Environs Australia. Annual Report

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9 Financial Environs 14

10 Treasurer s Environs The past financial year has provided many challenges to Environs as a financial organisation. Membership over the year has been static, which is disappointing given the success of the conference and the inaugural awards. This year has also seen the retention of key sponsors that have offered a new income stream for the organisation. It is noted that this source of sponsorship will continue, especially from businesses directly involved in the sustainability field. Members of the Board are optimistic about the future of Environs, but the financial reality is that the financial parameters in which Environs operates are very tight. On behalf of the Board of Environs, I would like to thank all the contractors and people that have given their time and services to keep the organisation going, and a special thank you to Sally Larkin for her efforts and support given to the organisation over the past twelve months. Please find attached the financial status report and the audit. Yours sincerely DAVID KEENAN TREASURER ENVIRONS AUSTRALIA Att. 13

11 Representative Councillor Redland Shire Council, QLD Representative Environment Policy Officer City of Ballarat, VIC Cr Toni Bowler has been a Councillor in Redland Shire Council for nearly 14 years, Redlands has a population of 135,000 and is east of Brisbane and north of the Gold Coast, the shire has been identified as having the largest koala habitat in. Toni is in her 4th Term in Council and her main interests in her role as Councillor is habitat retention as her Division is totally surrounded by the Qld State Planning Policy for Koala Coast. Other interests include Water conservation, building initiatives regarding 5 star rating in particular solar energy. Community gardening is a project Toni is keen to introduce in the Shire considering it was once known as the Salad Bowl of Brisbane and it is now being covered in concrete and Red tile roofs. Toni is involved in Redlands Baseball, Redlands BMX and Redlands PCYC, all groups in her shire. Melanie is the Environment Policy Officer with the City of Ballarat. She has a Bach Sci and masters of Env Eng Mgt and has been employed in local government for 13 years both in Tasmania and Victoria. Melanie is extensively involved in the issues of water resource management currently affecting Ballarat and surrounds. She also co managers a video production company with her husband Will and they specialise in environmental based programs. She has won numerous prestigious awards for the work she has been involved in including: Finalist in the Savewater Awards 2006 Victorian & National Landcare Winner 2005 Finalist in the National River Symposium 2005 Environs - Winner Local Leadership in Sustainability Regional. Melanie Robertson VIC 12

12 David Keenan Treasurer Director City Sustainability Hume City Council, VIC Gavan Matheson Secretary Manager Native Vegetation Policy and Programs, Department of Sustainability and Environment, VIC. David Keenan is the Director City Sustainability at Hume City Council and is the inaugural Chairman of Economic Development, as well as the Treasurer for Environs. At the Hume City Council in Melbourne, David is responsible for managing the available human, financial and physical resources within the City of Sustainability Division, managing the key areas of Strategic Planning, Statutory Town Planning, Economic Development, Environment and Urban Development. He has had a long involvement in economic development being one of the key drivers of the Economic Development Association Victoria that led to the establishment of Economic Development. David has numerous university qualifications and is seeking to continually place economic development and sustainability issues on the national agenda, as well as seeking to promote professional development opportunities for economic development practitioners Gavan Mathieson has commenced work with the Department of Sustainability and Environment in Victoria during 2007 after moving down from NSW and his previous role as the Manager of Bushland and Biodiversity at Hornsby Shire Council. Gavan grew up on a dairy farm in south-west Victoria and has a background in natural resource management, park and open space management, community facilitation and strategic planning. Gavan has a strong interest in sustainable development, ecotourism, community engagement and sustainable food production. Cr. Toni Bowler Queensland 11

13 Governance Environs Executive As at 30 June 2007, Environs Executive Comprises the following members: Evan Thomas President Team leader Sustainability Integration Gold Coast City Council, QLD sensitive urban design policy and research Evan has served on the executive of Environs since 2000 and has been president since In this role Evan was involved in the formation of the Baton forum in NSW and continues to work to support networks and partnerships that support sustainability through local action across. Kate Black Vice President WSUD Program Manager Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority, NSW Evan Thomas B.App Sci (Biol, Maths) M.Eng. has over 25 years experience in sustainability working firstly in the area of sustainable farming systems and since 1996 in sustainable urban systems with a practical focus from within a local government. Evan also holds an Adjunct Professorship in Sustainability with the Queensland University of Technology and was the Chair of the Griffith University Gold Coast Campus Environmental and Applied Sciences Advisory Board Evan s current role of Team leader Sustainability Integration at Gold Coast City Council covers City-wide sustainability reporting, Climate Change mitigation and adaptation strategy and research, and water Kate Black is the Program Manager of the Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) in Sydney Program - building the commitment and capacity of the 39 Sydney local councils to implement best practice WSUD. Previously, Kate was employed by City of Sydney as a Senior Environmental Development Officer where she managed the development of policies, projects and initiatives associated with water conservation, recycling and reuse. Including the drought proofing of Sydney s famous Hyde Park. Kate also gained considerable strategic and policy development experience while working with NSW Fisheries and upon graduating from University of Canberra in 1995 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Natural Resource Management majoring in Water Resources. 10

14 Environs Supporters Partners Environs greatly appreciates the generous assistance - financial and in-kind from our partners. We would have been unable to delivered the high level of support to our members without them. HALLMARK EDITIONS EcoSTEPS GREENMEASURES Volunteers Environs would also like to extend our thanks and gratitude to the many volunteers that have assisted us throughout the year. A special thanks to Sally Larkin our administration support who puts in far more hours than she is paid for. Darryl is an Associate Professor in the School of Environmental Planning and the Urban Research Program at Griffith University and his focuses include integrated planning and adaptive management opportunities associated with regional NRM initiatives with an emphasis on local government involvement. During 1995 to 1998, he undertook the research associated with two case studies in the Model Communities Program (MCP), an international comparative research project sponsored by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). This included a review of Johnstone Shire Council s Johnstone Plan and the LA21 Plan for Manus Province, Papua New Guinea. A special thanks also to Professor Darryl Low Choy who has been an enormous support and mentor for Environs in

15 Member Organisations Environs Executive gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of our members the strength of Environs. Our member organizations are as follows: Alice Springs Town Council City of Ballarat Bankstown City Council City of Banyule Bass Coast Shire Council Baulkham Hills Shire Council Bayside City Council Beaudesert Shire Council City of Brimbank Brisbane City Council Campbelltown City Council City of Canning City of Casey City of Charles Sturt Colac & Otway Shire East Gippsland Institute of Tafe Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council EcoRecycle Victoria EcoSTEPS Frankston City Council Gold Coast City Council Hastings Council Hornsby Shire Council Institution of Engineers, La Trobe City Council Leichhardt City Council Maroochy Shire Council City of Melbourne Shire of Melton City of Monash Moreland Energy Foundation Ltd Mornington Peninsula Shire Council National Oceans Office Nillumbik Shire Council North Sydney Council Natural Wastewater Systems - Crikey Creek Developments Onkaparinga City Council Parramatta City Council Port Hedland Town Council Queanbeyan City Council Redland Shire Council Strathfield Municipal Council Sutherland Shire Council City of Sydney Council Townsville City Council Tumut Shire Council Tweed Shire Council University of Wollongong Unley City Council City of Wagga Wagga Wodonga Rural City Council Wollongong City Council Wyong Shire Council Environs Members of the Month Campaign By virtue of the Executives associations with Member Councils and in recognition of their efforts in pursuing best practice ecologically sustainable development, each month the selected organisation is promoted via the following: Promotion via Environs website, and Best Five Minutes publication; Development of a How To and Lessons Learnt case study that build the capacity of our other members. provides in making more 8

16 Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability (urban large): Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability (Urban Small): Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability (Rural): Outstanding Sustainability Partnership (Urban Large): Outstanding Sustainability Partnership (Urban Small): Outstanding Sustainability Partnership (Rural): Outstanding Sustainability Leadership (Councilor): Outstanding Sustainability Leadership (Officer): From the Silver Environs Award winners, a single winner was chosen for the Golden Environs Award recognising leadership in sustainability. Environs is very proud to announce our 2007 Golden Environs Award Winner Congratulations to all the Councils from around who nominated for an award all entries demonstrated the strength leadership that local government 7

17 Our Projects Local Government Sustainable Development Conference Melbourne September 2007 National Local Government Sustainability Leaders Awards & Conference Dinner Held in Melbourne in from the 11 th to 12 th September 2007, Environs again partnered with Hallmark Conferences & Events to deliver the the 2 nd annual conference. With over 120 delegates from all states and territories attending the event, the conference was deemed a great success. The conference papers were outstanding and provided a welcome diversity of actions from across the nation. The conference was designed to assist local government practitioners to identify, plan and implement best practice ecologically sustainable development solutions and to showcase leading edge examples of outstanding environmental initiatives by n Local Governments. Held in conjunction with our Conference on 11 th September 2007, our dinner and 2 nd annual awards ceremony was a resounding success. The caliber of the award entries were of such quality that our judges had a difficult time selecting our 7 Silver Award Winners and our Gold Award Winner. It is with pleasure that due to the sustainability leadership demonstrated by the submissions, in addition to our Silver and Gold Awards, all short-listed Councils were provided with a Certificate of Merit as follows:?????? Of the nominees, seven were chosen as winners for the Silver Environs Awards. In this regard, we would like to extend our congratulations to the following: 6

18 to celebrate the achievement of environmental practitioners and their organisations that have the capacity, confidence and desire to champion ecologically sustainable development. Council Support Facilitated by representatives in States and Territories, the Environs Executive provides technical advice and support to councils with a view to reducing the risk of project failure while improving the uptake of ecologically sustainable development supporting environmental practitioners who often operate in isolation. That is: Responding to phone and enquiries; Providing project development and management support; Peer reviewing policies and the development of initiatives; Sourcing and disseminating grant funding opportunities; Peer reviewing grant applications. Other Environs Executive develops and present scientific papers and findings presented at conferences, seminars and forums. Further, Environs Executive facilitates partnerships between our Member organizations; local government organisations such as region of councils, management authorities and natural resource facilitators; Government representatives; and research institutions. Planning for the Future In 2006/07, Environs Executive looked at how we could enhance our current suite of products and services and develop innovative mechanisms to fortify our ability as an organisation that acts as a knowledge broker while building the capacity of our members to implement ecologically sustainable development. Several mechanisms were identified and developed as follows: Local Solutions Fund A public fund was established for the specific purpose of supporting the environmental purposes of Environs. The fund was established to receive all gifts of money or property from the public and operated on a non-profit basis. A committee established for this purpose will administer the fund. It is proposed that funds in excess of those required for Environs initiatives may be distributed to member organisations for the development and delivery of projects with tangible outcomes such as toolkits, guidelines, models etc. Web development that will be actioned in 2007/08 will act as an interface for the receipt and administration of funds. Meaningful Partnerships Environs support Partnerships as a means of raising in-kind support for like-minded organisations, public and private. Further, Environs recognises that a Partnership should also have the dual benefit of expanding environmental awareness and practices amongst our members, within the partnering organisation and their staff, service providers, clients and/ or customers. A suite of partnership policies and associated agreements were drafted and endorsed by the Executive as a means to facilitate partnerships that will enhance the support of our members. 5

19 Knowledge Brokering The benefits of our member services are numerous, assisting councils to deliver sustainable outcomes in their local government areas. The mechanisms detailed below enable Environs to meet our objectives and deliver the following across : Provision of up-to-date technical and project development and management advice; Promoting best practice ecologically sustainable development; Increased capacity of councils and private industry to adopt sustainable practices; Promotion of councils implementing best practice policies, projects and other initiatives; Improved understanding of natural resource management issues relevant to individual council needs; Increased sense of cohesion and community amongst our members; Commitment by councils to implement ecologically sustainable development. Acting as our chief information dissemination and exchange portal, it provides freely available council focused information. Current website resources include: Information exchange: Innovative, best practice policies and project based case studies can be downloaded; Best Five Minutes archive; Links to our member s websites; Literature: best practice research with tangible outcomes and application at the local level; Seminars & events; Upcoming events such as conferences, workshops, seminars and forums. Best Five Minutes Our e-newsletter is delivered via on a regular basis; Best Five Minutes distils best practice working examples of sustainability in action. No more than five minutes of your time will be required to look through and see what's new in the world of sustainability. The service is offered to members as part of our upgraded service which seeks to link people up with the very best ideas so the wheel of reinvention is kept to a minimum. Archived publications are available via our website. Local Environs The only journal of its kind published in, it focuses on ecologically sustainable development at the local level. Produced quarterly, once distributed to our members, it is archived on our website. Each publication comprises the following: Environs Presidents message; Environmental practitioner interviews; Case studies; Upcoming conferences and events. Conference Held since 2004/05, our conference was established as an annual event to members together with other councils and industry experts to showcase best practice research, policy and project development and other initiatives implemented across. Local Government Awards Our inaugural awards were held this year and were developed as a means 4

20 20 Years of Action Environs was formed in 1989 and marks 20 years of leadership in sustainability in. Environs has been at the forefront of sustainability in since then. Environs is a network of members interested in promoting sustainable development through local action, primarily in the local government sector. The strength of the network lies in its members sharing their knowledge, learning and success to build sustainability at a local scale. As an organisation we also strive to constructively advocate to other levels of Government for improved sustainability outcomes. Environs membership includes individuals, organisations and councils from all States and Territories across. Many of these members have supported the network since it began. Our Vision For Local Government in to be a leader in delivering sustainable communities and a willing participant in aiding the transfer of knowledge and skills internationally. Our Mission Environs will be a national leader in providing resources building sustainability with local government to enhance sustainable development. Our Objectives Building the commitment and capacity of local councils to implement best practice policies, projects and initiatives, driving ecologically sustainable development in their local government area. Improving the sustainable future of by enhancing the strength of our membership network, acting as a knowledge broker, bridging the gap between science and policy. Environmental Leadership Environs is committed to practising what we encourage our Members, Partners and their communities to achieve. Inherent in Environs actions as an organization are the following: A commitment to the purchase and use of recycled content and/or sustainable products & materials where possible; A commitment to using service providers, suppliers and contractors with a proven ethical corporate responsibility; Share experience with staff, suppliers, customers and/ or clients and members of the community through events, promotional opportunities, and communications. For example via web sites, marketing brochures, annual reports, corporate plans, shareholder reports etc. Re-using paper printed on one side for drafts and notebooks; Reducing paper copies by using digital media, printing fewer copies, reducing print size and sharing copies; Using lights and air conditioning in a sustainable manner; and seeking energy efficient products Recycling all paper and associated products; and Reducing waste such as plastic containers, glass and aluminium; Using public transport, and bicycles to travel to and from work and meetings. 3

21 President s has been a turbulent year for, and for Environs. The growing awareness of climate change and of energy, food and resource security has placed increased pressure on communities and governments to implement meaningful action. A lot has changed in 12 months. These changes make Enviorns all the more relevant. Environs is poised as a network to provide support to this growing commitment. This will be a significant challenge for Environs, but one to which I know every member and supporter will rally. At Environs, we have always considered that our strength lies in our network of members, helping to share their knowledge, expertise and lessons learnt. Environs is committed to continuing our role this regard - providing the means to create stronger linkages between our members while acting as a knowledge broker, bridging the gap between science and the development of policy, projects and other initiatives built upon the sound foundations set in of with low overheads, a revised and updated constitution, operating Local Solutions fund. This base will allows Environs to continue to respond to the dynamic local government and sustainability environment. saw the strengthening of our partnership with Hallmark Editions with whom we have developed the annual conference Local Government Sustainable Development which includes Environs Sustainability Leadership awards and our AGM. also saw the continuation of the support of RolandDG sponsoring the awards based on their Cradle-to-grave product philosophy and their focus on environmentally friendly inks and media. Environs also enjoyed the tangible support of ENSR AECOM for the silver awards. Unfortunately Environs was not able to publish Best Five Minutes or Local Environs this year. A hiatus that we hope to address significantly in The 2007 Conference, Dinner and Awards was a resounding success and culminated in our Gold Award Sustainability Leadership Award going to???????. I thank the numerous supporters, sponsors and volunteers, without whose help, we could not have had one of our most productive years yet. I would especially like to recognise Sally Larkin and Rani Milne who have been the active hands of Enviorns in past years but for personal reasons are not able to stay with us. 2008/09 offers a fantastic opportunity for Environs to build momentum, especially and to deepen relationships with research institutions, community groups and government, to develop services to members and expand Environs role as a voice for sustainability represents the 20 th year of Environs. Lets make this a year that counts. Evan Thomas Environs President 2

22 QTa QTa Environs - The local government environment network