Like many organisations across the region, the last few months saw a change in regular face-to-face business for the Lower Blackwood Land Conservation District Committee (LCDC), including the group's monthly Talkin' After Hours workshop and networking events.
The popular sessions had been a great way of getting people together with an invited guest speaker to talk about sustainable agriculture and landcare topics.
As a result, the LCDC needed to find a new way of working in a COVID-19 world, leading the group to morph their Talkin' After Hours workshops into two new avenues, Talkin After Hours - Webinars, and Talkin After Hours - Podcasts.
"We will hopefully be bringing back the face-to-face networking sessions later in the year, but the webinars and podcasts are here to stay as they allow us to reach a much wider audience plus provide listeners and viewers with greater access to local, national and international experts at minimal or no cost," said Jo Wren, LCDC Executive Officer.
"We really do encourage people to participate in the live webinars for the obvious advantage they have in being able to ask and have questions answered," she said.
"But regardless of how we deliver the information, anyone can now access all Talkin' After Hours presentations and conversations at their leisure, on demand on our website.
"Unlike our on-ground activities, with Talkin' After Hours we are not restricted to just the Lower Blackwood Catchment area, so anyone who is interested can participate.
"We particularly encourage other southwest landholders to join in as the majority of our topics will relate to issues for high rainfall areas in the south west of Western Australia."
The next Talkin' After Hours webinar takes place on July 23, 2020 and features internationally renowned soil ecologist, Dr Christine Jones.
In the special 1.5 hour webinar, 'Restoring Farmland Soils in our Mediterranean Environment', Dr Jones will explain the amazing connections between plants, microbes and the soil, and how a positive feedback loop between them all can work to restore our farmland soils.
The webinar forms part of the group's 'Regenerative Agriculture in Practice' project supported by the Augusta-Margaret River Shire's Environmental Management Fund.
Anyone interested in participating in the webinar can book their ticket on the event page of the Lower Blackwood LCDC's website at www.lowerblackwood.com.au.
Subscribe to eNews at www.lowerblackwood.com.au/e-news-on-demand to receive advance notice of workshops and events.
