Tree guardian: Joanna, age 24

Describe the personality or look of your tree.

My tree has smooth, slightly pinkish bark and a healthy canopy of luscious green leaves. Their long, narrow limbs reach out over the nearby pedestrian crossing to provide much appreciated shelter to students, staff and visitors on their way to Monash University. Standing patient and wise, this tree watches over hundreds of people every day and knows as much as the whole university community put together.

Why is this tree important to you?

This tree is important to me because they've been there every day that I've attended the Monash University Clayton Campus, from when I started high school there in 2012 until graduating from my undergraduate degree in 2020. It baffles me to think of the thousands of people who would have walked past this tree in that time, or rode past it on a bus like myself. For me, this tree symbolises both growth and consistency; new learning and old wisdom. I hope that they watch over many more people in the future, with an open mind and an open heart.

What does a sustainable future look like in Monash?

A sustainable future in Monash looks like what we value most: family, community and nature. It's a place of opportunity where anyone can feel connected through initiatives that value culture and difference, whilst celebrating and preserving this beautiful planet that is common to all of us. The City of Monash will be renowned for services to the community that are efficient, nature-based and sensitive to the needs of real people. We can all live more sustainably, with a focus on resilience, locality and simplicity. It will be a place where we value what we know over what we own, what we contribute over what we earn and what we love over what we fear. And there'll be plenty of trees!

What are you doing right now to create that future?

To create this future, I am doing my best to learn about how communities around the world are responding to complex global challenges through local, nature sensitive actions. I am volunteering my time with a number of environmental groups so that I can actively work to implement some of these actions in my own neighbourhood. In a personal sense, I do my best to live in such a way that if everyone did the same, we would live within the Earth's means. For me, this means eating a predominantly plant based diet, using public or active transport as much as possible, divesting from fossil fuels and questioning the pressures of hyper-consumption by buying and owning less. Most importantly, I am trying my best to start conversations about climate change and biodiversity loss with friends, family and others so that we can have an open dialogue about how these realities affect the things they love, and what we can do to protect them.

Where is your tree located?

My tree is located on the southern side of Wellington Rd, on the western side of the pedestrian crossing that accesses the Monash University bus loop. This corresponds to being out the front of 22 Wellington Rd Service Road.