Hornsby Council sought to engage the local community in waste management activities through the Hornsby Waste Volunteers Strategy, which supports the broader Hornsby Waste Matters Strategy (2020). The aim was to respond to community expectations and encourage behavioral changes related to waste management.

Mosaic Insights adopted a human-centered and codesign approach to designing and developing this strategy. This involved researching best practices in volunteer management and assessing local interest and existing volunteer opportunities in Hornsby. We used the co-design process to ensure the volunteer program was aligned with community and Council needs.

We recruited a representative group of residents who collaborated on the design of the strategy, a Volunteer Manual for Council staff, and a Handbook for community volunteers. The co-design process focused on shaping the volunteer program’s foundations, including recruitment, induction, training, and volunteer activities.