Cape Town

The project is one of five of the City of Cape Town's (CoCT) Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB). LAB is a global urban biodiversity programme coordinated by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, in partnership with the IUCN.

The purpose is to showcase the diversity of plants and animals in the Cape and demonstrate responsible garden practise. Stephen Granger, Head of major programmes and projects at the City's Environmental Resource Management Department, recognized its purpose 'to showcase the Cape's biodiversity and demonstrate responsible gardening practises.' Its goal 'is to raise public awareness about the value and importance of regional biodiversity, and to disseminate practical knowledge on how to help conserve it.'

Art in the form of insects, animals and displays have been placed throughout the garden with steel, bronze and beads, to name a few materials, by Roddy McGuffog, Zizamele, Michael Methven, Streetwise and others. A few animals to spot in the garden include the grey mongoose, spotted genet, cape hare, cape fox and caral. All the animals and insect sculptures had to be original indigenous species from the cape.

One display really stood out for me as I walked through the park was the ceramic fish, based on the Clanwilliam yellowfish, which were brightly coloured ‘jumping' or ‘swimming' above the water. As gardener designer Marijke Honig said she "wanted a visual reminder that biodiversity includes life in the water."

The Biodiversity garden is themed into three topics; People & Biodiversity, Explore Biodiversity and Wetlands. Within the areas are interactive displays demonstrating how to garden for biodiversity, threats to biodiversity, ‘Everything is Connected' and veld displays. The garden also holds a medicinal plant area and a Khokho food garden.

There are over three hundred plant species within the garden, which are irrigated by overflow spring water from the mountain. One plant that caught my eye which was also mentioned by Marijke during her presentation was the Hesperantha Falcata – a small plant with exquisite flowers of red. What makes the flower particularly special is that it only flowers in the afternoon.

The Biodiversity garden is part of the 12.5ha ‘People Park' being constructed by OvP Associates and Urban Landscape Solutions, which cost R54 million to construct.

Currently the plants are all still new and have to still grow to their full size – meaning it will only get better in time. I overheard one of the planners saying that the garden might expand in the future – which will give us all something to look forward to.

How to create a good CV

This article describes how to write a good CV, regarding the philosophy of how to approach creating the CV and tips on what to include and how to communicate it.

A CV is a sales document; it conveys succinctly the information of what you are looking for and why. Why you are qualified for such work and a story as to how you got to this point, covering your previous work experience, education, qualifications and interests.

I believe a CV should be a succinct story backing up a tag line about yourself. Often in interviews the main asked of the candidate is:

"Tell me about yourself"

This answer and the CV to back it up should be made as succinct, clear and relevant as possible to the position sought.

Obviously life is not as clear and simple as this and many of us have a complicated and confusing history in regards to work experience, education and life story, but effort should be made to make this as clear as possible in interview and on the CV. To present only the relevant facts to sell you most effectively for the post in which you are applying.

Profile

The profile should be a short sentence stating clearly:

• What work you are looking for
• What you have to offer (why you are qualified)

I believe in starting the CV with a profile. This explains to the employer or recruiter what you are looking for and summarises all of the attributes that can be found in detail on the rest of your CV.

The recruiter will know what they are looking for and if your profile states this in summary then you are making their job a lot easier and they are more likely to put you in the "yes" pile, as they quickly check a large volume of CVs.

Remember the recruiter is human too, think how frustrating it is when you look at a website that is not clear and it is hard to find the information you need quickly. Now think of the recruiter who has to look through a large volume of CVs for any advertised positions, if they have to look at a large number and it takes too long for them to find the information they need from your CV they may not take the time to do so.

Work Experience

Work experience should come directly after the profile in reverse chronological order.

The first thing a recruiter or prospective employer will look at is the last job you have had and if you had the relevant experience or achieved something relevant to the job you are applying for in previous roles.

Do them and yourself a favour and put this experience where they can find it easily. I.e. your most recent job at the top and your previous roles below this.

There will always be gaps and times when you worked for a short time, temping, travelling etc. It is your call as to how to include these but remember your story needs to be made as clear as possible, so if you worked somewhere for a short time then make the story relevant as to why or consider omitting some jobs altogether. Maybe include one line with the dates and mention what happened, e.g. temping role, or went travelling between these dates etc. This answers the question quicker than leaving gaps and having to explain them in interview.

Education

Education should be also in reverse chronological order.

Other Qualifications

If you have attended any training courses or have industrial qualifications they should be entered here. Remember this is a sales document – list everything you have done here – sell yourself!

Interests

Qualify your hobbies and interests. Do not mention generic things such as ‘I like to go running' without qualifying it as to what has been achieved. For example, it would be better to say: "I am part of the Harriers running club" - or "I recently completed the Great North Run"

Good luck!