The Top 2 Bottom event we covered last week was an ambitious event: cleaning up all of Mesa for the sake of the community.  March 1st brings an even more ambitious project: Clean Up Australia Day.

Across the country, people will gather in teams to clean up their communities, parks and beaches. Volunteers coordinate with local city councils and Clean Up Australia to select sites, organize materials, and report successes.

A handful of shopping centers, including Sunshine Plaza, are promoting the initiative, and many more are sites for volunteers to gather. Is your shopping center taking part? There might still be opportunities to get involved and build a bit of good karma (and maybe some positive publicity, too).

Southcentre Mall is participating in Calgary Online Safety Week, helping kids solve “The Case of the Broadband Bully.”

YouthLink Calgary has come up with the case of a young girl being harassed at school, and teachers, parents and youth can participate in solving the case. The case and evidence are posted online, but YouthLink are also on location at Evidence Stations at Southcentre. Hands-on time with the evidence is encouraged. Each day, new pieces of evidence come to light, from physical clues to suspect and witness interviews. Young people that solve the crime have a chance at a $1000 scholarship and an Xbox 360.

Cyber-bullying is a growing problem, and it’s a great that Southcentre is helping to raise awareness.

Meadowhall Shopping Centre and Eastgate Shopping Centre are taking part in a fun, creative charity initiative this weekend. National Doodle Day is this Friday, and it aims to raise funds for those whose lives are affected by epilepsy and neurofibromatosis.

Hundreds of celebrities, including Simon Pegg, Ricky Gervais, and Daniel Radcliffe (who seems to have missed the point a bit), have offered up doodles to be auctioned off. The doodles can be bid on through Ebay, and people can vote for their favorite via text message. The winning celebrity doodler will receive the cast iron Dood Award. Other doodlers can take part in the fun, too, with the Doodle Day Hall of Fame.

Meadowhall has doodles on display, along with Doodle cards for shoppers to use. It’s also got its own celebrity appearance: Junade Khan from Hollyoaks and Coronation Street.

Carousel Center is undergoing a 1.3 million sq. foot expansion. The US shopping center has already committed to using only green power, and the expansion will include a 3.2 megawatt solar panel array to help it meet that goal. The shopping center has also ensured that its expansion space will make a positive difference by donating a 17,000 sq. foot retail space to Project EverGREEN.

Project EverGREEN will use the space as a hand-on learning lab. The organization’s goal is to help create the “next generation of energy innovators.”

As retail spaces become more challenging to fill, many shopping centers are going the route of offering discounted leases or donated spaces for good causes. Has yours?

Developers Diversified, an Ohio-based REIT, has drawn a proposed $112.5 million investment from the German Otto family. The Otto family owns German development firm ECE Projektmanagement, and several North American companies and developments.

The ICSC has more about this story:

“The Ottos have agreed to buy 30 million shares and reserve the right to buy 10 million more. The shares will be purchased in two tranches at a price of $3.50 per share for the first 15 million shares at the first closing and $4.00 per share for the second 15 million shares at the second closing. The share prices represent a premium of approximately 33 percent and 52 percent, respectively, to the closing market price of the company’s shares on Friday, Feb. 20, 2009…”