Why have some skilled tradespeople, designers and retailers within the building & construction industry adapted skills and work practices to sustainable outcomes? How can you apply your building & construction skills sustainably? Hear the Trade Secrets from the businesses themselves, small, medium and large. Watch their stories and learn about how they have become leaders in sustainable practice – and how this now equates to best trade practice.
Half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – currently live in cities and by 2055 an estimated 75% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Cities present the world’s population with the best chance of reducing our ecological footprint. Climate Action, the UNEP supported communications platform for global business sustainability, is launching the Sustainable Cities annual publication in June 2012 at Rio+20 – the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. In the run up to and during the Rio+20 conference the Sustainable Cities Blog includes the latest news and developments from around the world, and there is also a publication content overview.
How can we save the koala if we don’t know how many are left, where they live, and in what condition? KoalaTracker (previously known as KoalaDiaries) was a first in terms of integrating location intelligence technology with community engagement to record the occurrence of a single species nationally. It plots the points of crowdsourced (contributed by members of the public) koala sightings on a dynamic national map. KoalaTracker shows that koalas are trying to live with us, regardless of whether we notice or not, and graphically records the impacts of urbanisation, loss of habitat and increased disease.
Initial reports by fire authorities show communities around urban parklands are unaware of the bushfire risk they face. The Effective Communication of Bushfire Risk in the Urban-Parkland Interface project was commissioned by the Bushfire CRC to serve as a pilot program for the study of bushfire communication in communities within the urban-parkland interface. Through literature review and interviews with community members and officials in Blackburn, the project report authors found current communication campaigns to be ineffective. Recommendations to improve the effectiveness of communication have been generated.
The Environmental Decisions Group (EDG) and Decision Point magazine are all about smart science for wise decisions – issue 60 of Decision Point magazine is now available.
The NSW Government Green Globe Awards recognise environmental excellence, leadership and innovation. NSW small and large businesses, individuals, state and local government and community groups who can demonstrate significant environmental achievements in NSW are encouraged to apply for a Green Globe Award. Nominations close 7 June 2012.
The NSW Government has announced the first-ever Volunteering Strategy for the State, backed by $4.5 million in resources. The key strategic themes are making it easier to volunteer, supporting organisations that work with volunteers, recognising and celebrating volunteering, support for corporate volunteering, and better volunteering pathways.
Commercial and industrial companies that can demonstrate recent water savings are encouraged to nominate for the 2012 Prime Minister’s Water Wise Award. The Award is now in its third year and recognises the significant savings in water use achieved by businesses in the commercial and industrial sectors. These sectors, on average, use around 15 to 20 per cent of urban water in Australia. Greater water efficiency in commercial and industrial operations takes pressure off fresh water supplies in urban and regional areas. Nominations will close on Friday 20 July 2012.
The revised version of Stormwater Management in a Water Sensitive City is now available. This document is a “how to” guide to the management of urban storm water and to the integration of appropriate management technologies into Australian urban design practice in the planning of urban developments and re-development.
World Water Development Report 4 is a comprehensive review that gives an overall picture of the world’s freshwater resources. It analyses pressures from decisions that drive demand for water and affect its availability and offers tools and response options to help leaders in government, the private sector and civil society address current and future challenges. It suggests ways in which institutions can be reformed and their behaviour modified, and explores possible sources of financing for the urgently needed investment in water.