Home Archive by category "Social Sustainability"

Category Archives: Social Sustainability

Long Term Planning with Liveable Communities in Mind

Long-term community planning is vital for our liveable cities to prosper. Organisations involved in their community’s infrastructure must be able to look ahead and construct plans where anticipated. Change is not only considered but prepared for in advance. We cannot always know what the future holds, as we have recently discovered through unanticipated change and subsequent adaptation. However, the last few months have not deterred Australians from continuing to practice and strive for the future of the sustainable movement. New bike paths have already been put into future planning, due to increased demand. Transport Secretary Rodd Staples mentioned in an …

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Spotlight On: GreenCareer

GreenCareer provides the latest jobs, news, conferences, events and education listings for environmental, NRM and sustainability professionals around the country. Part of the CareerSpot suite of 18 connected information portals – we tap the active and passive jobs seekers and career professionals – placing the latest information for their industry – directly into their inbox.  GreenCareer is part of the CareerSpot suite of industry specific jobs and information portals. With more than 150,000 subscriptions across the suite – we’re fast becoming the go to place for industry information, conferences, events, education opportunities, news and jobs. With sites in the suite …

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Sydney community solar project: “solar beer”

A City of Sydney-backed community solar project that will put a 30kW PV system on the roof of a craft brewery in the city’s inner west will be opened to local investors this weekend. The project, which will install 120 solar panels at Young henry’s brewery in Newtown, won $40,000 in funding from the City of Sydney in November. The PV system will supply around 25 per cent of the brewery’s total electricity use, with no up-front capital costs. NSW-based community solar group Pingala, which is leading the project, said on Wednesday that it would launch the community investment round …

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Solar uptake spikes on farm & in rural industry in Tasmania.

Tasmania’s uptake of solar power is up 25 per cent, whilst the nationally solar uptake has fallen by 24 per cent over the same period. The figures come from the government agency, the Clean Energy Regulator (CER), that documents the issue of solar certificates nationally. Solar power advocates Solar Citizens said the data revealed the trend reversal. Consumer campaigner with Solar Citizens, Reece Taylor said in the first five months of this year the uptake of small scale solar in Tasmania had been up by at least 25 per cent and could be higher because of the lag in CER …

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Sheep Cutting Solar Farm’s Maintenance Costs

University of Queensland is saving $50,000 a year in mowing costs at its Gatton campus solar farm by using sheep to keep the vegetation down. In May last year,  the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) research facility in the southern hemisphere was switched on at Gatton. Comprising of more than 37,000 solar panels, the facility covers a fair bit of ground. The ABC reports that to mow the grounds used to take 4 days – and cost a significant chunk of change. Ten sheep were brought in to help cut mowing costs and seem to be enjoying their new digs; a …

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Building the ‘New Economy’ With Sustainable Social Enterprise

There is a critical need for more diversity in business, and social enterprise could be the answer, writes Alan Greig, from the Social Enterprise Legal Models Working Group. Sustainable social enterprise can go a long way towards introducing the kind of “values” into capitalism that Kevin Rudd once made reference to in 2009 – “the values of equity, sustainability and community”. With the range of “values based” enterprises that are rapidly developing – many of them profiled in Pro Bono Australia News – social enterprise is already setting the pace in this direction. Social enterprise is changing the way we …

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New ‘world’s to-do list’ will ask for accountability for a $3 trillion cleanup of society

Mashable Two days after the United Nations formally adopted a set of ambitious goals to tackle the world’s most pressing problems by the year 2030, Amina J. Mohammed’s main concern is getting the word out about them to as many people as possible. As the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, Mohammed has spent the past three-and-a-half years corralling the 193 member states to agree on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), often referred to simply as the Global Goals — a blueprint for the world to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and combat climate change …

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Sustainability in Business Association Education 2015

The Sustainability in Business Association will celebrate its 6th birthday this year with a change of focus and a wider business and sectoral agenda. Included in the new initiatives are; • An updated website with increased member content. This will include sustainability podcasts and papers from a number of conferences. • Members will have the opportunity to present at a selection of conferences and have their business papers published internationally with an ISBN number. Academic papers will also have the option of peer reviewing before publication. • Sustainability streams and access to member rates will be available at the following …

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The Digital Work Hub Project: a catalyst for urban and regional revitalisation in SEQ

A 2013 collaborative Regional Development Australia project between the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay, Logan/Redland, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, examined opportunities and challenges for establishing a network of digital work hubs across South East Queensland. The global megatrends influencing the future of work as highlighted by Deliotte & AMP Capital 2013 Its (almost!) all about me. Workplace 2030: Built for us, concludes that workplaces of the future will be designed to connect and facilitate as interconnected hubs providing the catalyst for diverse, vibrant work precincts. Presently however, Australian cities with their agglomeration of knowledge workers and innovative high value added …

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