Posted in 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 online webinar in May that future development could incorporate a 40 year plan, in as little as three years.

Urban Mobility Manager of the New Zealand Transport Agency; Ms Kathryn King

But Australia is not the only country adopting this new wave of smarter transport development. Urban Mobility Manager of the New Zealand Transport Agency; Ms Kathryn King, manages the Urban Mobility Programme at Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency. She is co-author of the Keeping Cities Moving plan and the lead for the Innovating Streets for People Program. Be sure to tune into her presentation in webinar 3 of the Liveable Cities Conference: Webinar Series 2020.

Smarter transportation is just one facet already in motion. Other organisations have their own key plans for a brighter, more sustainable future.

 

CSIRO’s Australian National Outlook 2019 and the Urban Shift

According to CSIRO’s 2019 Report, the future of Australia will include an outlook vision where communities will have equal access to employment all round, more amenities to improve quality of lifestyles, superior health services and education, plus more affordable and better connected cities if their three proposed levers are put into action.

The CSIRO’s plan is to tackle society’s features within urban design, energy, land use, culture and the industry itself, to reach the outlook vision from their report. By accommodating for Australia’s population increase over the next few decades and incorporating their plan for our liveable cities, the ‘Urban Shift’ will be achieved.

    

CSIRO’s Senior Research Scientist in Land and water; Mr Tim Baynes

CSIRO’s Senior Research Scientist in land and water; Mr Tim Baynes is one of our keynote speakers in webinar 2 of our Liveable Cities Conference: Webinar Series 2020 taking place online on Tuesday 16th June from 10:00am – 12:30pm. Tim’s talk will review the approach and outputs of ANO 2019 and, in particular, elements of the ‘Urban Shift’ scenario within that vision.

 

Coreo’s Circular Economy in the Built Environment: Creating Purposeful Places for People and Planet

In 2017, Coreo was founded and created Australia’s first circular economy pilot project. The company’s mission is to catalyst the global transition to a circular economy.

Since their launch, the company has begun several successful projects including:

  • Circular Economy Master Planned Community Strategy
  • The Southern Hemisphere’s Most Circular Airport
  • Economic Analysis & Sectoral Assessment for Queensland
  • Community Resilience Project
  • Circular Economy Innovation Precinct
  • Creating Circular Supply Chains
  • Regional Economic Development Transition to Action
  • The First Step for Retail
  • Co-Create & Incubate
  • The Circular Experiment Goes to Rotorua

You can download the Circular Economy Overview for the Yarrabilba Community, QLD – 2019 to gain further insight to the wonderful work Coreo is doing.

Chief Executive Officer; Ms Ashleigh Morris left, & Chief Operating Officer; Ms Jaine Morris right

Chief Executive Officer; Ms Ashleigh Morris and Chief Operating Officer; Ms Jaine Morris are two more keynote speakers involved in webinar 2 of the Liveable Cities Conference: Webinar Series 2020 and will be sharing their insight on what the circular economy is and how it is creating purposeful places for people and planet, through providing examples of their work in the built environment with Lendlease, Mirvac, the Queensland Investment Corporation, Brisbane City Council and others.

 

Ask Us What We Want

Democracy is also a vital key in unlocking economic, social, and environmental opportunities when it comes to a sustainable future in our liveable cities. People’s opinions within a community matter and just one voice can send a powerful message.

Founder of newDemocracy Foundation, Managing Director of Transfield Holdings, & Prisma Investment; Mr Luca Belgiorno-Nettis AM

Managing Director of Transfield Holdings, and Prisma Investment; Mr Luca Belgiorno-Nettis AM is the founder of newDemocracy Foundation. Established in 2004, this non-for-profit research organisation’s sole focus was on political reform. Its research and development notes contributed to the academic enhancement of democracy through their learnings, reflections and discoveries and fostered a culture of persistent innovation and research.

Luca will be the final speaker in webinar 2 on Tuesday and will take us through a presentation that will enlighten viewers with the importance of democracy existing within our communities and how a person’s voice can have an important impact. For a prelude to Luca’s presentation, CLICK HERE

Luca says, “I’m often pleasantly surprised by how differently an issue can be viewed, and how creatively and intelligently a problem can be resolved by giving people the time and resources to answer questions that affect them.” Read Luca’s article on democracy recently published in The Mandarin.

Webinar 2 of the Liveable Cities Conference: Webinar Series 2020 is set to hit the bar. Be sure to register for the event.

REGISTER HERE

Program Details

10 Tips on Water Conservation

Photo credit: econaur

Ever looked at a running tap and considered how much water an average household uses every day? Would it surprise you to find out that according to coolaustralia.org, one person in Australia alone, can use as much as 340,000 litres a year! That’s over 930 litres per person per day. When you consider that an above ground pool 4.5 x 4.5 metres and 1.2 metres deep holds 16,000 litres of water, one person’s average water use per year is equilevant to over 21 swimming pools.

Water conservation and home sustainability is a vital practice that every Australian should take part of. The aim is to become a country with a more sustainable future, and for that to occur, we all need to do our part.

None of us really know when our rivers are at risk of running dry, or our lakes disappearing in a drought. With the recent bush fire disaster, it is more imperative than ever to become water conscious and start living a more sustainable life.

So what can you do to help? Here’s 10 ways you can help.

10 Tips Towards Better Water Sustainability

Check your showers, toilets and sinks for leaks
Take shorter showers or run small baths for the kids
Install water saving shower heads
Check your water meter outside when everything is turned off – great way to find if you have a plumbing problem
Turn taps off while shaving or brushing your teeth
Hand wash your dishes more often as dishwasher cycles waste water
Consider planting drought-resistant trees in your garden if you live in a drought prone area
Wash your car with a bucket rather than running the hose
Install a rainwater tank
Install a septic toilet or go one step further with a waterless toilet

 

Sustainability Matters Magazine – Bridge Hub

An interesting article, published in the Sustainability Matters magazine, talks about Bridge Hub and its quest to solve Australia’s water problems through the launch of their 2020 Water Challenge. The way it works, is that anyone participating has an opportunity to bring a water problem to their attention and submitting it for consideration to be solved. What a great way to bring a community together and work on sustainability.

Click to view online

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy also deserves a shout out. We should all model our values on this incredible organisation. One of their projects includes providing food and water sustainability to the Murray-Darling Basin, which is helping save certain wildlife in danger of extinction. Wildlife such as the Southern Bell Frog; which is one of Australia’s largest frog species. Bird species like the Australasian Bittern and Australian Painted Snipe are also thriving from their conservation work.

Southern Bell Frog

Photo credit: Museums Victoria Collections

Bridge Hub and The Nature Conservancy aren’t alone in the sustainability journey towards a more sustainable future in Australia. There are several organisations succeeding. Take a look at the Australian Water Association; Australia’s largest water network who promote sustainable water management by using three core principals. Recognition, information and networking.

Anything is possible if we put our mind to it and embrace nature’s gifts.

 

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 including GreenCareer, GovernmentCareer, ResearchCareer, HealthCareer, EducationCareer and ExecutiveCareer to name a few – we deliver only the information relevant to your industry – online 24/7 and via our weekly e-bulletins and daily job alerts.

By combining news and conference information with job listings – we have the ability to tap both the active and passive job seeker like no other service.

With a custom-built loading and delivery system – we have the ability to give our advertisers and subscribers a range of customised options to suite their individual needs.

So if you’re looking to keep on top of your industry – head to our home portal at www.careerspot.com.au – and check out your industry.

This article was kindly provided by GreenCareer. 

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.

Oscar McMahon (l) of Young Henry’s and members of a communtiy solar project pose for a photograph with a solar panel inside the Young Henry’s brewery. (photo by Jamie Williams/City of Sydney)

Oscar McMahon (l) of Young Henry’s and members of a communtiy solar project pose for a photograph with a solar panel inside the Young Henry’s brewery. (photo by Jamie Williams/City of Sydney)

NSW-based community solar group Pingala, which is leading the project, said on Wednesday that it would launch the community investment round at the brewery on Sunday, with 76 share allocations of $250 each up for grabs.

Winning expressions-of-interest will be selected by ballot on the day and winners will need to complete paperwork and transfer the funds within a two-week period.

“We’re really excited by this project,” said Young Henry’s director and co-founder, Oscar McMahon. “Generating solar energy is a really simple way of building on our commitment to low impact brewing and giving back to the community.

For Pingala, the project has significance as the group’s first to be completed – and the first community-funded solar-leasing project in Australia.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City was “thrilled” to get behind the community-based project.

“Three quarters of our residents live in apartments with limited roof space, often jointly owned by strata, which has restricted the growth of solar – Pingala and Young Henry’s have shown it’s technically and economically feasible for our residents to get on board with community-owned renewables.

Read more.

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.

Solar uptake on Tasmanian farms soars

Solar uptake on Tasmanian farms soars

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 publishing monthly results. could be higher.”

“This year there have been over 1,000 installations of small scale domestic and commercial solar compared with less than 800 at the same time last year.”

He said in Tasmania around one in 10 households had solar energy.

“In Queensland the ratio can be one in three so there is plenty of scope for uptake of small scale solar in Tasmania.”

Mr Taylor attributes the turn around to the recent energy crisis when Basslink was disabled, coupled with an extremely dry year which depleted Hydro’s water reserves.

He said people were concluding that Tasmania was not as well equipped as it should be to deal with energy self sufficiency as it should be.

He said this, on top of increasing power costs, was contributing to the rising interest in going solar.

A major project on Bruny Island involves a rollout of solar systems and battery storage to thousands of homes.

It is hoped that power security will address the power blackouts and reliance on diesel generators which are currently used over peak summer holiday times.

He said renewable energy was cheaper, cleaner and more reliable.

Derwent Valley farmer Michael Parsons runs sheep on his property and has invested in 200 hectares of irrigation for cropping.

He has put in a 40 kilowatt system with 250 panels and runs a 30 kilowatt pump to pull bore water from 150 metres.

“I think we are about $6,000 to $7,000 saved annually by running the irrigation on solar.

Other farmers in the district are also making the solar shift with interest in making savings on the operation of cool rooms, milk vats and irrigation.

Read more.