Get Involved

Get involved

Take part

Nature connection is for everyone, everywhere, every day.

When you make nature connection part of your life and help others make it part of theirs, you’re contributing to Adelaide being a National Park City.

There are countless ways you can be part of the Adelaide National Park City movement. You can share the ways you connect with nature to inspire others, bring sustainable practices and green spaces into your workplace, run an Adelaide National Park City event, or start a project to bring nature into your everyday life.

For starters, you can connect with nature and share your stories by:

Read on for big and small ways you can be better connected with nature.

For community groups and councils

Hold an Adelaide National Park City event

If you’re planning your next workshop, planting day, nature art exhibition, wildlife film screening or outdoor adventure, that’s a great way to contribute to Adelaide National Park City and get people connecting with nature. Get in touch about sharing your contribution and how we might help you tell your story too.

Collaborate with environmental volunteers

You could find a local environmental volunteering group and ask how you can help. Perhaps they need resources that a lot of people have in your neighbourhood, or they need more people like you and your community.

Already part of a group? Find out how you can get support through Green Adelaide.

Start a nature project – like a community garden, butterfly friendly garden or habitat friendly space

Green Adelaide has resources for big and small projects to connect with nature from your streets and community spaces:

Share food

Whether you’re looking at starting a community garden or have a lot of neighbours and local residents growing food at home, connecting to share food is a great next step in connecting with nature and each other. Check out our story on getting started sharing food.

Something new – we’d love to discuss ideas

If you’d like to collaborate on an event or project, get in touch.

For schools and education

Posters for your classroom

Along with our full 50 Ways posters, we have a poster listing the ways to take part in Adelaide National Park City at school. You can print and display it in your classroom, along with a copy of the Adelaide National Park City Charter.

Premier’s Reading Challenge STEM competition

The Premier’s Reading Challenge book listincludes great books on the natural world under categories like Animals, Science, STEM, and Sustainability/Environment.

We are also a partner in the Premier’s Reading Challenge STEM competition! Students create artworks, inventions and posters inspired by books about science and nature – which are celebrated in their own book developed by Adelaide National Park City.

Use the Premier’s Reading Challenge as a prompt to get kids reading and thinking about nature between April and June each year.

Find out more about the STEM competition on the website.

Green Adelaide’s Sustainable Schools program

Green Adelaide collaborates with schools on nature education through Sustainable Schools – a free program to help you teach about and connect to the natural world, lead informed action, and enable active citizens.

There are a wide range of resources available. Register your school and you’ll be connected with support and professional development focused on nature education.

University activities

There are plenty of ways you can get your peers connected with nature at uni – from how you choose your research project to greening your campus to joining or starting clubs. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss ideas.

Other resources

Nature Play SA has professional development opportunities and resources for educators – as well as families – to help kids get outdoors.

Our Big Backyard has free local maps for the north, south, east and west to get kids and families outdoors. Download and share their resources for school holiday and excursion activities.

For businesses and industry

Have you ever thought about greening your sites, improving waste management or encouraging more nature connection activities in your workplace?

Why not start now? You could add a climate friendly garden to your outdoor space, green your verge with natives, schedule team days outdoors or make your workplace more sustainable. We’d love to share your story of how you’re contributing to Adelaide as a National Park City.

Get in touch to discuss ideas or share your story of how you contribute to the movement.

Download the 50 Ways and At Work posters for your site.

Get Involved

For everyone, everywhere, every day

50 ways to get involved in Adelaide's National Park City movement

Here are 50 ways that you can connect with nature and each other as part of the Adelaide National Park City movement.

We’ve got you covered with activities outdoors and indoors, as well as at home, school and work.

Outdoors

  • Explore parks, gardens, forests and wetlands you haven’t visited before.
  • Walk or cycle in a local park, national park, along a trail or around a reservoir.
  • Relax with a picnic somewhere green and shady.
  • Paddle a kayak on a reservoir, lake or the ocean.
  • Discover the beautiful Botanic Gardens of South Australia at Mount Lofty, Wittunga or Adelaide.
  • Grow food and meet others doing the same in a community garden or within your neighbourhood.
  • Volunteer with a group and care for nature near you.
  • Swim, play, wander, beachcomb and build sand castles at the beach.
  • Camp under the stars and see the sun set and rise.
  • Enjoy events and activities in our many festivals throughout the year.
  • Walk at night and experience the world differently.
  • Snorkel around reefs and in our marine sanctuaries.
  • Get involved in outdoor sports and fitness activities.

Indoors

  • Enjoy watching nature documentaries and films.
  • Read books, stories, poems, papers or magazines about the natural world or create your own.
  • Learn some Kaurna words through the Kaurna Language Hub.
  • Play games that encourage observation, critical thinking and new ideas.
  • Make a nature journal with observations and findings about your life in nature.
  • Draw or paint your local places, people, plants and animals.

At home

  • Conserve energy by switching off lights and devices not in use, use LED lights and insulate your home.
  • Refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle and cut out plastics wherever possible.
  • Support your local economy and reduce carbon emissions by purchasing local products and produce.
  • Plant a garden in your yard, or add pot plants to your balcony, windowsill or living areas.
  • Compost green waste into your garden for healthier soil.
  • Make a birdbath, pond, lizard lounge or insect hotel.
  • Attract native birds, insects and other animals to your garden with local native plants.
  • Provide habitat and shelter such as bird and bat boxes.
  • Work with your local council to care for your verge.
  • Remove and replace weedy plants in your garden.
  • Share your garden produce and ideas with neighbours.
  • Get involved with citizen science projects near you.

At school

  • Learn about the plants and animals in your local area.
  • Engage with the Kaurna Community and learn about culture, places, plants and animals in a different way.
  • Write or tell stories about your experiences in nature.
  • Read books about nature.
  • Research the natural and cultural histories of your area.
  • Create artwork, plays or music about people and nature.
  • Inspect insects, leaves and other things in your school environment using a magnifying glass or microscope.
  • Rewild your grounds for butterflies, birds and frogs.
  • Form a student environment group to help reduce waste and energy, and create more natural spaces.
  • Design a nature play space, sensory patch or food garden to share and enjoy.
  • Celebrate and share your learning about the natural world with your local community.

At work

  • Discover the health and productivity benefits of working with natural outlooks and surroundings.
  • Promote walking and outdoor meetings.
  • Design buildings with access to nature for everyone.
  • Grow plants on balconies, rooftops and walls.
  • Engage in team building activities in nature.
  • Share eco-friendly business ideas with your networks.
  • Procure with care: reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle.

Celebrate special days such as

Get the message out

Download and print 50 Ways posters to inspire others at work, home or school.

In a different city?

If you would like to get your city involved, find out more and join the global National Park City movement. You can also get in touch to hear more about our story to give you ideas for your National Park City campaign.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question that isn't answered here?

Get in touch

Is this just for the Adelaide CBD?

Adelaide National Park City covers all of Greater Adelaide. It extends across the northern plains, eastern hills, southern vales and some of the St Vincent Gulf marine environment.

What can I do to help?

You can be part of the movement by:

I've got ideas! Where should I send them?

We'd love to hear your ideas and nature connection stories. Send us an email.

I want to collaborate. Who should I contact?

There are lots of ways individuals, businesses, schools, community groups and even other cities can collaborate with Adelaide National Park City. Send us an emailso we can discuss ideas.

What is the Adelaide National Park City Charter?

The Adelaide National Park City Charter is an agreement on a shared vision for the future of the city. Read the Charter

I’m not in Adelaide. How can I make my city a National Park City?

Find out more about the National Park City Foundation and their global movement.