The Central Highlands Regional Council recently hosted two Mozambican visitors in Emerald for a six-week internship focused on community engagement and development...

This has been possible with a partnership between CHRC, the Centre for Social Research in Mining based at the University of Queensland, and the International Mining for Development Centre.

L-R Heleminha Chirinzane (Intern), Lynda Lawson (CSRM), Mario Romao (Intern), Gai Sypher (CQUni Operations and Project Manager)

CQUniversity Emerald Learning Centre's Operations and Project Manager, Gai Sypher was involved in the program as a community contact person.

Ms Sypher said ‘Partnerships in Action', the practical part of the program, included visits to the Central Queensland Institute of TAFE, the Australian Agricultural College and the CQUniversity Learning Centre, as well as a number of regional mines.

"All the learning has not been one-sided because we have all learnt a lot about each other's systems and culture," Ms Sypher said.

Lynda Lawson (from the University of Queensland's Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining) visited Emerald to check in on the interns and was delighted with the facilities available in Emerald. She is keen to develop future partnerships with CQUniversity.