations, libraries, and numerous community groups and business organisations.

These included tree planting days, bird watching and bee keeping workshops, sand-art and nature journaling sessions, with events spanned across 17 council areas and in all national parks within metropolitan Adelaide.

5. Unveiling our vibrant and engaging mural

Our bespoke Adelaide National Park City mural was unveiled at Adelaide Airport, Gate 19, in June to showcase our commitment to the movement.

The large and colourful mural welcomes travellers and visitors to Adelaide and was created by local artist Lucinda Penn.

6. Collaborating with Nature Festival

More than 20,000 people participated in 366 events across SA as part of the Nature Festival in October, and as a proud partner of the event we were delighted to help facilitate these nature connections.

The festival showcased countless ways to connect with nature – from cultural learning, to adventure, growing food in your own backyard, mindful moments, art and so much more.

7. Supporting the Grow It Local Festival

There were a number of key activations to support Adelaide National Park City, including the Grow It Local Festival, which included member meetups in 6 council areas with chef, media personality and Grow it Local co-founder Paul West.

Grow It Local is a national online platform, which has been in South Australia for less than a year, and provides resources about food gardening, as well as access to workshops to help set up your own garden, along with live ask-an-expert online and face-to-face sessions.

8. Shining a light on nature in the Premier’s Reading Challenge

We supported the Premier’s Reading Challenge STEM competition with the inclusion of a Nature category.

The enthusiasm for reading books about science and nature and producing inspired artworks has led to the first ever Adelaide National Park City book production – A Celebration of Science and Nature by students of South Australia.

9. Promoting our journey at national and international events

We had a strong presence at both the Parks and Leisure Australia conference in Melbourne, and the World Urban Parks Congress in Mexico, to showcase the work of Green Adelaide and share our journey in becoming a National Park City.

In October next year, Adelaide is hosting the World Urban Parks and Parks & Leisure Australia Joint International Congress, and we look forward to a wonderful and inspiring international gathering showcasing Adelaide National Park City and the excellent work of so many in managing our natural places and connecting community with nature.

Check out the promo video with Green Adelaide Presiding Member Chris Daniels and keep an eye out on the organisation websites for booking details.

What’s next for Adelaide National Park City?

We’ve only just begun the journey. We look forward to collaborating with the community on how we can work together in 2023 and sharing our story with other cities around the world campaigning to become National Park Cities.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, where we are sharing our stories and updates, while highlighting each of our 50 Ways to be involved in their own Way of the Week posts.

We hope you get to spend some nature-connected time through summer and look forward to sharing this journey with you in the coming year.