Have you ever wondered what inspires and motivates the team working towards a cooler, greener, wilder Adelaide? We can tell you that they don’t just leave their passions at the door when they head home. From coordinating a food swap to practising what she preaches by growing native plants on her verge, our Nature Stewards Team Leader cares deeply about the planet – when she’s in the office and at home.
Read on to get to know Christy Spier, and her work here at Green Adelaide.
I’m the Team Leader of Nature Stewards at Green Adelaide, which means I coordinate a team of facilitators who work with communities, schools, educators, local governments, businesses and organisations, young leaders, and individuals to all care, act and advocate for and with nature.
I started working in the environment sector 10 years ago. Before that I was the Director of Encounter Youth who coordinate one of SA’s largest parties: Schoolies Festival.
After having three children and studying Permaculture Design I wanted to use my project management skills to bring people together to care for landscapes.
I was the first Urban Sustainability Officer for Natural Resources Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, which preceded Green Adelaide, and have moved through a few different roles before becoming a Team Leader.
A typical day now involves meeting with team members to support their work, liaising with partners to design and spark new projects, coordinating networks so we can all share knowledge and skills and keeping everyone across the team up to date and looking for ways to share what they are doing across Adelaide.
I enjoyed being a part of kicking off the Joinery and Adelaide Sustainability Centre in the heart of the city, volunteering and then working with Craig Wilkins and the team at Conservation SA; training and connecting over 50 Living Smart facilitators to support resilient communities starting at home and championing the small but mighty team sparking the Nature Festival that is now heading into its 5th year.
I love bringing unlikely people or organisations together on initiatives and seeing how multiple perspectives strengthen real outcomes for nature and human relationships.
My favourite thing is to spark new connections that motivate people to kick-start that idea that has been ruminating for years – for example, together with coordinators at the Adelaide Sustainability Centre we sparked one of Adelaide’s first Repair Cafés (there are now 10 across the city), a Library of Things (like a regular library but with a range of items that can be borrowed) and then a demonstration roof-top garden.
I helped launch the SA Urban Food Network in 2018 to connect and amplify all the local food initiatives happening across Adelaide. I am now part of a small team of volunteers keeping this alive.
SA Urban Food Network’s Enabling resilient food systems toolbox is another project I am proud to have collaborated on with 6 local governments and the Heart Foundation.
Prioritising regenerative, local and nutritious food for all is critical for the health of both humans and the landscapes that feed us into the future.
It is important for us to all look at how local food helps reduce resource use, land clearance and reliance on fossil fuels while strengthening local businesses and livelihoods.
Outside of work I garden with local natives on my inner-city verge – my favourites are native lilac and the Christmas bush that flower in time for Christmas… plus I love nibbling on the red berries of the seaberry saltbush.
I also coordinate the monthly Everard Park Produce Swap, write poetry and connect with neighbours where I can, in between supporting 3 teenagers and spending a lot of time in sporting clubs and skate parks.
I am motivated to learn how to live well in our city while caring for each other and the land that nurtures us all. This care was infused into me from growing up in Pukatja, a small Pitjantjatjara community at the top of South Australia, until I was 12, and then Alice Springs until I moved to Adelaide as an 18-year-old, to study professional writing and communications.
We are all connected whether in suburbs or out stations, black or white, animal or plant, mountain or building and I am privileged to have a role where we can keep noticing and learning from those interconnections and strengthen them for the sake of us all.
Want to work in the environment sector? Our podcast is an enviro-exclusive on the people, projects, and news of metro SA. Our host, Communication Manager Melissa Martin, interviews a local expert each episode.