On 27 August 2006, 30 students from all over Queensland will set out on their 15-day adventure down the Brisbane River

A project that has 30 Year 8 to 10 students travelling the length of the Brisbane River from source to sea will culminate with the students presenting a report on the condition of the river to Parliament in October this year.

"The Bunya to the Bay project will connect students to their river catchment through an environmental adventure focusing on the sustainable use of our scarce natural resource: water," said Rod Dann, Principal of the Stanley River Environmental Education Centre.

On 27 August the River Ambassadors, 30 students from all over Queensland, will set out on their 15-day adventure. They'll hike, bike, boat and canoe from the Bunya Mountains to Fort Lytton. Along the way they'll take on roles such as photographer, scientist, artist, and performing artist. They'll concentrate on different areas such as indigenous aspects and rural and town planning.

Mr Dann said that the original idea for the project went back six years. "Senior teacher Tony Briscoe and I had an idea for an assessment piece: one piece of student work that could be assessed from different angles, like English, geography, art and media," he said. "That now fits in perfectly with the guidelines for the Middle Phase of Learning. Then, four years ago, the River Festival approached principals of the outdoor and environmental education centres, with the view of forming productive partnerships for educational projects. Now Bunya to the Bay is a major focus for the Festival in 2006. It was what I call a geographic situation: everything was in the right place at the right time!"