ICLEI Climate and Water Forum

On 23 April 2009 ICLEI Oceania held a Climate and Water Forum at Piney Lakes Environmental Education Centre. Mayor Russell Aubrey of the City of Melville welcomed participants to this event, which brought together Cities for Climate Protection and the Water Campaign™, encouraging networking between councils on energy and water conservation initiatives.

Participants came from metropolitan and south-west councils, regional councils, state government and other industry stakeholders.

The ICLEI Climate and Water Forum included presentations, tours and discussion sessions. Detail of each of these aspects is provided below. You can also download the agenda from the day.

Presentations

The forum included presentations from a range of speakers, bringing together energy and water management. Presentations from the day can be downloaded below.

: Model of Piney Lakes Environmental Education Centre

Jessica Bayens, City of Perth, and Christie Atkinson, Swan River Trust:
Climate Change Risk Assessment for Point Fraser wetlands [PDF, 300 KB]
Nycole Wood, Cities for Climate Protection and Susannah Raffe, Water Campaign™:
Summary of CCP Measures Report and Water Campaign Actions Report [PDF, 2.2 MB]
Mathilde Breton, Shire of Busselton:
Integrating environmental sustainability into council operations [PDF, 135 Kb]
Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute:
Resilient Cities [PDF, 5.6 MB].

Tour of Piney Lakes

: Ben Kelly giving a tour of energy efficient initatives at Piney Lakes

The venue, Piney Lakes Environmental Education Centre, is a demonstration site for energy and water management initiatives including solar panels, passive solar design, wastewater recycling and rainwater tanks.

Participants enjoyed a lunchtime tour of the Centre guided by Piney Lakes staff Janet McGinty and Ben Kelly.

For more information visit the Piney Lakes Environmental Education Centre website.

Discussion Sessions

The forum included a series of two discussion sessions, which enabled participants to share experiences, brainstorm new ideas and explore the challenges and opportunities for new actions.

The sessions identified many actions that councils have implemented as well as some new ideas for action. Ideas coming out of the discussion sessions included:

corporate energy challenge to educate council staff
bulk buying sustainability resources for the community (such as showerheads, worm farms and light globes)
demonstration gardens at Civic Centre
incorporating sustainability principles into inductions for new staff
solar bus shelters.

Read about many more inspiring ideas and actions by downloading the Discussion Sessions Report Back [PDF, 80 KB].

: Brainstorming actions

Feedback

Participants reported that the most valuable aspect of the day was the opportunity to network with other sustainability professionals and hear what others are up to. Peter Newman’s presentation on resilient cities was also a highlight for many participants. Overall, participants felt that the forum met their expectations and assisted them to expand their appreciation of sustainability issues.

For information on other ICLEI events and to see what's coming up in your state, visit ICLEI Oceania's events page.

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