The City of Adelaide Horticulture team is giving its trainees more chances to learn by getting stuck into real projects across the city.

At Pinky Flat, trainees helped restore rose garden beds after they were realigned. The work included returning soil, reinstating irrigation, planting new roses and mulching. It gave trainees the chance to practise a range of horticulture skills while working alongside each other.

Trainees also joined the Western Parks team to learn how to lay turf, giving them hands-on experience outside their usual day-to-day tasks.

With 15 horticulture trainees across the City of Adelaide, several development days are held each year to expose them to different types of work and parts of parks operations. These days include Streetscape and Tree planting days.

These days are about more than learning a new task. They help trainees build confidence, teamwork and communication skills, while giving them a better understanding of the range of careers and work available across horticulture and local government.

On 15 May 2026, the City of Mitcham welcomed the City of Charles Sturt line marking team to the Mitcham Works Depot for a hands-on look at its specialist sit-down line marking machine.

Mitcham field staff demonstrated how the machine operates and shared what they had learned from using it on the job. The visit gave Charles Sturt staff the chance to see the equipment up close, ask practical questions and hear honest feedback from people doing similar work.

For Charles Sturt, the session provided useful information to support future equipment decisions. For both teams, it was also a chance to compare work practices, swap ideas and build connections with other field staff across local government.

Visits like this show the value of learning directly from people who understand the work. By sharing knowledge across councils, field teams can make better decisions, improve the way they work and avoid having to learn every lesson the hard way.

When the City of Mitcham wanted to learn more about bitumen adhesive equipment, its Service and Response team went straight to the people already using it.

The City of Marion hosted Mitcham field staff at Seaview Downs for a live demonstration of its Bituminous Adhesive Applicator. Marion operators showed the equipment in action and talked through how it is transported, set up and used for road maintenance and line marking work.

The visit gave Mitcham field staff something a supplier brochure could not - honest feedback from field workers who use the equipment on the job. They could ask practical questions, discuss what had worked well and hear about lessons learned along the way.

Mitcham staff left with a clearer understanding of the equipment, including what is needed to operate it and where it may be useful.

The visit also gave field staff from both councils a chance to share knowledge and build connections, proving that sometimes the best advice comes from someone who has already done the job.

More than 50 field staff and biodiversity officers from councils across South Australia recently met at Pakapakanthi (Victoria Park) to swap ideas, learn from each other and see local conservation work in action.

The day included a tour of remnant and restored grasslands led by City of Adelaide Biodiversity Leading Hand Stephanie Legg. Staff heard about native plant protection, recent discoveries from Park Lands biodiversity surveys and practical ways to improve natural areas.

The group also learned about the Miyawaki planting method, which uses dense planting to create small native forests, and the important role volunteers play in looking after local environments.

Guest speaker Monina Gilbey showed that even golf courses can become valuable homes for native plants and animals. Her work at Glenelg Golf Club has helped bring back threatened plant species and reintroduce the Olive Perchlet fish.

For field staff, days like this are a chance to pick up new ideas, meet people doing similar work and take practical knowledge back to their own council.

If you’d like to learn more about the Local Government Biodiversity Officer Network, please contact Yasmin.Fiorani@cityofadelaide.com.au, Biodiversity, City Operations at the City of Adelaide.