How you can participate
Parks Victoria’s vision is to maintain an outstanding park and waterway system, which is protected and enhanced for people, for ever. These parks are reserved to protect their important natural values and the wePlan Alpine project is your chance to contribute to fulfilling that vision. By having your say, you are adding to the environmental, social and economic wellbeing of Victorians.
Blog
The blog will enable anyone who is interested in the parks to contribute their thoughts, ideas and opinions. These can be shared with other people and you can talk with experts, other interested people or with the Parks Victoria planning team about specific or general things.
Wiki
The knowledge gallery wiki and plan wiki now available. A wiki is a document which allows many people to collaborate on editing it. In the plan wiki, Parks Victoria has completed a table of contents with some base information, the community can edit most of the plan. In the knowledge gallery wiki, there is a list of topics where Parks Victoria will load discussion papers, reports and research.
You will be able to contribute new ideas, discuss concepts or ideas within the plan and the knowledge gallery. Using the "discuss" tab behind each page you can ask questsions or debate an issue. Using the "edit" tab you can proof read and edit. Don't forget to sign your discussions using your wiki name
Edits and comments by registered users will be used by the project team to complete a printable Draft Greater Alpine National Parks Management Plan. The draft plan will then be released for the 60 day public comment period.
Face-to-face with rangers
Of course your usual relationship with local ranger staff continues throughout this project. Feel free to drop into your local office and discuss ideas or ask questions about the planning process.
Community open house
A series of Open Houses will be held in 2009 at key locations in the planning area. The Open House will provide people with an opportunity to ask planners and rangers questions about the planning process and to provide feedback on what they would like to see. All will be held from 4PM - 7PM.
- Orbost - Monday 5th October 2009
Orbost Football Club, Lochiel Street, Orbost
- Omeo - Tuesday 6th October 2009
Omeo Shire Hall, Day Avenue Omeo
- Bright - Wednesday 7th October 2009
Senior Citizens Hall, Cobden St, Bright
- Melbourne - Thursday 8th October 2009
The Hub @ Docklands, 17 Waterview Walk, Docklands (Melways map 2E: H7)
- Mansfield - Monday 12th October 2009
Department of Sustainability and Environment, 128 Highett Street, Mansfield
- Traralgon - Tuesday 13th October 2009
Department of Sustainability and Environment, 71 Hotham Road, Traralgon
- Wodonga - Wednesday 28th October 2009
Senior Citizens Hall, Havelock Street, Wodonga
We have a meeting this Friday to confirm exact locations for each town. As soon as we have those we’ll be posting an update and advertising more broadly.
Public Participatory Geographic Information System
The Public Participatory Geographic Information System (PPGIS) is an exciting and interactive web-based program where you can identify and map the places you value and any impacts you may have seen. Your experiences and observations will be used by Parks Victoria in the development of the management plan content. This is the first time web-based PPGIS for protected area planning has been used in Australia and Parks Victoria is collaborating on this project with Central Washington University and the University of South Australia.
Netiquette
Netiquette is a contraction of the terms 'network etiquette' and in simple terms is a set of social norms that facilitate interaction of networks, such as this website. Some general rules of thumb relevant to this project are:
TEXT IN CAPITALS means you are shouting. It can be tempting to highlight your point by capitalising some words. However this is interpreted as shouting in netiquette terms!
Reread before you save, think before you post and know it before you type it. We're not concerned about getting your ideas perfect, but by considering your ideas before saving them you'll ensure your published content is fit for the rest of the world to see.
You're now a published writer. It's important to remember that while internet based media often feels private, it isn't. Posting to this site has more potential reach than any newspaper, and often other forms of media such as newspapers quote from the internet. So please ensure that you are comfortable sharing your ideas with the rest of the world.
