|
|
 |
Back to Word from the CEO Desk
Saturday December 16, 2006
Friday afternoon and 52 ICLEI A/NZ staff congregated at a St Kilda restaurant by the sea to celebrate the year that was and give out Kris Kringle gifts. Santa Michael provided the knee and the gifts came from one and all. Moke was not backward in giving Santa some advice. Wayne presented Ms Yu with a momento of her time in Melbourne...... and we partied on.
Friday December 15, 2006
ICLEI A/NZ Planning and Review days bring out the best in our work across our campaigns together with the areas we need to work on to be the best! The last 2 days have been no different as campaign staff presented on their work over the past 12 months and the challenges and opportunities ahead for our work with 250 councils across Australia and New Zealand.
Wednesday December 13, 2006
Ms Yu Shumei, Director, Industrial Pollution Control Fund (TEPB), has worked with the ICLEI Oceania office from October to December 2006 as part of the partnership between City of Melbourne and City of Tianjin City Leaders Exchange Program. This is the second TEPB placement to be based at ICLEI Oceania following Ms Liu Jie, Director, TEPB. Ms Liu Jie worked with ICLEI Oceania staff on the CCP Tianjin scoping project in 2005. Ms Yu Shumei has worked with ICLEI Oceania staff to identify sustainability project opportunities that will add tangible benefits to the existing sister city relationship utilising the ICLEI sustainable cities methodologies. Today Ms Yu provided ICLEI A/NZ staff with an overview of the work she has undertaken whilst at ICLEI that will be utilised by the TEPB.
Monday December 4, 2006
A city of over 10 million people is a jigsaw of activity, styles, heritage, culture, foods, smells, sounds, buildings and of course people. Seoul is certainly a city of 'neighbourhoods' or precincts with palaces and temples scattered across the cityscape. There are box like high rise interspersed with contemporary glass building sculptures that are often adorned with large television screens up to 3 storeys in height. They are picture perfect! The small alleyways in the more traditional neighbourhoods are just wide enough for two people to pass and the signage hangs just above one's head as you negotiate in search of that once in a life time restaurant. In the depths of winter (minus 12C on Sunday morning or the heights of summer (over 30C plus humidity) life is done at a reasonable pace. Traffic is heavy on the very wide streets but cars wend their way into and out of the flow with few incidents of aggression. The buses run on LPG and are numerous in number. The underground in spacious and has nine lines. The trains are wide and lengthy. The shopping precinct is car free, almost; scooters are however plentiful and zoom around the throngs of shoppers and lookers. Fashion stores are expensive and trade is good. Street stalls are a feature selling spicy and sweet dishes of all varieties and do a roaring trade. Those cooking have a real advantage at this time of the year. Fast food outlets have real competition. The subway malls are lined with reasonably priced shops that go on and on along the endles tunnels leading under intersections and along streets to the subway stations. The city is relatively clean. A running stream though the center of downtown is the result of removing a vast drain and making a healthy stream for walking and jogging. It is a vast city thinking often about its past and coming to terms with its future. As a conference delegate said 'If we can have an IT revolution why can't we have an energy one?" You have the feeling that they could do whatever they wanted!
 - GGAG21 Staff and Council celebrate!
 - Suwon at night
Saturday December 2, 2006
After the conference! Enough said.
 - Companion Translators - Hannah Han & Denise Yoon
 - Mark Brostrom and me
 - On stage!
Friday December 1, 2006
Day 2 of the Conference was a 3 hour morning session...with me! There was obviously an expectation that I had something to say. I woke early (Melbourne time I think) so I would not miss the start! The walk to the Convention Centre gave me sometime to catch the brisk cold and start the thinking process. My presentation was focussed on CCP Australia Program its beginnings, its framework, methodology, assessment and quantification tools, its outcomes and future plans. The almost hour presentation was detailed and practical and hopefully understood. The break for tea of course was a chance to take a breath and then move onto the tools we were using to measure and manage the program....and then the panelists took to the stage. They were Dr Noh Dong Woon, Climate Change Research Centre, Korea Energy Institute, Kim Tea Han, Director Air Management Division Gyeonggi-do, Park Eun Ho, General Secretary Gunpo YMCA and Park Hoon, General Secretary Local Agenda 21 for Chonbuk. The comments were positive and provided me with a further insight into the application of CCP into the Korean local government scene. The questions indicated where concepts did not translate and the nuances of the processes of local government, civil society and NGOs and their respective roles and relationships in the Korean context. The lunch break not before time as my head began to labour under the weight of thoughtful and informed questioning. The result was positive; I had provided a basis for consideration of the CCP program and it was now up to thsoe present to discuss and debate how the program could be adapted to heir political, cultural and social scenarios. I tucked into the lunch as best I could with chopsticks that seemed to have a mind of their own. Maybe I was exhausted! The Conference progressed with more detail on what the Provincial Government was doing along with NGOs, civil society and local government on greenhouse action followed by a number of case studies on renewable energies, biomass and bio fuels, the experience of a local government administrator in introducing energy policy to council and the work of a community activist working to have her local government set a zero net emissions goal. The end was series of wrap ups including by Mark Brostrom and myself. I could only say 'thanks and go for it'! The evening was spent sitting on a warm floor eating with the friends I had made over the last 2 days. I slept!
 - View from Hotel Suwon
 - Lunch with GGAG21 Council, staff & Gyeonggi-do Councillors
 - Conference Opening
Thursday November 30, 2006
There was little doubt that the schedule today would be heady and engaging! The day started with a meeting with the GGAG21 staff in their office. GGAG21 is the Agenda21 Action Council for Gyeonggi-do and the organisers of the' Local Government and Sustainability' Conference. Meeting Yeon-hee in her office surrounds completed her jigsaw puzzle. I now had put a voice to the email, a person to the voice and was now putting a person to her worklife. Following a cup of tea and the detail of today's schedule, we headed down the long corridors of the Gyeonggi-Do Provincial Government to meet with the Vice Governor. There was an entourage and we all entered his large office and sank into the large and comfortable chairs seated up against each other in a row, around a very large low table and provided with the proverbial tea. The Vice Governor welcomed us and proceeded to ask a range of questions on the state of play in both Australia and Canada on climate change and the Kyoto Protocol. It was a discussion that concluded after some 30 minutes with a commitment to address Climate change as I watched the snow fall ever so softly through the curtains. But there was liitel time to ponder the weather as we left the office and haded once agin along the long corrodors and headed to a restaurant to lucnh with members of the GAG21 council, staff and Provincial Government members and adminstrators. The venue was a most impressive one; the food left me regretting that I had not discovered Korean food sooner. Follwoing lunch it was of to the Gyeonggi Arts and Convention Centre for the opening and day 1 of the conference. The Centre was a large an imposing one; the conference room warm, light and ordered. The large banner above the stage indicated that thsi was an international conference and it aims was to sek strategies to climate protection. The conference began with the official party and speeches of welcome from the Co Chairperson of the GGAG21, a representative of the Ministry of the Environment and the Vice Governor. The conference was started and my role was to present the City of Melbourne's Greenhouse Strategy. The presentation was well received, at least I think so as I was realying heavily on and interpreter who provided simultaneous translation. I hoped that my many and frequent asides and maybe some colloquialisms, did not divert from the message. I found out later that it didn't and that the zero net emissions target by 2020 set by the Council and the 3 core strategies to achieve the target were understood and received many commendations! Mark Brostrom, Director of the Office of the Environment, Edmonton, Canada followed with a detailed and impressive range of strategies and actions undertaken by the City. The Japanese case study of the work of Kitakyushu City was provided by a member of the GGAG21 who had spent sometime in Japan. It was also an impressive range of actions for climate protection. And then followed the critiques of 4 panelists who provided a summation of each presentations, comments on their content and a series of questions for the speakers to answer. It was a grilling with feeling, understanding and expertise. It worked! Questions from the conference floor were passed to the chair and they too were responded to. The day 1 conference session ended with a dinner of traditional Korean food buffet style and we stayed around and talked of the day's events and tomorrow's plans. I was feeling almost as if it was home!
Post Script:
Another successful Recognition Event marked our final awards for 2006. There were around 130 delegates who attended the breakfast from councils across Australia. That's what makes the National General Assembly stage such an impressive and important one for ICLEI A/NZ and the ALGA and of course the councils who are able to attend. Minister Campbell was scheduled to fly to Sydney for another speaking enagagement so we needed to be ready for last minute changes. But if initial planning is good then you have a good base on which to take on the unexpected. And we did. In a quick move to the front end of the program, the Minister took to the stage and congratulated councils for their achievements and released the 2006 Measures Report with 2.9 million tonnes of greenhouse gas reductions taking the cumulative total to 8.8 million tonnes. Next year we will hit the 10 million plus no doubt.
Tuesday November 28, 2006
The Australasian Mayors Council on Climate Protection will empower CCP councils across Australia and New Zealand to have a strengthened voice locally, nationally and internationally on climate protection. To over see the development and inauguration of the AMCCP at the 2007 Accelerating Now Conference to be held in Melbourne in May, a Leaders Planning Group has been established comprising the following mayors of councils who are ICLEI members and have been participants in the CCP program for a number of years. During the National General Assembly some members of the Planning Group were able to meet to further their work. Members of the Planning Group include:
Mayor Bob Abbot, Noosa Shire Council, Queensland; Mayor Nick Berman, Hornsby Shire Council, New South Wales; Mayor Fran Kilgariff, Alice Springs Town Council, Northern Territory; Mayor Alan Milne, Kapiti Coast District Council, New Zealand; Mayor Ivan Brooks, City of Mitcham, South Australia; Mayor Paddi Creevey, Mandurah City Council, Western Australia; Mayor Bob Harvey, Waitakere City Council, New Zealand; Mayor Dick Hubbard, Auckland City Council, New Zealand;
Cr Fraser Brindley, Melbourne City Council, Victoria; Lord Mayor Robert Valentine, Hobart City Council, Tasmania.
 - Mayor Alan Milne, Kapiti Coast District Council NZ
 - Mayor Bob Abbot, Noosa Council, Qld
 - Mayor Nick Berman, Hornsby Council, NSW & Mayor Fran Kilgariff, Alice Springs Council
 - 2005 Recognition Event, Canberra
Monday November 20, 2006
Yes it is that time of the year to recognise and celebrate the work of councils in the CCP program, the Water Campaign, TBL Capacity Building Program and ICLEI members on the national stage. The National General Assembly of Local Government brings delegates from across Australia and the traditional breakfast event will have no doubt another early and good turn out. With now 218 councils participating in CCP and 88 in the Water Campaign there is a groundswell of interest in the work of ICLEI-A/NZ almost into its 10th year. Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell will speak along with ALGA President Cr Paul Bell and CEO ICLEI-A/NZ, Wayne Wescott. We look forward to breakfast with the milestone stars! If you wish to attend contact the ICLEI-A/NZ office and book a seat.
Thursday November 16, 2006
Tonight Hamer Hall in the Melbourne Arts Centre will be packed to hear Al Gore speak on 'A Time for Action' and I will be there! Since the film hit the cinema circuit there has been a groundswell of concern that climate change is not an experiment but a reality! The question now being asked is 'what do we do about it?' And the increase in the number of inquiries from councils as to the CCP program and how to partcipate has been in proportion to the increased media reporting on the impacts of global warming. With 238 councils currently across Australia and New Zealand participating in CCP and 100 signed up to CCP Plus, the program is well placed to continue to take action!
Tuesday November 14, 2006
The invitation to speak at the 'Local Governments Action for Sustainability' Conference, November 30 - December 1, 2006, was too good to be missed! The focus, 'climate protection', provided an excellent opportunity to share our learnings and experiences and to support local governments in the Republic of Korea. The conference has been organised by the Agenda21 Action Council for Gyeongg-do and is supported by the Provincial Government, the Ministry of Environment and the Korean Council for Local Agenda 21. So following the National General Assembly traditional breakfast Recognition Event I fly to Seoul to speak on CCP and our approach to sustainability and to learn of the work being undertaken by local governments in Korea to meet their Local Agenda 21.There is no doubt of the agenda for the conference - "We expect this occasion could not only be the first step to adopt sustainability management tools at local level but also to pursue the local sustainability with ICLEI based on partnership. ......Through this occasion we are planning to provide stepping stone for local government to join CCP Campaigns as part of integrated response to Climate protection".
Wednesday November 1, 2006
The Local Government Climate Change conference in Cairns today brought together representatives for councils across the far north. In his opening presentation Dr Graeme Pearson, Sustainability Science Program, Monash University provided an overview of the impacts of climate change and the need to act. His presentation was powerful and measured. It is the science that drives the modelling and predictions; it’s the reality that brings it home with cyclones, floods and droughts! Lynette Thorstensen, Group Head of Sustainability Business Practices, Insurance Australia Group described her company’s commitment to address the impacts of climate change as a corporate body and as a provider of insurance services. Cyclone Larry was high on delegates memory and IAG was an active player in its aftermath. Dr Phillipa England, School of Law, Griffith University discussed legal liability from planning decisions in the context of climate change. Tim Smith Associate Professor CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems spoke on his work with wth Sydney Coastal Councils and the AGO on a systems approach to adaptation to manage for climate variability. There was strong interest in the work of CCP across Australia and in Queensland. The day was full… the outcomes look positive for local government in far north Queensland to work locally and regionally and address climate change. And the media was back…ABC Regional Radio and Channel 7. It was a grab but not a bad one with Mayor Mike Bewick, Douglas Shire, Cr Jim Chapman, Atherton Shire and Chairman FNQROC and me! It was an opportunity to advocate for CCP and our work in Queensland.
Tuesday October 31, 2006
The Ecotourism Australia’s 2006 International Conference, sponsored by the City of Townsville, brought together tourist operators, public sector tourism agencies, local government and international visitors from Sweden, Kenya, Italy, Mongolia, Japan, India. The conference opening featured Deputy Mayor Cr Ann Bunnell, a committed and passionate advocate for sustainability, and Natarajan Ishwaran, Director, Division of Ecological and Earth Science, UNESO and an advocate for the biosphere as a vehicle for partnerships to combat climate change and learning sustainable development practices. The conference reception on The Strand was an opportunity to experience some Townsville City hospitality. On day 2 I attended the ‘Sustainable Design and Practice Delivering Profitability’ session auspiced by Environment Management Services of the City of Townsville. lAndrew McNamara, State Parliamentary Secretary Main Roads, in a thoughtful, provocative and informative presentation enunciated the case for action on climate change and the impact of peak oil on the tourism. How will we get there? www.ecotourism.org.au/conference/
Tuesday October 31, 2006
The flight from Townsville to Cairns is short but noisey in the propeller driven plane! Flicking through the Post I came across an article on the Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils' Local Government Climate Change Conference that inferred that climate change action would now be placed on the agenda of councils in the far north. However a Cairns City spokesperson responded by saying that the council’s work through the Cities for Climate Protection was evidence of the council’s on-going commitment.
Monday October 31, 2006
Today was Townsville City day and the commencement of the EcoTourism Australian International Conference. This morning I met with Greg Bruce, Catriona and Gideon and we discussed our work with Townsville on CCP, Solar Cities (the City was recently informed of its successful bid) and all matters related to ‘sustainability’. We did not discuss the crocs on The Strand. I fortunately did not bring swimming trunks!
Post Script: The Townsville barbeque with the Savannah Guides was one of the highlights of the Ecotourism Conference sponsored by the City of Townsville. Greg Bruce, Manager Environmental Management Services has sent me this photo to remind me that I was there!
Sunday October 29, 2006
A barbeque on the banks of the Ross River Dam with the Savannah Guides at sunset was sure to be different! The Dam is a NQ Water facility serving the Townsville and Thuringowa communities. We arrived around dusk and were ‘chaperoned’ into the currently off limits dam area (they are building a larger dam for the expected doubling of rainfall since 1974) and in a convoy of 4 wheel drives were taken to a lean to and barbeque. And there the night unfolded as the Savannah Guides, who had undertaken ‘school’ over the last 2 days and a tour of the dam and adjacent wetlands, were winding down…or was it up! Savannah Guides is a network of professional tour guides with in-depth knowledge of the natural and cultural assets of the tropical savannahs of northern Australia. The Savannah Guides are a non-profit organisation that began in the Gulf Savannah region of Queensland and now has a number of guide sites and operators throughout Northern Australia. Savannah Guides Ltd was established as a non-profit company in 1988. Their mission is to the promote ecologically sustainable tourism principles, enhance regional lifestyles and encourage the protection and conservation of the natural and cultural resources of the Tropical Savannahs of Northern Australia. www.savannah-guides.com.au
Sunday October 29, 2006
1.30 PM
Hitting 29 degrees and rising in Townsville and coming from a Melbourne snap winter does tend to throw one’s body into standby mode! A walk along ‘The Strand’ is certainly the best way to get to know Townsville; its mood, sights and sites.
 - Ecotourism Australia's 2006 International Conference
Sunday October 29, 2006
12 noon
Aircraft seating seems to get tighter and tighter so conversations are readily picked up in same aisle seats. So I was prompted to ask, toward the end of the flight to Townsville, about my fellow passenger’s attendance at the International Ecotourism Conference, only to find out that as Chair of Ecotourism Australia and convenor of the conference, Clare McFarlane had to be there! In the time the aircraft made its approach and landed we had met, exchanged our respective interest in the conference and Townsville and made a decision to be in touch to discuss possible joint interests. www.ecotourism.org.au
 - The Sugar Shaker
Sunday October 29, 2006
10.30am
I knew there would be challenges! I was heading off to Townsville for the International Ecotourism Conference on Monday and onto Cairns for a speaking role at the Local Government Climate Change Conference on Wednesday. My flight from Melbourne was 6.05 am on Sunday so in order to catch the flight to Townville via Brisbane I decided that given the changeover to daylight saving I would book a ‘wake-up call’ for 4.45 am. To cut to the chase the wake-up call came at 5.45 am to the annoyance of the house I had left an hour earlier and was by this time in the air and on my way. Certainly no thanks to a ‘wake up call’ that needed a wake up! Fortunately sleep is light when one has a plane to catch and I arrived In Townsville an hour earlier than the flight had taken as Queenslanders have an ingrained reluctance to match the other eastern states with a summer time zone. Townsville is a regional city that has taken on the ‘sustainability’ agenda with vigour and rigour!
www.townsville.qld.gov.au
As an ICLEI member and participant in the CCP program, the City has broadened its activity into biodiversity, eco-tourism and was last week announced as Australia’s second solar city. I am looking forward to the time, short as it is, to meet councillors and staff and attend the opening session of the conference.
Friday October 20, 2006
The South Australian Recognition and Briefing Breakfast today awarded councils for their completion of milestones in the CCP program and the Water Campaign and recognised those councils who as ICLEI members contribute to the worldwide local government contribution to sustainable development. Over 80 mayors, councillors, CEOs, managers, officers and representatives from government departments and agencies attended the event held in the Adelaide Convention Centre. And fourteen councils were recognised for their milestone achievements. President LGASA, Mayor John Rich, provided the welcome address and noted the important partnership with ICLEI to progress the work of councils on sustainability. Alex Fernside, Assistant Manager, Community Partnerships DEH spoke of the importance the Minister placed on the work of ICLEI and local government.
The State Minister for Environment and Conservation, Gail Gago was the keynote presenter and spoke of the need to work with local govenment and community to achieve the agendas the State Government had set the State for reducing greehouse gas emissions and addressing water management issues, In the driest state on the driest continent, action is at a premium. The Presiding Member, Yvonne Sneddon, Adelaide and Mount Lofty NRM Board of Management spoke of the reasons why the Board had backed ICLEI, local councils and the Water Campaign and had agreed to continue funding for the roll out of the campaign across the 26 councils comprising the region. Following the awards Mayor Ivan Brooks (Mitcham Council) and Peter Vlatko CEO (Campbellton) provided testamonials on their work with ICLEI. Peter Vlatko stated that when asked 'why work with ICLEI?' replied 'Well, who else is there!'
The red carpet was an extra!
Saturday October 14, 2006
Singapore is diverse....culturally and socially. Its population is muliti cultural and reflect countries across the region. Little India and Chinatown are 'countries' within this city state. They adhere to traditions long after they most likely have been discarded from where they originated. Liitle India is celebrating Deepavli and the streets are a sea of budlighting and music and selling. The market area is wall to wall people with cars taking the space no-one wishes to walk. Cafes and restaurants are crowded late into the night with families, the young and the old. The smells are of incense and curries! In Chinatown it is the Autumn Festival. The lighting is less frenetic and almost kitsch in its replication of typical houses, cute animals and exotic flowers. The streets are closed for eating and the stalls do a roaring trade. Around the corner there are European and American styled bars and restaurants. The contrast is stark..the smells do not reflect the cost of a meal! Singapore has taken shopping to a lifestyle! Vivo City, the newest of the shopping complexes is a labyrinth of malls and sub malls. It has views of the harbourfront and Sentosa Island at all levels. The underground is a fine piece of architecture and efficiency. It is a delight; feels like an airport rather than a train station and going down into the undergropund cools rather than heats! Such is the weather that airconditioning is a signature of Singapore. Orchard Road is well named...it is a throughfare with shops for the picking! And Singaporeans along with the many tourists are able to find the product and the price for the taking. The brand names and the store names are provided with complexes of extraordinary access, public and private, airconditioned environments, cleanliness that is almost clinical and the seediest escalotors surely in the world to move people up, down and through their shopping experience. It is endemic! And in amongst this pot pourri of sites, sights, sounds and smells there is a biennale! The theme for this the first Singapore Biennale is 'Belief'. This has been interpreted broadly by artists across political, cultural, social and spiritual issues. The work presented in a shrine, temple, church and synagogue were reflective of both the spiritual space and beliefs. As working places the artworks were viewed along with the chanting, the singing, the wedding, the hubhub of the rituals that inhabit such places and their surrounds. The work in the Hindu Temple was inspiring in its use of space, its design and comment on society. It comprised a roof top painting viewed from the upper level of the shrine and featured men, women and children lying on their bed mats and connected like a jigsaw across the surface. The work would eventually succumb to the weather and would slowly but surely be erased. However its poignancy would take longer to leave the veiwer. Singapore is challenging .....but then what's new!
Friday October 13, 2006
Touch down in Singapore on Wednesday evening brought to a welcome end a 21 hour journey. The view was not so good from the air, or on the ground for that matter. The fires in Indonesia have brought the annual blanketing of Malyasia and Sinapore with smoke. The decision to move the upcoming Regional Environment Minister's meeting to Indonesia is seen as recognition of the problem. Still with problems further north on the Korean pensinsula the smoke is but an annoyance rather than a headline! And so to the Singaporean experience...yes hot and humid, clean and manicured, the City State that is Singpore has an orderliness and a pace that is almost unbecoming an Asian city. Traffic moves with the occasional frustration and the footpaths leave room for unimpeded map reading. No having to get out of the flow to find out where you are! Spruikers are non existant except in the riverfront restaurant precinct and they make Lygon Street spruikers seem almost disinterested. The first Sinpaorean Biennale is a knockout...well so far. City Hall has been turned into an arts space and the exhibition of works have been installed to reflect both the space and the times. Politically the work is provocative; artistically it is at times shocking or sublime. This is the first biennale for Singapore and it has been backed by Government and the private sector but also by local artists and their friends. Lots to see and talk about here...and not just the state of Singapore but the world! Artists are from all over which makes for an opportunity to see how the creative are responding to a world which at times is not!
 - A journey starts with a bus!
Tuesday October 10, 2006
There is a simple way and a hard way to get to Singapore from Copenhagen! I am taking the hard way via London, long security queues, and Frankfurt, yet to be experienced. Yes I am in transit along with what seems to be most of the air travelling community. But this is the busiest airport in the world so expect the expected! And the flight countdowns are announced in a rush...it is like being on a roll call of cities around the world....if it exists and has an airport it is announced here! Singapore will be a 4 day stopover before landing in Melbourne.
The last time I travelled to Singapore was in 1970...via a train to Perth, ship to Singapore and flight to London. The ship/air route was the cheapest and the best way to travel back then. The only requirement for a male to arrive in Singapore however was with hair not touching the collar. Yes there were 2 requirements - a collar and short hair! Having met this challenge the world was yours. Simple eh?
Monday October 9, 2006
The haze of the morning light entered the studio space in which we had taken up residence. Through four very impressive windows that overlooked an internal courtyard the day started early. The view across roof tops and trees was now showing signs of turning as leaves increasingly whirled in the winds and floated to the ground to join the growing piles of colour. This was Neukolin, a suburb not yet reeling from the upwardly mobile who were taking over former East Berlin and surrounding neighbourhoods with their expensive galleries, furnishing and clothing shops and of course restaurants and café bars. Berlin is a city on the move and so too are those who are unable to live in the expanding gentrified suburbs. Mitte in the east was first to experience this wave of wealth and influence. Formerly home and studio to emerging artists the fall of the Wall brought in those who wanted to be part of the creative explosion that typifies Berlin. Moving around Berlin is moving through a myriad of life styles, environments, cultures, building styles, cobbled footpaths and roadways, monuments and memorials. It is a city that is forced to admit its past, and though wishing to move on cannot forget. Tourist buses cruise the sights and sites for their passengers to flash their cameras and record the places where this was achieved or that was perpetrated; where that person went missing or another person discovered. The city is home to dogs of all shapes and sizes. They travel on the u-bahn in numbers and crowd some underground stations along with their chain wearing owners who have formed club u-bahn. Dogs on u-bahn trains are almost as ubiquitous as the jeans and baseball cap wearing ‘inspectors. They announce their presence with the flashing of their IDs and move through the compartments in number. Unticketed passengers are corralled in the doorway and alight at the next stop. The trains are always packed; and times are kept. Advertising is minimal as well as u-bahn maps. People get lost! Above the u-bahn double decker buses and trams ply the streets. There is ease in getting around Berlin. The Ballhaus is a place to get to. It is where tango dancing is alive and kicking. This 1900’s venue is endowed with dancers and diners. And the place to enjoy exotic teas and liquers is at the 'Tadshikische Teestube' and lie back on cushions surrounded by traditional Tadjik paintings, carpets and wood carved beams. The tearoom was donated by the Tadshilische region to the German Democratic Republic as a present. But there are many and varied highlights in a city still defining itself and distinguishing between its past and the future.
Sunday October 8, 2006
Outraged elderly cove - 'Damn it man.... you've just let off an emission in front of my wife'.
Nonchelant gent from developing nation - 'I do apologise. I didn't realise it was her turn'.
'The Independent´October 6, 2006
Saturday October 7, 2006
'The Independent newspaper (6/10/06) under the headline 'Revealed: the damage to the planet caused by computers left on all night' quoted research that found that 2,000,000 computers were left on every night in Britain. One in five office workers were identified as leaving their computers on each night costing around $100,000,000 in energy use. As a result over 200,000,000 tonnes of carbon per annum, equivalent to all the cars in a city the size of Liverpool, was being emitted. The report went on to identify that 1,000,000 tonnes of carbon from televisions, DVDs and other appliances left in standby mode in British living rooms each year uses almost as much energy in sleep as in their use! It went on to reveal that dishwashers use 70% of their power in running at the end of their cycle; televisions sets in 2004 consumed about 8% of their energy in standby; washing machines use 20% of their normal requirement in standby; and lighting used unnecessarily cost an additional £55,000.000 in bills per annum.
Thursday October 5, 2006
Today I presented at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Ecomomics of Lund University, Sweden on the ICLEI world. Not so different from other occassions except that there was not a row of former mayors looking down on me but an 18th century patron of Lund University, A.C. Agardh! Rather mayoral dress I thought as I briefed staff and students on the work of ICLEI and our work in Australia and New Zealand.
The questions and comments that followed indicated that our work was both understood in terms of the challenges and opportunites we face in our region and beyond are not dissimilar to the work of both Masters and PhD students here at IIIEE who are working on projects covering maný of the agendas that our campaigns encompass.
Our MoU with the Institute offers opportunities for collaboration with students and staff who come from a number of countries across most continents and whose areas of research and application cover sustainable products and services, energy for sustainable development and sustainable buildings. Students work on projects that include topics such as tourism, business development, agriculture and information technology. They are also devising an extensive distance education program. http://www.iiiee.lu.se/ The world is shrinking indeed.
Wednesday October 4, 2006
Returning to Berlin in autumn revealed parts of this city previously under snow......I could now look up and out rather then protect myself from the often biting winds of a winter covered city. The exciting thing about returning to any city is that it throws up new parts of the city and vistas as well as new people to meet and converse. And the latter provides differing insights to the city experience.
Tuesday October 3, 2006
Berlin attracts artists from across the world...its vibrancy exploded following the fall of the Wall.
The Chinese artist, Cai Guo-Qiang, visited Berlin in October 2005 and devised an installation now showing in the Deutsche Gungenheim. There are 3 works in the exhibition. One work is an overpowering installation of 99 wolves rushing and snarling toward an impenetrable glass wall! The installation is titled 'Head on' and was 'inspired by the omnipresence of German history' in Berlin. Walking and talking in Berlin certainly has a strong historical context one that is sometimes overwhelming and disturbing.
In the Hambuger Bahnhof Museum an exhibition by Lebanese artist, Walid Raad who founded The Atlas Group features works that interpret and document the contemporary history of Lebanon. The works take head on the events in another city. One such work consists of a series of photographs dating back to 1981 featuring the engines of detonated car bombs from the streets of Beruit. The photographs were displayed with the date, location and photographer's name, where known. The location of the engines, often found on balconies and certainly metres away from the actual car bomb, made finding the engine a challenge! Both artists deal with a city's history, its recording and understanding, in a provocative and challenging way.
Wednesday September 27, 2006
Stockholm is quite a city of fine buildings...and islands too! Arriving by fast train through tunnels and a cross bridges raises expectations but they are not dashed! The city dates back to the 13th century and so you have the new, the old, the older and the very old dotted across the cityscape. Well except for 'Gamla Stan' or the old town with its cobbled lanes and alley ways, its squares, spires, cafes, restaurants, bars and a myriad of tourist shops. Off the main drag are the the quieter laneways. But this is a city not just on land but also at sea. There is an estimated 24,000 islands that make up the archipelago and they think that number is close enough! and a myriad of tourist shops. You are always close to water in Stockholm...glimpses and large expanses cross your path constantly. The city has a population of 750,000 with 1.8 million in greater Stockholm. A visit would not be complete without a ferry ride to an outer island and this provides a vista of small and large rocky outcrops with their summer houses and some permanent I suspect from their size. The water is crowded with all manner of craft from ocean liners to rowing boats. Yes quite a city indeed!
Thursday September 21, 2006
The International Herald Tribune (September 18) reported that the International Energy Agency, the research institute in Paris, is pushing low cost grass, straw, sawdust and wood cuttings from fast growing trees for biofuel production. In its latest report it states that this could 'allow biofuels to play a much larger role in the world's energy needs'. The current practice of using crops such as corn, soybeans or sugar cane require a lot of land and their cost is rising due to biofuel demand. Land availability is perhaps one of the greatest impediments to biofuel production from food crops as it is competing with agriculture, forests and urban development. And on the demand side the British Liberal Democrats will drive average size car owners to seek alternative vehicles by increasing car tax from £150 to £850! The car tax plan announced by the party's environment spokesperson, aims to change people's behaviour and persuade car manufacturers to develop cleaner cars.
Wednesday September 20, 2006
The streets and malls of Malmo have a distinctly differént air - it's warmer! And the cafes that one squeezed into to take in the warmth are now on the streets and no-óne stays in doors if they can help it! And the trees have come to make a statement rather than be coathangers for falling snow. And yes 'Wayne's coffee' was showing a reasonable trade...a chain of coffee houses stretching across Sweden! I am not sure of its origins but no doubt there is a bit if viking in all of us!
Tuesday September 19, 2006
Thirty hours in airports and in the air has to have something to offer...but is left to the very end! Leaving Melbourne at 11.00pm for take off and touch down in Hong Kong went without a hitch. Security was tight but seemd very efficient though I suspect like any good operation there was a lot of unseen errors being made...well hopefully not too many. On to London the longest 'delay' was waiting for the bus to take us from the plane to the terminal for the flight to Copenhagen. London airport looks more like a bus station with buses moving criss cross across the tarmac to the final destination of their passengers. Once again security was visible and efficient though I was surprised to see a person of obvious business status having his cigarette lighter confiscated! And the line of bottles of liquids, cigarette lighters put paid to the notion that the media coverage of recent events had been of great impact. And on to Copenhagen and across the bridge to Malmo, Sweden the long flight, reels of film and copious meals was in the distant past!
Sunday September 17, 2006
Tonight I fly out of Melbourne headed for Malmo, Sweden via London and Copenhagen. My last visit in December the Malmo Town Hall and Square was awash with white.....I expect a different world in more ways than one! I will postcard Stockholm, Berlin and Sinagpore over the next 4 weeks.
Wednesday September 13, 2006
The debate is on! The film ‘Inconvenient Truth’ and Al Gore’s visit to Australia has ignited the climate change debate. And it's getting more heated! In yesterday's ‘The Australian’ the editorial titled ‘Inconvenient Cost’ whilst not questioning the science, though there was a degree of scepticism, challenges the costs associated with the Kyoto protocol! It aslo claimed that the world’s poorest will suffer if Kyoto is enforced as developing countries would not allowed to benefit from ‘industrialisation’. Quoting Danish author Dr Lomberg the editorial says the cost of implementing Kyoto would best be used to alleviate poverty. The editorial sits alongside an opion piece titled ‘Don’t be gored by Gore” by William Kininmouth, a former head of the National Climate Centre. He maintains that Gore’s science and by implication over 2,000 scientists around the world, is flawed. “Scientists’ continuing inability to predict with confidence a season in advance should be cause for hesitation when projections of decades are made’. 'The Australian' would clearly prefer not to be inconvenienced!
Tuesday September 12, 2006
Yesterday I briefed councils participating in the TBL Capacity Building Program here in WA – Victoria Park, Gosnells and Stirling. Meeting with a cross section of staff to discuss the program and its roll out provides the basis for conducting workshops and training sessions and peer review of documents related to the council’s operations. The 2 year program aims to build the processes and tools for council planning, decision making and reporting to reflect council’s ‘sustainability’ mission, vision, goals, objectives and targets.
The aim is to be accountable and transparent and to measure and manage council’s operations against its strategic plan. It sounds simple but engaging elected representatives and council staff will require support, information and training. The 14 councils participating in the TBL Program across WA, SA, VIC, NSW and QLD are at differing stages of the strategic and corporate planning cycle, Establishing the priorities for implementing the TBL program and build capacity commences with a gap analysis and review followed by the setting of priorities, goal and target setting, data base development, indicator identification, TBL tools.
There will be differences to address across the participating councils in the roll out of the program but the learnings will be able to be applied to councils generally.
 - Australia uses 45,000 megalitres of oil each year, a 360 metre cube. Sydney Harbour Bridge is 134 metres high.
Monday September 11, 2006
New words appear in our language on a regular basis that predict what the future holds and call for a rethinking of the way we do things! ‘Peak oil’ is one of them and on route to the ‘Alternative Transport Energies’ Conference here in Perth I read with interest an article in The Age titled ‘Tank low and running on fumes’. The theory with respect to peak oil is that global oil production will peak within 25 years and that we need to do something about it now if we are to head of the social and economic impacts. The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee will realse a rpeort on October 19 recognising that this is an issue and has called on the Federal Government to look at alternative fuels as well as reconsider the fringe benefits tax treatment of cars and provide incentive to public transport users and infrastructure development. The report states that in Sweden plans are to be oil free by 2020. The Swedish Government in laying out this timetable links this initiative to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and resultant global warming as well as providing alternative energy sources for transportation including bio fuels, and bio energy referred in Sweden to ‘green gold’. The Senate Committee report notes that Australia’s target for bio fuels production of 350 million litres by 2010 was les than 1 per cent of the total fuels used. Perhaps we could do more!
Tuesday September 12, 2006
ICLEI A/NZ conducted a panel and workshop session at the titled ‘Adopting alternative fuel: opportunities and partnerships’. The panellists included Geoff Green, Stephanie Jennings and Tony Middleton. The session was attended by around 40 conference participants form local government and the private sectors. Following the panel Lucy Carew-Reid facilitated a workshop session to gather information through discussion of the opportunities and barriers to alternative fuel and transport options.
Geoff Green is Manager Environment & Health, Council of Camden, New South Wales. Camden Council. Geoff has a rather unique opportunity in that he is the Manager, Environment and also the Manager, Waste Management. It is this connection that has enabled him to raise the importance of impact vehicle emissions of Council’s fleet and the move to alternative fuels. Geoff first investigated the notion of changing the fuel for the Waste fleet in 1999. His first considerations were CNG and LPG but his research took him to consider the findings of the Fuel of Transperth’s Bus Fleet report and he went along the Ultra Low Sulphur diesel route until Camden Council introduced the use of Biodiesel.
Dr Stephanie Jennings is Regional Greenhouse Coordinator, Southern Metropolitan Region of Councils, Western Australia, Australia. Stephanie has worked for the past four years in local government in the role of Regional Greenhouse Coordinator at Southern Metropolitan Regional Council. Her role has covered abatement projects in the residential, small business and transport sectors. Over this time she has chaired the Regional Alternative Fuels Committee made up a fleet managers from the 7 participating Councils. The challenge was to choose fuels that meet multiple objectives – environmental (lifecycle greenhouse and air pollution), economic, reliable supply available into medium to long term
Tony Middleton is Managing Director of Advanced Engine Components Ltd (AEC), a West Australian company with offices in Perth and Beijing and Dalian in China. AEC develops and supplies leading edge technology and components to the alternative fuel vehicle industry.bTony held senior management positions with WA government agencies including his previous position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Transperth (the pubic transport authority that provides all bus, train and ferry services in Perth.Advanced Engine Components role is in the supply of natural gas engine components for heavy duty vehicles. AEC concentrates on back to base fleets due to lack of public refuelling stations in Australia.
Saturday September 9, 2006
Tomorrow I head for Perth to attend the Alternative Transport Energies Conference - http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/conference2006/3141.asp
Lucy Carew-Reid and I will be presenting a workshop on 'Adopting alternative fuel: opportunities and partnerships. There will be a panel of speakers followed by a workshop. Speakers include Geoff Green, Camden Council, NSW; Stephanie Jennings Souther Metropolitan Regional Council WA; and Tony Middleton Advanced Energy Components WA. Shelley Liddelow, SEDO Executive Director will introduce the panel session and Lucy will provide an overview of ICLEI A/NZ's work on sustainable transport.
Following the conference I will be meeting with staff at Victoria Park, Gosnells and Stirling councils to discuss the roll out of the TBL Capacity Building Program. And of course I would not go to Perth without visiting WALGA and catching up with Sarah Balgrove (ICLEI A/NZ State Water Campaign Coordinator) and WALGA staff.
Friday September 8, 2006
Each recognition event has its own sense of occasion and hype and the 2006 Recognition Event – 'Local Government takes action on climate change' in the Yarra Yarra Rowing Club on the banks of the Yarra River had its fair share! Over 130 attended the event so standing room was needed. There are 62 councils across Victoria participating in the CCP program and the Water Camapign, covering 92% of the population and 59 councils were represented. The program included Lord Mayor John So, Deputy Premier John Thwaites, Managing Director, South East Water, Denis Cavagna, Managing Director, City West Water, Anne Barker, Pat McCafferty, General Manager, Strategy and Communications, Yarra Valley Water, Bronwyn Pollock, DEH, Australian Government and mayors, councillors, CEOs, Managers, officers together with representatives from the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Sustainability Victoria, EPA, MAV, VLGA, Forty eight councils were awarded for their milestone achievements in CCP and the Water Campaign and participation in a range of projects including Sustainable Public Lighting, Local Economic Development, Eco-Innovative Cities. A quote from a rowing manual was an appropriate conclusion for the event – ‘To understand the rowing stroke, we divide it into four separate parts: 1. Put the oar in; 2. Pull the oar through the water; 3. Take the oar out; 4. Get ready to do it again…..” Sounds familiar!
Thursday September 7, 2006
Last night I visited the City of Ballarat and addressed a councillor forum. I briefed councillors and management on the CCP and Water Campaign and recognised their achievements in the CCP program having achieved Milestone 5 and joined CCP Plus and Milestone 3 in the Water Campaign. The City Council has focussed on the building sector, street lighting and council’s fleet. Council has achieved annual savings of $21,000 and emission savings of 40% at the Ballarat Town Hall. The Ballarat Aquatic Centre has had its emissions by over 7% with annual savings of also $21,000. A Sustainable Public Lighting Action Plan has been produced and a changeover to more efficient streetlights will produce greenhouse gas emission reductions and financial savings. Council will run new garbage collection trucks and other vehicles on bio-diesel and there are plans to establish a bio-diesel plant in the region. Ballarat City Council is a leading council in rural Victoria on the Water Campaign and is implementing actions. Plans are being developed for a water recycling project at the Livestock Selling Centre to recycle up to 80% of water used for truck wash and pen cleaning.
Wednesday September 6, 2006
ICLEI A/NZ Victorian Recognition Event will take place at the Yarra Yarra Rowing Club on Friday this week. Lord Mayor John So will welcome over 130 council represntatives from across the 61 Victorian councils participating in the CCP program and the Water Campaign. Deputy Premier and Minister for Environment and Water John Thwaites will award some 4o councils for their milestone achievements. The event will be followed by an information briefing and workshops.
The Yarra Yarra Rowing Club has a long and rich history....."Yarra Yarra Rowing Club was established in July 1871 as the Early Closing Association Rowing Club, and the Club has been continuously active from premises beside the Yarra River for more than 130 years. The Early Closing Association was concerned with the “early closing” of shops. When several Bourke Street drapery shops agreed to close at 2pm on Saturdays, the shop assistants decided to form a rowing Club at a meeting held at the Bull and Mount Hotel on 23 August 1871. The name Yarra Yarra Rowing club was chosen by August 1873, which recalls an earlier name for the river, as well as providing an historical link to Aboriginal variants of “Yarra” to indicate a flowing or rippling character".
Thursday August 31, 2006
Last night was the gala dinner for the Melbourne Awards hosted by the City of Melbourne and Lord Mayor John So announced the 2006 winners for individuals, organisations and businesses that have contributed to Melbourne’s life. Those who were recognised for their contribution to the environment included:
Stephen Ingrouille - For the last 30 years, Stephen has tirelessly promoted the benefits of renewable energies and living in a sustainable environment.
Sustainable Living Foundation - The Sustainable Living Foundation is a not for profit organisation committed to promoting, celebrating and practicing the principles of sustainable living.
Melbourne Marriott Hotel - The Melbourne Marriott Hotel has implemented energy reduction and water-saving strategies which has enabled it to become one of Australia’s first ‘green’ five-star hotels.
Wednesday August 31, 2006
Al Gore's film is a visual representation of the climatic problem we have created. There are now many visual images that alert us to the future we are now creating...two stand out for me in recent months! They maybe digital creations but they may well become a reality, one sooner than later!
Photo 1: The Age
This image of Melbourne underwater was created using a topographical map of the city and an estimate of the water level that would result from a six-metre sea-level rise due to the melting of the Greenland ice sheet; a worse case scenario. For this to occur global temperatures would need to increase by between 2.5 to 3 degrees celcius for 500 to 1000 years.
Photo: Digital image: Frank Maiorana
Photo 2: The Age
'The Hurricane that broke the banks (sic) of New Orleans also broke the goodwill of Americans towards their President' and maybe alerted governments around the world that climate change is both incovenient and a truth!
Monday August 28, 2006
This morning I met with Mayor Cr Jan Chantry and Deputy Mayor Vince Andriccola to brief them on developments in the CCP program and the Water Campaign and congratulate council on their recent achievement of CCP Milestones 4 & 5 and the work undertaken to complete the Water Campaign Milestones 2 & 3. Moonee Valley joined CCP in 2002 and the Water Campaign in 2003. As a member of ICLEI council has taken on a sustainability agenda and we are looking forward to their participation in CCP Plus and their further work on the Water Camapign. Council and staff are working together to be innovative and outcome driven in achieving energy efficiencies, waste reductions , transport improvements and water consumption efficiences and water quality improvements.
 - Artist Drawing
 - Office Layout
 - Office View
Tuesday August 23, 2006
The opening of the City of Melbourne's Council House 2 took place on on Sunday. Lord Mayor John So opened the new administration building to a gathering of councillors, former councillors, staff, architects, designers, engineers and City of Melbourne resident and business groups. The building has world leader status and has received a 6 star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. CH2 reflects ecological sustainable design and has technologies incorporated into its 10 story fabric and functioning. They include wind turbines, roof top energy, vertical plantings, thermal mass, air displacement, chilled ceilings, shower towers and healthy air ducts. The building provides its occupants with an environment that is healthy and aesthetic. It uses 85% less electricity and 93% less gas. The opening was a celebration of Melbourne’s investment in the future…and represented a hard won gain and now a broadly held agenda!
 - Fraser, David, Kristen, Michelle
Monday August 21, 2006
What better way to introduce visitors to the City of Melbourne on a sunny and crisp Sunday morning than a breakfast on Southbank over looking an active Yarra River! And that’s what Cr Fraser Brindley, Michelle Oglin and I did to have a conversation with Jan Hartke, David McCann and Kristin Wadhwa from the Clinton Foundation. We were there to discuss the President Clinton Climate Initiative that aims to network across 40 cities around the world to harness and facilitate their work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In August ICLEI President, David Cadman and ICLEI USA Executive Director, Michelle Wyman attended President Clinton’s announcement of this initiative and its first project, a partnership with the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group to fight climate change. In attendance in Los Angeles was UK Prime Minister Tony Balir, London Mayor ken Livingstone, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome. The City of Melbourne has signed up to the partnership and the ICLEI A/NZ office will support this initiative.
Friday August 18, 2006
The TBL Capacity Building Program now includes Surf Coast Shire (Victoria). The council last week voted to participate in this 2 year program of building council's sustainability vision and principles, objectives and targets. indicators and data management systems and tools for decision making.
 - SALGA Ofices
Thursday August 17, 2006
Today we met with Mayor John Rich, the President of the South Australian Local Government Association President of the Association and Wendy Campana, CEO. We discussed a range of common interests and activities including our work with councils participating in the Cities for Climate Protection program and the Water Campaign, the Climate Change Bill currently before the State Parliament and the forthcoming ICLEI Recognition breakfast event at the Association’s AGM on October 20. During our discussions it was agreed that we should look into developing an MOU to assist our working together and provide support for the Association in its representation of local government. Following this meeting we had a lunch meeting with Adelaide City Council staff to discuss our work with the City on the Water Campaign, Sustainable Pubic Lighting Project, ICLEI’s TBL Capacity Building Program and the opportunity to brief council at a future time on our work in SA, nationally and internationally.
 - Mallala Council Depot
 - Light Council Office
 - Tea Tree Gully Council office
 - Yankallila Office
 - Victor Habour Council temporary ofice
Wednesday August 16, 2006
Through the financial support of the Australian Government and the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges NRM Board together with the hosting role of the Campbelltown City Council for Kris Swaffer, SA Water Campaign Coordinator the Water Campaign has a strong base for council and community water action.
The campaign focuses on water consumption and quality issues and is rolling out with program, technical and political support to councils in the region.
Visiting South Australia this week and travelling to the book ends of the region - Light, Mallala, Yankallina and Victor Harbour was both a positive and revealing experience; positive in terms of the reception from the mangers met and revealing of the strong council interest to tackle water management issues.
There are currently 12 councils in the SA Water Campaign –
Adelaide, Mitcham, Burnside, Mount Barker, Charles Sturt, Norwood, Payneham and St Peters, Campbelltown, Prospect, Holdfast Bay, Walkerville, Marion and West Torrens.
During this week Kris Swaffer, SA Water Campaign Coordinator and I have met staff at a number of councils to determine their interest in participating in the Water Campaign.
Mallala District Council will give consideration to joining the Water Campaign in September. At a meeting with John Tillack, Manager, Infrastructure and Engineering Services at the Mallala Depot, we discussed the background to ICLEI A/NZ and the roll out of the Water Campaign.
Light Regional Council will consider their participation in the Water Campaign at their September meeting. At a meeting with Andrew Phillpott there was an alignment of the campaign’s structure and outcomes and the needs of the Regional Council and their community.
Tea Tree Gully City Council is active on water issues. Brenton Curtis provided a briefing on the council’s initiatives and its plans for future actions. Water proofing Adelaide a State Government program is well placed in northern Adelaide to achieve its goals through the collaboration of Playford, Salisbury and Tea Tree Gully.
As you wind down into the town of Yankallila one has a view of a town that takes care of its environment. And speaking to Steve Ryles, Manager Environmental Services Unit this view is reinforced by the initiatives taken up by the Yankallila District Council to conserve and improve the quality of its water. Plans for the refurbished and extended council offices will collect and use water wisely.
Victor Harbour City Council is actively engaged in addressing water issues and the Water Campaign would add value. Peter Bond, Director Technical Services was confident that there would be support to participate in the campaign. The city’s growth in terms of residential and visitors requires the council to plan for the future and water management is integral to a sustainable Victor Harbour.
Thursday August 10, 2006
Last night Sustainability Victoria launched their Business Plan and there were many there to celebrate including the Minister for Energy, Theo Theophanous. SV has attracted much attention from a broad section of the business, local government, NGO and academic community since its creation in October last year as a vanguard for innovation for sustainability. The Business Plan states: 'The challenge is clear. We need to reduce our greenhouse emissions by reducing our demand for energy and increasing our uptake of renewable energy. We need to reduce the amount of waste we generate and continue to increase recycling. We need to increase water efficiency to ensure that we don't run out of this precious resource'. Geoff Marbett CEO, grounded the event with 2 questions: 'Who has a green canvas shopping bag?' Up went the vast majority of hands. 'Who has greenpower at home?' And most of the hands went down. Institutional commitment is what we are working toward; personal commitment is what is needed.
Wednesday August 9, 2006
Moreland City Council (Vic) is one of 13 participating councils in ICLEI A/NZ's TBL Capacity Building program. At a meeting today Peter Brown, CEO, Roger Collins, Director, City Development, Sue Vujcevi, Manager Sustainable Development, Daniel Murphy, Sustainability Strategist, Ruth Henshall, ICLEI A/NZ and I discussed the roll out of the program.
The program will build management's capacity to plan, make decisions and report on their sustainability agenda. Linked to council's priorities the program will build on the strengths and address gaps in council's strategic and management plans and policies that inform and frame council's decision making.
Tuesday August 8, 2006
Wyndham City Council (Vic) was presented with their Milestone 5 CCP and Milestone 3 Water Campaign last night at their ccouncil meeting. The Mayor Shane Bourke accepted the award and paid tribute to the work of council staff in working to complete the CCP 5 milestone program and for the development of a Local Action Plan in the Water Campaign. Council joined CCP in 2002 and the Water Camapign in 2003 and have worked to put in place actions for both council and the community.
 - North Carlton Railway Station Neighbourhood House
 - Bocce Club members get ready to play!
 - DiMase family - centre Mrs Lina DiMase
Sunday August 6, 2006
I met Vince DiMase in 1981 at the disused and damaged North Carlton Railway Station. As Community Education Officer for the Princes Hill School Park Centre, a consortium of Princes Hill High and Primary schools and the City of Melbourne, I was meeting with Vince to discuss the future of the Railway Station as a neighbourhood centre.
The Montemutto Bocce Club was looking for a 'home' and there were residents who were looking for a drop in centre for child minding and after school activities. And so began a 23 year relationship with Vince as we secured the Station from a reluctant State Government, restored and built additional space for community use. Vince and I kept up our friendship and shared many cafe lattes and foccacias and at one time hosted the Mayor of Montemurro at the Melbourne Town Hall.
The recognition in the form of a plaque on the Bocce Club Pavillion was initiated by Club members, friends and family and taken on by the City of Yarra. The media release says it all!
Media Release:
The Mayor of the City of Yarra, Cr Jackie Fristacky, will unveil a plaque to oficially name the Vincenzo Di Mase Pavillion at the North Carlton Railway Station Neighbourhood House. The Mayor said Council wanted to officially celebrate the naming of the pavilion and acknowledge the special contribution Vince Di Mase made to the local community, in particular to the North Carlton Railway Station Neighbourhood House and to the Montemurro Bocce Club. “Vince was a founding member of the Montemurro Bocce Club, the main users of the pavilion, and was also the longest serving North Carlton Railway Station Neighbourhood House committee member, until sadly he passed away in 2003,” she said. "The Club has a long and interesting history. Many of its members were part of the first wave of Italian immigrants who came to Melbourne after World War 2. It continues today to provide a valuable recreational and social outlet for many local residents. “Vince turned to bocce for recreation and helped carry on an important Italian tradition".
Tuesday July 25, 2006
Surf Coast Shire Council (Vic) is riding the sustainability wave! Today I briefed the council and senior management on the CCP Plus program (45 minutes) and the TBL Capacity Building Program (45 minutes). There was a great deal of input from councillors in the form of questions, suggestions and discussion and little time to pause. I was impressed by the range of views and news of the councillors. It's what makes local government vibrant and challenging. There are differing views especially in relation to the solutions and this is where discussion and debate fires up! Council has joined CCP Plus and the briefing was on the Organisational Review; the why, how and what! There was general support for the review to assss the extent of buy-in across the council and community. Advancing action projects of particular interest were Public Lighting and Sustainable Transport. We then moved into a briefing on the TBL Capacity Building Program. There is agreement across management and council of the need to develop a whole of council and structured approach to sustainability. The program requires a review and gap analysis of council's strategic and management plan, business/unit plans and workplans. This provides a sound basis to develop indicators, data management systems and tools that will facilitate planning, decision making and reporting on the council's sustainability goals and objectives. Surf Coast Chire Council is certainly riding a wave and may become the 14th and final council to participate in the program in this financial year.
Sunday July 23, 2006
ICLEI A/NZ crosses three time zones. This is surely a feat for an organisation that was established only in 1998 in Melbourne. It is testament to those who have worked at ICLEI A/NZ over the years that a not for profit voluntary association of local governments can now have offices in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Wellington NZ. So when staff start work in the Wellington office (Diana, Nathan and Mary) they have a 4 hour head start on the Perth office. So keeping us all on the one page takes working out and on. The internet provides some support to ensuring that we keep in touch and teleconferences eanable input across time zones and terrain. On the international front the challenge for a world wide association of local governments working to aggregate their actions is about crosssing not only the time zone gap but the cultural, political and economic too! But that's why we work at ICLEI.
 - Mary Hanna and Diana Shand
 - Nathan Ross
Friday 21 July, 2006
Melbourne’s laneways are unique. Under threat in the 80’s by developers who saw them as space to build on, today they are the heart beat of Melbourne bars, cafes and now art! The City of Melbourne’s Laneway Commission 2006 was celebrated in Howey Place last week at an event to launch the six installations now dotted in laneways around the city. The program commenced in 2001 and is now a feature of Melbourne’s Public Art Program. They are contemporary, simple… but sometimes complex in both meaning and application, and fleeting…it’s what makes a city urbane and interesting. The commonplace is good but the surprises are sometimes even better. For locations go to: www.melbourne.vic.gov.au
and look for laneway art.
Photos: Spine1.2 Gina Czarnecki (UK)
Union Lane enter from Bourke Street Mall and walk through to Little Collins Street….at night!
Thursday July 20, 2006
#1 Case Study
The highlight of the CCP NZ recognition event at the Local Government New Zealand Conference last Wednesday evening in the Wellington City Council Reception Room were the testamonials provided by Mayor Bob Francis, Cr Leah McBey, Dundein City Council and CEO, John Brockies, North Shore City Council. The event was attended by around 70 council, government department and agency and NGO representatives along with the Minister for Climate Change Issues, David Parker. The testamonials were informative, thoughtful and passionate and reflected the impact of CCP in New Zealand. This is commitment ...and performance!
#2 Case Study
The Auckland City Milestone 2 and 3 Workshop was attended by around 30 staff from across the council administration together with the Mayor, Dick Hubbard and 5 councillors…. and they stayed for the entire workshop from 10.30- 3.00 pm! The workshop was facilitated by Nathan Ross and provided information on CCP NZ, ICLEI A/NZ and workshopped council's approach to setting a reduction goal and developing a corporate and community action plan. This is commitment!
 - Wellington Convention Centre
 - Recognition Event Venue
 - Auckland City Workshop
Tuesday July 18, 2006
Prime Minister Helen Clarke provided delegates at the LGNZ Conference little comfort in her response to questions from the floor concerning the increased costs of Council business. The NZ Herald reported that the PM ‘poured cold water on local authorities’ hopes that the Government might find further funding to ease the pressure to keep raising rates’. President of LGNZ opened the conference with the funding issue and called for an independent inquiry into cost shifting as a result of the Government loading up their responsibilities.
The editorial picked up the issue and roundly criticised the actions of 3 mayors of Auckland cities, Sir Barry Curtis, Manakau, Dick Hubbard, Auckland and George Wood, North Shore for revealing in an article publicised in their names that ‘anything less than the council’s scheduled rate rises (around 10%) amounted to a cut in essential services’. The editorial concluded: ‘They have signed a confession of fiscal weakness. Voters next year should not forget it’.
The Tasman might be deep but it certainly is not so wide!
 - Wellington Harbour
 - Lambton Quay,
Monday July 17, 2006
'Touch down' in Wellington, New Zealand at 12.20 am! OK so far and looking forward to the taxi and the hotel room. But the baggage area was ‘under reconstruction’ and the emptying of 3 planes simultaneously resulted in a long and slow moving queue through customs. And in amongst the crowd ware members of the Springboks rugby team with their tonnes of football gear. They were in Wellington to take on the All Blacks having made 'no try' against the Wallabies. So there were frustrated and saddened faces all round…but we slowly threaded our way toward the x-ray machines and the exit.
The day started later that morning with a staff meeting at the ICLEI A/NZ New Zealand office to catch up on CCP NZ developments, the recognition event and the Auckland City workshop. This is my third working visit to New Zealand, the last being for the 2005 LGNZ Conference and Recognition event. In the afternoon we attended a plenary conference session that featured the Mayor of Kapiti Coast District Council and long time friend and supporter of ICLEI A/NZ, Alan Milne. His presentation focused on climate change impacts and why local government needed to be a part of the solution. His experience and knowledge base comes from Kapiti Coast together with his attendance at conferences on climate change in Melbourne, Montreal and Wellington. They place Alan in good stead to spread the message of ‘action now’!
 - LGNZ 2005 Conference Recognition Event
Friday July 14, 2006
The annual Local Government New Zealand Conference kicks off on Sunday and on Tuesday ICLEI A/NZ will hold its Recognition Event for the 19 councils participating in the Communities for Climate Protection program. This represents 63% coverage of the New Zealand population. Along with Diana Shand, Nathan Ross and Mary Hanna we will recognise and award councils for their milestone achievements and hear from the Minister Responsible fo Climate Change, David Parker. The theme for this year's conference is 'Leading Communities'. ICLEI A/NZ can claim some part in not only assisting councils to be leaders in their community on climate change action but to creating leading communities for others to follow! The Milestone progress has been as rapid as the take up of the program since 2004. Twelve councils are progressing toward milestone 3 including Taranaki Regional Council, Environment Canterbury, Casterton, Masterton, Rodney, Rotorua, South Waikato and South Wairarapa District Councils and Christchurch, Hamilton, Waitakerie and Wellington Councils. ICLEI A/NZ with 234 CCP Australia and New Zealand councils can boast the largest regional CCP program internationally. Opportunities for assisting local governments and their communities in the Asia Paciifc region present an obvious and achieveable agenda.
Thursday July 12, 2006
The Friends of Westgate Park have a passion for turning a disused quarry and urban wasteland into an indigenous park at the base of the Westgate Bridge in the City of Melbourne. A former salt quarry, rubbish tip and airstrip is some challenge. You have to hand it to the small but dedicated group of Melbournians who work day in day out to transform a neglected and obscure location into a park for drop ins! The Friends Group have put their hands up for a Melbourne Award so with 3 other 'judges', or rather nosey Melburnians, we dropped in on the park and some of its friends. With the bridge looming large and menacing overhead we wandered the park with its water features, a lake and string of billabongs, flocks of local and migratory birds and indigenous flowers, grasses and trees. The friends have planted over 100,000 plants and have designed, acquired funding and instigated large scale earthworks to create a park with a wetlands system linked to stormwater from local industry. I walked in awe of the vision that had transfixed this friends group to action. And it became clear with the cityscape in the east and the bridge in the west that the vision was well worth working toward. It's a park not so much located for people as for passion! Good luck to them....and the people will no doubt come.
Sunday July 2, 2006
On Friday a workshop was held in the Melbourne City Council Committee Room to commence our e-learning learning! Invited to attend the workshop were CCP staff together with representatives from CCP councils and the Australian Greenhouse Office, DEH. With funding from the AGO ICLEI A/NZ will explore, develop and implement an e-learning component for CCP councils. The aims include to: extend the reach of the CCP program; provide for greater linkage and collaboration between CCP councils; provide CCP officers with greater flexibility in how they access CCP resources;and further develop and improve CCP resources overall.
The workshop provided an opportunity to assess the aims and discuss what is and what could and should be in relation to building the capacity of councils to deliver greenhouse actions. The workshop explored what were the sources of information currently, what additional information sources were needed and how these could be provided through e-learning. The interchange between CCP staff and council representatives enabled views to be checked against perception and reality. A good face to face start!
Thursday June 29, 2006
On Wednesday we at ICLEI A/NZ met with a delgation from the Tianjin Environment Protection Board (TEPB) to provide an update on our respective work and in particular our opportunity to work with the TEPB on developing and implementing an inventory tool for measuring energy use in buildings and determine the financial savings and greenhouse gas abatement that can be achieved. We heard from Director, Dr Xing Zhengang, of the important work being undertaken to develop an Eco City in Tianjin. Dr Xing was accompanied by Mr Shao Yulin, Division Director, Mr Zhang Runhua, Division Director and Ms Wang Donglian, International Dept. Wayne Wescott, CEO and Jeremy Maslin, Manager provided the delegation with information on the work of ICLEI and updated the delegation on the Tianjin project. The City of Melbourne and the City of Tianjin have a sister city relationship extending over 25 years and building on this relationship enabled ICLEI A/NZ last year to host Dr Liu Jai, Diretcor TEPB for two months in the ICLEI Melbourne office. Dr Jie studied the CCP program and its inventory methodology for possible use in Tianjin. The hour long meeting provided an opportunity to progress the project.
 - Presentations
 - Dr Xing, Director TEPB
 - Dr Xing and Wayne Wescott
 - Melbourne Town Hall
 - A Breakfast Meeting of Judges
Monday June 26, 2006
The 'Melbourne Awards' were established by the Melbourne City Council back in 2003 to recognise organisations in the private and public sector and individuals for their contribution to ' the success and sustainability of our community'.
As one of a panel of some 60 judges from a cross-section of Melburnians, the task is to interview entrants from organisations, corporations and individuals. Award categories include community development, country - city connections, youth initiatives, arts and entertainment, accessibility, health, tourism, hospitality and leisure, employment, education and training, technology and innovation. Yes it covers all facets of city life and provides a unique opportunity to meet people from a range of organisations outside one's own network. And that's just the judges!
 - ICLEI A/NZ team
 - Kewell winner
Saturday June 24, 2006
Friday morning soccer provided a turn on for many! Some 20,000 fans packed out Federation Square and Birrarrung Marr to watch the game. For others the turn on was closer to home…in fact at home in front of the telly. Soccer is a world game with many global layers. Croatia versus Australia in reality was the green and gold team playing the red and white team. For each team, national boundaries were blurred in the selection of players who took to the field. An ICLEI A/NZ team braved the early morning cold and stood on the banks of the Yarra to view the game. Alexi Lynch reports: "Now for the Italians... The more hearty souls from ICLEI-A/NZ's Melbourne office were out in force this morning to cheer on the Socceroos. Their efforts were rewarded as the Australian team drew 2-2 with Croatia – enough to propel them into the final-16 and a sudden-death game against Italy next week. Getting to work at 4:30am for this exercise in team-building is surely TOIL-worthy stuff of the highest order." Ed Note: Good try Lex!
 - Sydney Biennale
 - Asian Field
 - Asian Field close up
 - Cloud
 - Cloud up close
 - Vox Populi
Saturday June 10, 2006
So what to do in Sydney on a long weekend!? Well, the 15th Sydney Biennale features the work of 85 artists from 44 countries in 16 venues across metropolitan Sydney was a good option. The theme for the Biennale is ‘Zones of Contact’. Charles Merewether, artistic director, says the Biennale ‘deals with events, ideas and concerns that shape our lives today, as well as our sense of both past and future’. He says that the artists he has chosen offer ways of ‘mapping the world, in both large and small scale…some works reflect the long shadows of colonialism or the on-going experience of having one’s homeland occupied, of surviving civil or ethnic wars or the dislocation and displacement living in another’s culture’. It was both inspiring and depressing....but that's the power of art!
The ‘Asian Field Project’ by Antony Gormley, London
This immense project involved 500 assistants from the Xianxian Village, Guangzhou. The 210,000 clay pieces form a field of figures and for the artist evoke a sense of being ‘looked at’ and the spirit of our ‘ancestors and the unborn’. It certainly made one feel moved by the expanse of staring eyes! This project also exhibited 600 photographs of the makers and their work. The work has previously appeared in an underground carpark in Guangzhou, the National Museum in bejing, an upper floor grain warehouse in Shanghai, a department store in Chongqing and now Pier 1/2 in Sydney!
'Cloud' by John Reynolds, Auckand, New Zealand
This work was based on the Oxford Dictionary of New Zealand English and featured 6,000 odd words and a selection of 9,300 sub-entries on small paintings laid out on the gallery wall to represent billowing and evaporating clouds. This was juxtaposed against the gallery proper through the archway!
'Vox Populi – Sydney (2006)' Fiona Tan, Indonesia
This work was a snapshot of a city and featured some 100 Sydneysiders together with personal photographs. Tan's work focuses on the anonymous, personal, historical and the contemporary. She uses family albums and film footage to reveal both the individual and the collective nature of our lives. Her Sydney portrait was created for the Biennale. Tan was born in Indonesia, lived in Australia and now resides in the Netherlands.
Tuesday June 6, 2006
On Monday I visited the Shire to brief mayor and councillors on the work of ICLEI A/NZ and in particular the Cities for Climate Protection program. Michael Kennedy, CEO, kicked off with an introduction to the sustainable Peninsula strategy followed by Rolf Freeman, Sustainable Energy Officer who provided a summation of the greenhouse effect, the impact of climate change and the council's response since 2003; the creation of a Sustainable Energy Fund and participation in CCP. Projects have focused on the purchase of greenpower for street lighting, energy efficient vehicles, building retrofits, community actions and participation in the Westernport Greenhouse Alliance, involving the cities of Casey, Cardinia, Frankston and the shire of Bass Coast. On June 19 council will be presented with milestone 2 reduction goals. They are certainly on track to deliver their goals!
 - Steve and Wayne getting there!
 - Entrance foyer
 - Session details
 - Getting a seat
Thursday May 25, 2006
The TBL Capacity Building Program session at the LGMA National Congress in Perth this week attracted over 100 delegates from councils across Australia. In an hour, delegates were provided with a ‘sketch’ of the program’s background, structure, methodology and outputs.
The presentation by Steve Bourke, Manager, Sustainability Services with an introduction by Wayne Wescott, CEO, ICLEI A/NZ was followed by a panel comprising Penny Holloway, CEO, North Sydney, NSW, Stuart Jardine. CEO, Gosnells, WA and Anthony Valuta, Technical Services Manager, Victoria Park, WA, 3 of the councils in the program. There are 11 councils now participating in the program across all states except Tasmania. It's just being SMART.....
 - LGMA National Congress Perth....yes the shed!
Tuesday May 23, 2006
We have done a lot of recognition breakfasts at ICLEI A/NZ since CCP kicked off in 1997! And each has their own rhythm, pace and mood and point of departure from the script. It is the unexpected that challenges all good planing. The secret is ‘confidence’! There are a range of tasks to be completed before and during any event and this requires a team approach. The secret to a successful event is ‘confidence’ amongst team members that the range of tasks will be completed and well! We at ICLEI A/NZ have honed our teamwork to attain a very professional approach and outcome and the LGMA National Congress 2006 ICLEI A/NZ recognition event in Perth on Monday was no exception. With over 120 in attendance and some 50 awards to present, a keynote from the Western Australian Minister for Water Resources, John Kobelke, a welcome from Noelene Duff President LGMA, a presentation by ICLEI A/NZ CEO, Wayne Wescott all in an hour and a quarter, we needed to maintain our confidence in each other. And we did!
Sunday May 14, 2006
Yesterday I heard on the news of Rick Farley's death. I was both shocked and saddened. I knew Rick Farley from a distance but he always seemed incredibly close. I am not sure if it was his looks, his manner, his work on Native Title; I suspect all three and more! But the opportunity to meet him and introduce him at the 'Leaders for Sustainability' program run by ICLEI A/NZ and involving CEOs and senior managers from a number of Victorian councils was for me a special meeting! His presentation, more of a chat around a campfire really, was quite astounding for its personal reflection and professional expertise! ...a combination of earth meets intellect. His work to bring together the cattleman, the farmers, the bureaucrats, the politicians and the aboriginal traditional owners of the land was a story of passion, manoevering, commitment and reward. The binding ingredient for all parties was 'land'. And if we really love it and want to work with it then why destroy it in the getting! I have gathered this snapshot below of Rick Farley just in case you want to know more about him.
"Rick Farley is the Managing Director of the Farley Consulting Group, which specialises in land use agreements. He is the chairman of the NSW Resources and Conservation Assessment Council, the chairman of the Lake Victoria Advisory Committee, an Ambassador for Reconciliation and Co-chair of the NSW State Reconciliation Committee.
Mr Farley has been a member of the National Native Title Tribunal, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and its executive committee, the Australian Landcare Council, the Australia China Council and the Commission for the Future.
He worked for rural organisations for 20 years and was the Executive Director of the National Farmers' Federation and the Cattlemen's Union of Australia. He facilitated the Cape York Land Use Heads of Agreement and pioneered the national Landcare program with the Australian Conservation Foundation.
He was a key figure in the passage of the Native Title Act in 1993."
 - Eco Innovative Cities - Jumping Creeek Road, Manningham City
 - MAPES and Enviro 2006 at Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre
 - Centre Breakfast
 - Melbourne Town Hall - MAPES Dinner
 - Council Chamber for ICLEI Members and Partners Roundtable
 - Lord Mayor for a day!
 - Council Committee Room for Roundtable discussion
 - Perth City for LGMA Congress
Saturday May 13, 2006
If there is one thing you can be sure of at ICLEI it is that you will never be far way from an event, a meeting, a briefing, a project, a council chamber and enthusiasm! And this week had all of the above and more.
Jumping Creek....Sustainability Victoria, ICLEI A/NZ and the Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society (ACSIS) have partnered to support Victorian councils to identify and explore opportunities for improving resource consumption in their own operations and within their municipalities.
The project sets out to challenge current delivery of council operations, planning and decision-making processes with greater consideration to sustainability principles.
The project aims to move councils from a focus on waste and recycling to considering how council service delivery, purchasing and community consumption patterns can be influenced and changed by focussing on resource usage.
The topic currently under review sets out to challenge council's road construction and maintenance taking into account planning and decision-making processes with greater consideration to sustainability principles.
This week Alicia Groves, Lucy Carew-Reid and I spoke to Manningham and Melbourne council staff about a workshop involving their managers. The topic is wide ranging covering - bridges / crossings, bike paths, landscaping - street trees and biodiversity, public lighting, storm water – curbing, parking, resealing, seating, rubbish bins.
The possible selection of the Jumping Creek Road project by Manningham as their case study for the project would provide a great title for their work on innovation!
Morning to night....The Enviro Conference & Exhibition was in Melbourne last week along with the Mayors Asia Paci
Thursday May 4, 2006
The TBL Capacity Building Program kicks off on July 1 with 10 – 12 councils across Australia – Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Steve Bourke has designed and developed a capacity building program for councils seeking to engage ICLEI Sustainability Services to undertake a 2 year whole of council appraoch to building their 'sustainability' agenda into everday operations. The 10 building blocks (modules) provide councils with the opportunity select those that meet their particular needs and interests and utilise the expertise developed by the Sustainabiltiy Services Team. At a briefing at Noosa Council on Thursday, the CEO, directors, managers and chairs of council committees responded positively to the program recognising the partnership approach the program offers and the support to be provided to staff to implement sustainability processes in a programmatic way. ICLEI members will be kept informed on the progress of the 12 councils participating in the program. Councils will be invited to particpate in a second round of the program in 2007.
 - Brisbane City Hall
Wednesday May 3, 2006
Queensland Minister Desley Boyle is worth meeting! It's not often you can meet a minister and know that you are most unlikley to be refered to another minister! Minister Desley Boyle covers a lot of political ground…Local Government, Planning, Environment and Women. Time was understandably limited to brief her on ICLEI, the work of the A/NZ office and possible partnership projects but it is surprising what can be achieved if you ‘go for it’ and that’s just what Jeremy Maslin and I did. We briefed the Minister on partnership projects with state governments in Victoria (CCP Vic Rural) and Western Australia (Water) and discussed the work of Queensland CCP councils in local greenhouse action, the Sustainable Transport Project involving CCP Plus councils, Maroochy, Noosa and also Caloundra, and councils participation in our TBL Capacity Building Program. We will be providing the Minister’s office with more detailed information and proposals for her to consider.
 - Mooltan
 - ...and cockatoos
 - ...and colour
 - Town Hall
 - ...and conductor
 - ...and crowds
 - Church
 - ...and organ recital
 - ...and pasta
Sunday April 23, 2006
Hepburn Shire, Victoria is home to the Hepburn Springs Swiss Italian Festival.
And what a weekend of cockatoos, colour, crowds, concert and culture it was...an 'Old World New World' lecture series covering everything from preparing pinot wines to making bullboar sausages from original Italian family recipes, an Organ Recital by Sergio De Pieri (who also provided the the culinary skills to prepare pasta for his audience - it runs in the family!) and a performance by the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra. In 1906 Alberto Zelman founded what is now known as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Mayor of Hepburn Shire, Cr Heather Mutimer, held a reception for the opening of the Festa and expressed Council's support for the Festa and recognised the descendants of those early settlers who came 150 years ago from the Italian speaking canton of Toccino on the Swiss and Italian border.
The 10 day Festa celebrates those settlers and the culture they brought with them that remains very much a part of this community. Locally funded and supported it brings the old and new to the streets, halls, churches, school and neighbourhood centre to reccognise and enjoy the music, the food, the stories and the practices that have evolved to make this area unique.
 - '...we're flying high'!
Friday April 7, 2006
The Ministerial meeting room on Level 20 was roomy with a view to match. The display of West Coast Eagles' signed jumpers indicated a passion for that club or a portfolio that made such a display a requirement. Well it turned out to be both! The Minister for Water, John Kobelke is a supporter and the Minister for Sport and Recreation. On these occasions it is always best to disclose your own bias just in case it slips out at a crucial time and impacts on the conversation flow. So the meeting got off on a sound footing ...we all declared our football team...West Coast, Essendon, Melbourne and ...rugby! Yes Sarah Blagrove, Water Campaign Coordinator for Western Australia follows rugby. Was this to be the end of the meeting to discuss the future of the Water campaign in Western Australia and funding for another 3 years? A collective gasp and we pushed ahead with updates on ICLEI A/NZ, the WA Water Campaign and the future of the campaign. The discussion that followed was extensive and informative. We left confident that the Water Campaign will kick more goals!
 - Agonis Centre, City of Gosnells
Thursday April 6, 2006
When over 75 representatives, mayors, councillors, CEOs and managers from some 28 local councils across Western Australia, and I can say that because there were representatives from Broome and Lake Grace, turn up, you know that this is the place to be! The Agonis Town Centre in the City of Gosnells was the venue for a forum run by WALGA, the City of Gosnells and ICLEI A/NZ to provide information on the recent amendments to the Local Government Act that require councils to meet ‘sustainabilty' objectives.
But the fact is ‘sustainabilty’ is good local government business so why wouldn’t we all be interested. It was Mayor Pat Morris who kicked off the Forum. Then followed a panel of 3 speakers – Tony Fowler, Acting Director Department of Local Government and regional Development, Suart Jardien, CEO, City of Gosnells and Geoff Glass, Director Development Services, City of Subiaco. Tony provided an overview of the legislation, Stuart the ‘Gosnells way’ to sustainability and Geoff the why and how of sustainability. Geoff informed the forum that he had googled ‘sustainability’ to get a sense of its use and found…8.8million general references; 7.4million associated with local government, 9million with mining, 3.8million with nuclear energy and 3.8million with hell! He could only assume that the response to ‘sustainability’ had been ‘what the hell’! There was a message in all this; it is not the use of the word but action that gives meaning. The panel session was followed by a workshop with Steve Bourke, ICLEI A/NZ and Mark Batty, WALGA leading the way. And ‘agonis’? Yes a Greek word meaning ‘gathering’ and the name of a flower found on the Canning River foreshore. There must be a message in both references somewhere … maybe!
 - Step 1
 - Step 2
 - Step 3......and your hydrogen bus cutout!
Sunday April 2, 2006
'With rising oil prices, concerns about energy security and runaway greenhouse emissions, how will we meet transport energy demands in the 21st century?' was the question to be asked at the 'Decision Makers Forum' I attended last week.
The forum was supported by Greenfleet, Australian Government, Victorian Government, Western Australian Government, the European Union and DaimlerChrysler. And as the venue was the RACV headquarters in Melbourne there was a strong hint of what the topic would be....hyrdogen transport technology.
The speakers were impressive and included Ambassador Bruno Julien, Head of Delegation of European Commission; Greg Hunt, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage; Dr Manfred Schuckert, Head of Fuel Cell Bus Development, DaimlerChrysler; Monika Kentzler, Coordinator H2 Infrastructure, HyFLEET:CUTE Project.
We were informed that hydrogen technology is developing very quickly and that the Western Australian Government was in the CUTE Project (the European Commission's Clean Urban Transport for Europe project) and therefore had access to cutting edge technology and information. The HyFLEET:CUTE Project involves the operation of hydrogen powered fuel cell buses in 7 European cities plus Bejing and Perth.
There is no doubt that much is being achieved through the piloting of hydrogen bus technology but the overall impression was that there was still some distance to travel...
 - The Host
 - Getting Ready...
Friday March 24, 2006
World Water Day was recognised by ICLEI A/NZ and councils participating in the Water Camapiagn at Campbelltown City Council, South Australia in style last Wednesday. Mayor Steve Woodcock welcomed around 60 representatives from local goverment, the Adelaide and Mount Lofty NRM Board, SA Water, LGASA and the National Water Commission. The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and expressed in chapter 18 of Agenda 21. The United Nations General Assembly designated 22 March of each year as the World Day for Water. The collaborative partnership between ICLEI Australia / New Zealand, the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges NRM Board and the Australian Government will deliver the Water Campaign in South Australia. The Campbelltown City Council is hosting the Water Campaign Coordinator in South Australia, Kris Swaffer. Speakers included Anita Aspinall, Board Member, Adelaide and Mount Lofty NRM Board , Jessica Kerstjens, Executive Manager ICLEI A/NZ and Melody Horrill, Weather Presenter/Journalist Channel 7. Melody talked not of the high and lows of the weather but how to 'spread the message'. Councils recognised included Burnside, Holdfast Bay, Marion, Mount Barker, Norwood, Payneham and St Peters, Walkerville and West Torrens. Prospect and Charles Sturt councils will consider their participation later this month. Clare and Gilbert Valleys received an ICLEI Membership certificate. It was a high!
 - Getting ready for the event
 - Off and running
 - Winning can't be everthing!
Sunday March 19, 2006
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground
Event: Commonwealth Games
The start and finish of the women's and men's marathons was a sight to behold and an emotional high! The start of the 42 km marathon events saw the runners do three circles of the MCG track before setting out on a Sunday morning run around some of Melbourne's most popular and iconic sites! As each ot the races drew closer to the finish line the MCG crowd became more and more vocal, yelling at the screen as if it were the real thing. The entry of the runners into the MCG was therefore a greeting of marathon proportions.
The impact on the runners varied. The eventual winner of the women's marathon found sufficient adrenalin to win despite the lead changing several times during the event including 300 metres from the finish line. Another was so inspired as to over shoot the finish line by a lap before being pulled over by an official and one runner pulled up 200 metres short of the finish line no doubt thinking he had won. Then there was the runner who continued despite obvious exhaustion and collapsed on the finish line. She was quickly placed on a stretcher and left the track no doubt to be told later in the day of the event! We then watched and waited as the last of the runners, both men and women, intermitently staggered into the MCG to be greeted by a roar that surely must have sounded like they had won!
On my way back to the city well after both events, I passed a lone runner. She no doubt would have received a 'winners' greeting back in the MCG. It was a marathon with many winners!
Monday March 13, 2006
The wedding of Michael Oke (Moke) and Alison Curl (Al) on Saturday was a celebration for them, their family and friends on a bend in the Yarra River at the Fairfield Boathouse. Michael is a long time friend having spent a fair amount of time hanging around home and travelling overseas with my son Kes....something I refrain from talking about!
His position at ICLEI A/NZ as CCP Australia Coordinator has extended the relationship from friend to professional colleague. I know all at ICLEI A/NZ and those who have sailed with ICLEI A/NZ in the past...wish him and Al well!
Sunday March 12, 2006
I visited South Africa in 2002 with a delegation of staff and council representatives from Australia and New Zealnd to assist ICLEI in the running of the Local Government Forum at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Following the WSSD I spent time with community artist and activist from Melbourne and long time friend, Tracey Naughton. Tracey went to South Africa in 1992 under an Australian Government contract to advise on the establishment of a community media sector at a time when people were marching on the South African Broadcasting Commisssion determined to dismantle it, but unsure of what to replace it with. Tracey was Advisor to the National Community radio Network based in COSATU House - the Trade Union Movement's Headquarters. Eventually South Africa achieved a unique three tier media legislation that defines community, commercial and public service broadcasting. More recently Tracey chaired the Media Caucus in the United Nations global negotiation process on information and communication technology. My time with Tracey was spent exploring Joburg and its outlying village environs. We visited Mpileng and spent some time at the home of Martha Matlala eating and talking with maMatala and her family. It was an experience I will never forget...and the photo is one that will never leave me!
Election Day, Mpileng Village, Moutse - South Africa
March 1, 2006
Photographs by Chris Kirchhoff
Written by Tracey Naughton
The soft shoe shuffle of the matriarch Pedi woman is a gait you can’t mistake once you know it and it was the older women who were out in force on March 1st to cast their votes in the local government election. Replete with walking sticks, over-wraps around their lower half, scarves set just right and the all important ID books, some women were bought to the ballot box by donkey cart. One voter, born in 1912, cast her vote from the back of the bakkie (ute) she arrived in. Why did she vote? Because she could. Who did she vote for? The ANC of course, though the presiding officer dutifully and objectively read out all the options for her.
The ANC has born the brunt of many vocal and some violent protests of late as citizen’s protest their continued appalling living conditions and lack of service delivery, but an angry electorate doesn’t mean an anti government vote. As a colleague from Orange Farm, a township outside of Johannesburg, put it recently, ‘If your friend does something wrong that you don’t like, it’s not right to walk away from them, you must help them to understand and fix the problem.’ This is the spirit of UBUNTU – where we exist in relation to one another, at work in the ruling parties structure. Protest yes, vote against, no way. The ANC remains the sentimental symbol of liberation, the conceptual engine of change. It has come through the elections with strengthened numbers. 'Yes it was said on Wednesday, development is slow, but they are trying.' The capacity for hope in the face of retarded progress is a characteristically African gift.'
The ballot papers bore the symbols of the parties but even so ‘party agents’ were on hand to explain to people who could not read – that was the majority of voters at Mpileng. The lack of familiarity with voting was apparent in the repeated confusion over where in the big box by the door to put the marked ballot papers, though there was a slot at its top. The Presiding Officer, Stephen Mothapo and his team, demonstrated impressive and objective compassion in bridging the experience gap; literally hand holding and lifting women up from their waiting position on the ground under trees.
Our maMatlala, winning candidate, was elected to the Sekhukhune District Council with 610 out of 750 votes cast at the Mpileng Primary School polling station. About double that number were registered to vote at the site and this reflected the average turn out nationally. In South Africa, as in most democracies, voting is not compulsory.
The officials I encountered lamented the absence of young voters, though in Mpileng a small Youth League contingent was out campaigning 500 metres from the ballot boxes as per the rules. Some of the next generation of voters don’t even know what Apartheid was; none are old enough to have experienced being denied the right to vote. This is a challenge for the future of the ANC. Not much else is challenging it, and this too, may become a problem. The use of the term ‘ruling party’ is increasingly common and has a chilling resonance for some, of days gone by. South Africa needs a credible opposition.
It’s eleven years this April 27th, since democracy officially broke out in South Africa and some things have changed more than others. I was present for the first local government election in Moutse, of which Mpileng is one of some 46 villages, and it was a very different scene from this one. Travelling from one polling station to another with Martha and my own Mother it became apparent that no ballot papers had been distributed. We found hundreds of voters waiting at each voting area, patiently and in the sun. At the Municipal Offices we found a sullen member of the former regime, sitting in a room with the papers. My mother and I took over the election and got the papers out. We even extended the voting hours, after phoning ‘Pretoria’ about the ‘problem’. In contrast, Wednesday’s election was well organised, voters rolls were ready in advance. The Independent Electoral Commission has been ‘capacitised’ and is fully competent.
This is maMatlala’s second term in office. Some of you will recall that she was previously Deputy Mayor. She hasn’t really changed in the 17 years I have known her. She was always organising for the community good. She has a hard working few years coming up.
I say Amandla (power) to her!
Friday March 10, 2006
...in a global warming world!
Last Tuesday I spoke to around 100 4th year and post graduate architecture and urban design students in the Lyall Theatre, Redmond Barry Building at Melbourne University. Yes it was an imposing lecture theatre but friendly faces greeted me as the lights dimmed and the screen came down for a 50 minute presentation on the ICLEI World and the ICLEI Way! I was introduced by Dr Darko Radovic, Associate Professor and Head of Urban Design.
Tuvalu Islands bear testament to the challenge we face as a global community. For the 12,000 residents of the Tuvalu Islands the future is clear; their homes will disappear as sea levels rise. For the rest of us the impact maybe slower but no less severe unless we accept the challenge and respond to climate change. "The problems the world faces today will not be solved by the same thinking that created them" (Albert Einstein). This is for me a most succinct expression of 'the problem' and what neeeds to be 'the solution'. I then skated the students over the life and times of ICLEI; conceived in 1989, born in 1990 and coming of age at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janerio in 1992, the campaigns and programs developed by ICLEI have responded to and actioned the Local Agenda 21 framework developed at the Earth Summit. Local councils have utilised the framework, methodolgy and capacity building approach of the Cities for Climate Protection program and the Water Campaign and are developing their sustainability agenda through reporting, decison making and planning indicators and processes. We hopefully left the Lyall Theatre more aware of the challenge we face and recognising that we all need to be part of the solution...and now. For a growing number of local councils the political and management agenda is to do something ........and then do something else!
 - Charles Sturt
 - Adelaide Hills
 - Barossa
 - Walkerville
 - Salsibury
 - Tea Tree Gully
 - Playford
 - Norwood, Payneham & St Peters
 - Prospect - The Mayor
Thursday February 23, 2006
Briefing local councils across the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Natural Resource Region this week on the Water Campaign has been a lesson in 'difference'…..yet again! Not that one can partner local councils, as ICLEI does (around 240 councils across Australia and New Zealand) and be lulled into thinking that one size fits all.
The Water Campaign with its inventory tool and milestone approach. builds a council's strategic capacity to reduce water consumption and improve the quality of our waterways. However the real strength of the Water Campaign is its capacity to add value to the council's political and administrative water agenda. Not only does size matter, but also past and current water initiatives.
Meeting with mayors, councillors, CEOs, senior managers and officers from Charles Sturt, Norwood, Payneham and St Peters, Adelaide Hills, Prospect, Salisbury, Barossa and Walkerville has informed me of their respective agendas and the potential for the application of the Water Campaign to their issues and opportunities.
So a reminder lesson - again well learnt indeed!
The NRM Management Board is funding the delivery of the Water Campaign to councils across the region.
Wednesday February 22. 2006
......Julie and me!
No it's not the latest film but the line up at the '2nd Australia and New Zealand Climate Change and Business' Conference held in Adelaide over the past 2 days. Of course I am refering to Premier Mike Rann (South Australia), Minister Ian Campbell (Australian Government), Deputy Premier John Thwaites (Victoria), Minister Ian Parker (New Zealand). Julie and I were responsible for the session titled - Local Government and Climate Change: an ICLEI hosted workshop
- The role of the Cities for Climate Protection Program and new initiatives for local government action - Julie Webb, Manager CCP Australia, ICLEI A/NZ
- The Implementation of Adelaide Green City Program – Trixie Mead, Project Director, Adelaide Green City Program
- Best practice examples of local government action – Mark Searle, CEO, City of Marion
The conference featured in 'The Advertiser' with Premier Rann announcing a '60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050'. The goal was matched by the Liberal Opposition Leader.
 - Geelong
 - Queenscliffe
Sunday February 19, 2006
The City of Greater Geelong and the Borough of Queenscliffe (Victoria) are neighbours but that's where the comparison ends. The City of Geelong has a population of 202,000 and covers an area of 1240 sq kms. Geelong is an ICLEI member, and a CCP and Water campaign participant. Queenscliffe has a population of 3,200 and covers an area of 8.5 sq kms and is not an ICLEI member or participant. Geelong wants to keep on keeping on and Queenscliffe wants to get on! Last week I travelled to the City of Geelong to meet with Mayor, Cr Peter McMullin. Cr McMullin is keen to build the partnership with ICLEI.
And then on to Queenscliffe to speak at the Queenscliffe Community Association monthly meeting. Those attending the Queenscliffe Community Association meeting included the mayor and 3 councillors and 20 plus residents. The questions and discussion that followed the presentation indicated a high level of interest and commitment to the values and campaigns that ICLEI offers a council and its community.
The results of the visit to Geelong and Queenscliffe will be in their respective councils' response.
Sunday February 12, 2006
There is nothing like a weekend at the beach! It provides a place to think beyond the day to day and to take in the endless horizon, the sculptured beach, the curving waves, the strolling pier....but also some realities! Recent events around the world related to cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in a Danish newspaper last year and resurfacing this year took me back to my recent visit to Copenhagen and the people I met and the experience I had in 'wonderful wonderful' Copenhagen. Copenhagen is a sophisticated and conservative city and the images of Danish embassies on fire in far off places reminds us that in today's world we are never too far from the realities of others. The events no doubt have shaken the Danes and reminded us all of the beliefs and values that divide us. However thinking of the things that unite us is what the beach does best!
Thursday February 9, 2006
So what is the view from the desk of an ICLEI Executive Manager?
Picking up after a break is not easy! But if you don't hit the ICLEI deck running then you are certainly likely to stumble. And stumble I did for a week or two as I found my ICLEI legs. CCP and Water have had significant staff changes that do shake the organisation up, especially one like ICLEI which relies and demands a close working together and a get up and go attitude. Or in the words of the former Mayor of Honolulu, Jeremy Harris, speaking at an ICLEI forum last year - 'Ready, fire, aim!'. But though we miss the familiar and the friendships that are developed and then lost we get new staff with their own ways and interests to fashion into ICLEI's work...and it happens more quickly than in many other organisations. So we are up and running and planning and maybe even plotting the year. So in late February I am off to Adelaide for the week briefing interested councils in the Water Campaign and a session at the Climate Change Conference. And then in mid March Perth and Sydney beckon for recruitment to the Water Campaign and briefings on CCP respectively. And back at home base work continues, supporting those who will be attending the ICLEI World Congress in Cape Town and in particular Mayor Nick Berman, Hornsby and Cr Fraser Brindley, Melbourne who will take their place on the ICLEI Executive Committee; on the LGMA Congress in May for a breakfast recognition and a TBL Capacity Building session to take place in Perth; on a World Water Day recognition event scheduled for March 22 at Campbelltown City Council (SA); on the Mayor's Asia-Pacific Environmental Summit in May to be hosted by the City of Melbourne; and on and on and on! And yes I continue to like the ICLEI view!
Saturday January 26, 2006
Hong Kong is an island, city, state and region. It is a people tower with 45% of the 7 million people living in apartments. Hong Kong residents live on 10% of the 1100 sq km of land. No wonder the average living space for a family of four is 250 sq feet and that towers fill the sky. And Hong Kong is a power tower despite the handover to China in 1997 and the creation of the Special Administration Region, the financial melt down in SouthEast Asia at the end of 1997, the onset of SARS in 2003 which decimated the tourist industry and the threat of terrorism. The financial strength of Hong Kong is at the heart of the Pearl River Delta Region comprising Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou. This region is reputed to be the fastest growing economic region in China. And 'shop 'til you drop' never had real meaning until I visited Hong Kong. It starts early and finishes very late in the exclusive retail stores and plazas and in the street markets and smallest of shops. Staying in the Wang Fat Hostel in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong island was an experince in itself. This 16 storey residential apartment building, resting on 2 floors of shop and plazas, has hostel rooms dotted throughout so we mixed it in the lifts, in the corridors, early morning and late into the night. Hong Kong bustles with people, buses, trams and motor vehicles. You move with the people tide.
 - A Map
 - Airport Bus
 - Keeping Cool!
 - Shop Top Living
 - Dim Sum - City Hall
 - Ferry to Kowloon
 - High Living
 - Night Life
 - The Peak
 - Bamboo Scaffold
 - Night Shopping
 - Clean Sweep
 - Tram Drivers Eye View
 - Street Market
 - Wang Fat View
Sunday January 1, 2006
...or in other words 'Happy New Year'. It was quite a night beginning with the sporadic firecracker and ending in a light and colour show across Höja. It seeemed as if everyone had a firecracker to set off!
Friday December 30, 2005
It stopped snowing! The snow had reached around 30 to 40 cms and the parks and roadsides were now well covered and the trees magically dusted. It was the day to venture to the Malmö waterfront and look over Bo01 - 'Tomorrow's City'. This was Sweden's first international housing exhibition, a European Union initiative to promote sustainable cities. Bo01 was opened in May 2001 and aims is to create a debate centered around how we will need to live in the future.
We caught the bus to Central Station and another on to Western Harbour, the site of Bo01. The buses run to schedule even during the snowing...( I know because bus stops have signs indicating the proximity of each bus and they arrive on time...every time.
Bo01 is a district encompassing both commercial and public buildings together with about 500 housing units. Bo01 aims to provide a place for living, education, work and recreation and its buildings have been designed to be ecologically sustainable and aesthetically attractive.
The location is in walking distance of the city and the beach and is well serviced by buses. The site was formerly used for industrial and landfill purposes. Industrial enterprises, offices and university buildings are located within the Bo01 district.
Bo01 is energy self sufficient and captures and reuses its water needs. Its energy source is from photovoltaics and wind. Heat is provided by the district heating system and from sea and rock strata. Local refuse and sewage produces biogas.
The urban form has been designed to make cars secondary to people, private garden space secondary to public open space and the canal system, and the sky and water dominant features of the environment.
Though not part of Bo01 the Öresund Bridge and 'Turning Torso' dominate its surrounds. The bridge, linking Denmark to Sweden, and the 'Turning Torso' are regional icons and are visible from most parts of the Öresund Region (on a clear day).
'Turning Torso´was designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. Calatrava's buildings are based on the human skeleton and 'Turning Torso' is spine like with a 270 degree twist! Wish I could do that! The building is 190m high with 54 floors. There are 347 residents and office accommodation occupies 10 floors. The building has a number of environmental features (not its height I suspect). For example waste from the building produces biogas and contributes to the Malmö district heating system. As we caught the bus home I thought about Melbourne, Docklands....but then snapped out of it!
 - The Plan
 - Apartments
 - Apartments
 - Apartments
 - Öresund Bridge
 - Water treatment
 - Apartments
 - Espresso House
 - Apartments - communal garden areas
 - Apartments - waterfront walk
 - 'Turning Torso'
 - Canal - Excess water
 - 'The Guardian' Tuesday December 28, 2005
Thursday December 29, 2005
It's snowing hard so why not head to the Malmö Library situated on the edge of a park and on the edge of the shopping precinct. The library is an impressive older building with a recent addition. It is warm big and friendly! It is certainly a popular place and especially the reading room where newspapers from around the world can be read in comfort at tables or individual seats with large windows overlooking the whiter than white parkland. So into the newspapers with gusto! Rumaging through newspapers in cluding 'The Guardian', 'The Independent', 'Daily Telegraph' (why not...its free), 'The Spectator' I found plenty of food for thought and just some for nibbling.
The cartoon in 'The Guardian' (28/12/05) was simple but provocative, raising the complexity of the the impact of climate change. Yes there will be extremes of weather and in northern Europe with a weakening of the Gulf Stream the likelihood of colder and snow bound winters. I could confirm this by just raising my eyes above the top of the newpspaper. And then more on climate change. In a small article there was news that across all European countries only Sweden and Britain would honour their Kyoto committment to greenhouse gas emissions. And surprise surprise the 'Daily Telegraph' reports on nuclear power stations. According to a recent poll 48% oppose more nuclear power stations whilst 45% are in support. And there's the political rub! An issue dividing the population is not one likely to get the nod and so what to do given that nuclear power stations currently provide 17% of the current electricity. In 2020 this will drop to 7% as older stations are retired. So what will fill the energy gap...or is there another side to the energy issue...like demand! Well it has stopped snowing so time to move on and out into the snow - 'bloody global warming!'
Wednesday December 28, 2005
The history of Malmö, Sweden dates back to the 13th century when it was Malmö, Denmark. The greatest medieval expansion of Malmö occured under Jörgen Kock who became Mayor in 1524. The town square, Stortorget, was laid out during his mayoralty, and many of the buildings surround the square today. I am not sure how long he retained this position but he certainly left his mark...but then city squares always leave someone a legacy...good and not so good! The Rädhuset or town hall, was built in 1546.
In 1658 the Swedes took over Malmö and the Skäne region. In 1677 the Danes tried to take Malmö back but failed. It took another 323 years to devise a plan! During the last century the city developed as a centre for heavy industry and ship building. Today these industries have been replaced by small companies involved in IT, service and the financial sectors. There has also been an emphasis on tertiary training with over 18,000 students now living in Malmö in a total population of 260,000.
The Öresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark, does bring two countries together socially, economically and culturally but not politically. However what Denmark could not achieve with the sword has been achieved with the completion of the bridge in July 2000. It took 5 years to complete. The bridge not only links Copenhagen and Malmö but a region comprising 3.5 million people that contributes 20% of GDP to both Denmark and Sweden.
The 'bridge' comprises a 7.8 km bridge, a 4 km long constructed island and a 5 km tunnel. It carries 4 lanes of road traffic with 2 railway lines underneath. It is at its highest 57 m above the water, high enough to allow for shipping. The bridge is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world...there is always one way to claim fame! In 2004 16.8 million people crossed the bride; 40% by train. It has created a region of bio technology, medico, food and IT busineses. 'We've built one bridge and are now building many more bridges between people', says a city official. Not a bad line really!
 - Öresund Bridge
 - Malmö Harbour
 - Stortorget Square
 - Malmö Rädhuset
 - Step 1
 - Step 2
 - Step 3
 - Step 4
 - Step 5
 - Step 6
Monday December 26, 2005
And let the sales begin in Malmö, Sweden...but not before a trip to the Supermarket and a new way of checking out! It's real easy...so here goes.
Step 1: Collect a scanner and swipe your membership debit card and it says
'Hej Martin'
Step 2: Return your bottles and cans and be credited on your card
Step 3: Check out the specials on the monitor - look no junk mail!
Step 4: Pick an item and scan! It gives you the price and the running total
Step 5: Push the trolley and shop - it's a big trolley for a big supermarket
Step 6: Take your trolley and scanner to the 'checkout' and pay on your membership debit card.
And they only check your trolley if the computer randomly selects you...just like the Melbourne trams!
Yes it's that easy!
Saturday December 24, 2005
Malmo, Sweden is alive with lights and Christmas decorations. The cold and the early nightfall provide an added dimension to this time of the year in the deep north (hemisphere). For the record the photograph on the right was taken around 8.30am and the one on the left at 4.00pm!
Friday December 23, 2005
'Half of all town halls are wasting council tax' screamed 'The Tmes' headline. The article went on to 'inform' readers that the annual league table revealed that 46% of councils either provide the bare minimum or below minimum standards of cost effectiveness.
The article also revealed plans to introduce local charges for tourists, business, cars and litter. However given the finding that councils were not delivering value for money critics are saying councils should spend efficiently what they already have!
The top councils, those 'improving strongly' were 8 in all, and included Kensington and Chelsea, Kent, Derbyshire and Wiltshire. London was 'improving well' along with Hammersmith and Fulham and Wokingham.
However the chairman of the Local Government Association was outraged at the report and said that the issue of 'value for money' had never been raised by the Audit Commission.
He stated that this indicator represented ony 5 per cent of of the total scores making up the league table which also included education, environment, housing, culture and social services.
Sunday December 11, 2005
Today I take off ....... for London, Copenhagen, Malmo (Sweden), Berlin and Hong Kong. 2005 has been quite a year at ICLEI A/NZ. But then the history of ICLEI over the past almost 9 years has been one of growth, challenge and change! It comes with the territory that as a not for profit we need all three to be of value to the councils who join as members, the councils who participate in our campaigns and the stakeholders who invest in our work.
But all that will be 30,000 feet and many thousands of kilometers behind as I take off for 'rest and recreation'! But there will be experiences and views that may be of interest so whenever an internet cafe appears .... watch this space.
'Leaders Snapshots' will be emailed out next week with a series of local, national and international stories and happenings. I hope that you will find it stimulating reading and find time to contribute to its content during 2006.
For now....up up and away!
Friday December 9, 2005
Dr Liu Jie and her two colleagues from the City of Tianjin were farewelled at a Christmas luncheon today with bonbons, santa claus hats and christmas pudding! And amongst the gifts presented by Cr Fiona Sneddon were Aussie Rules footballs!
They were also presented with certificates recognising their work whilst at the City Council and ICLEI A/NZ. They will leave many friends and fond memories. Dr Lui Jie will certainly have more difficulty explaining football than CCP. We at ICLEI A/NZ are looking forward to awarding Tianjin Milestone 1.
 - Photos on the Portico before the Christmas Lunch
 - Dr Liu Jie takes a handball
 - Dr Liu Jie and Cr Fiona Sneddon talk tactics
Monday December 5, 2005
................from Bourke Street Mall to Waterfront City
This year's City of Melbourne Christmas Party was held at Waterfront City, Level 1, The Beach Club, Docklands! Where is 'The Beach Club' you might ask as we did as we taxied to the City of Melbourne Christmas party asking all and sundry via the mobile. The taxi driver knew of Docklands but the 'The Beach Club'? Is there a 'beach 'at Docklands? Well not actually but there is a Club! So along with Wayne, Maria and Robyn we finally found the venue and entered. There were some 150 or so others who had found their way including Lord Mayor So and councillors. The Minister for Local Government, Candy Broad also found the Club along with Glennys Romanes, MLC. I said 'hello' to Candy as she slipped out to another function. Busy times for all. Janet Dore (Newcastle GM) and Jude Munro Brisbane CEO) also found the Club. I congratulated Janet on Newcastle's Local Government Award and Pete Dormund and his team for their on going work on climate change. I suspect both Janet and Jude, both former CEOs in Victoria, found the Club by looking it up. A very wise approach and one to adopt when navigating the ever expanding Docklands.
The City of Melbourne Christmas party typically draws a cross section of Melbourne players from the local neighbourhood to the central businesss sector. Lots to be talked about...recent stories, rumours and just good chit chat. I do enjoy these free flowing occasions. It is a chance to meet past and present friends and acquaintenances and do some lobbying. I am not averse to this as it was done to me when I was on the Council!
Ed Note: The Docklands was excised from the City of Melbourne in 1993, when the council was dismissed. 'Docklands' became the 79th council. Since the return of an elected council in 1996 there has been lobbying by subsequent councils to return Docklands to the City of Melbourne. This year the Bracks Government agreed to hand back Docklands to the City over the next 2 years.
Monday December 5, 2005
Jie has spent 2 months in the ICLEI A/NZ office preparing herself for her work in her city Tianjin, China where she will scope the Cities for Climate Protection program. Jie works for the Environment Protection Bureau and through the sister city partnership with the City of Melbourne ICLEI A/NZ has been able to provide an opportunity for Melbourne's work on sustainability and the CCP program to be linked to its 25 year relationship with Tianjin.
Jie farewelled staff on Friday December 2 and will spend her final week with City of Melbourne staff. In making some comments on Jiu's stay with us I said that she was 'professional, personable, passionate and a good performer'! The latter I came to know through her presentations. At the ICLEI Recognition event in Canberra and in the company of 150 council mayors, elected representatives and senior managers, the Minister for Environment, Senator Ian Campbell and Cr Paul Bell President, ALGA, Jie provided a summary of her work and expectations for the CCP program in Tianjin. And then Jie impressed at a Reception conducted by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, John So in which she provided an overview of her work whilst in Melbourne and her plans back in Tianjin. Jeremy Maslin and Jenny Bicknell spoke and passed on gifts from the office staff - books on Melbourne, a very large map of Australia and a certificate recognising her work at ICLEI A/NZ. We will miss Jie but she has certainly become part of ICLEI A/NZ. I am hoping that Tianjin will become our 226th CCP council - 208 across Australia and 17 in New Zealand. What a story that would be!
Friday December 2, 2005
Victorian Local Government Sustainability Accord Launched
The Victorian Local Government Sustainability Accord was signed at Hobsons Bay City Council on the day that the Victorian Cabinet conducted their 'community cabinet' day in Hobsons Bay. The event was very well attended suggesting that the occasion attracted those in the 'know' and those 'wanting to be in the know'. Wayne and I have shared the responsibilty of representing ICLEI A/NZ at the meetings over the past 12 months which developed the Accord under the Chair oif Mike Hill. We were active participants! The Accord does provide an opportunity to partner with the State government on its environmental sustainability agenda through the Department of Sustainabiility and Environment and to link the associations of local government and their constuituents into a statewide framework. It does not limit or define 'local' action but works to add value to it.
The Accord was launched by the Minister for Environment, John Thwaites who is an informed and committed player and has an excellent grasp of the issues and the opportunities which the Accord needs to adresss and take up. The Minister for Local Government, Candy Broad also attended and reflecting the cross portfolio interest and commitment. It is now for councils to take up the Accord and we will be working with those who wish to partner ICLEI A/NZ in their work.
(You can read more about the Accord under on our 'What's New' page)
Friday December 2, 2005
Monday November 14 was enlivened by a delegation from the City of Kawaskai, Japan along with David Teller from the Committee for Melbourne. Briefing the delegation on the work of ICLEI A/NZ is more of a challenge when an interpreter is involved as one has to 'cut to the chase'. It was a good experience and my briefing seemed to push the right buttons as we soon entered into a question and answer session. As an ICLEI member we will follow up with the ICLEI Japan office in Tokyo so that our contact can be built upon. We are an international movement of cities and such visits strengthen our work.
Friday December 2, 2005
It was good to receive a letter from the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore MP last month in response to my request in 'Leaders Snapshots' for information on projects being undertaken by councils in response to clime change. The letter provided information on 3 projects: 3CBDs Greenhouse Initaitve; Cycling in the City Iniative; and Green Power. The November / December issue of Leaders Snapshots provides the detail.
I visited Sydney City last month, following the ALGA National General Assembly for Local Government and the ICLEI Recogniiton event and met with Cr Chris Harris. I briefed Chris on the work we are undertaking with councils on 'sustainability reporting, decision making and planning' through our Sustainability Services Team and also on the role of the new Centre for Public Agency for Sustainabilty Reporting.
Friday December 2, 2005
opening doors at Auburn and Strathfield.......
During my time in Sydney following the ALGA National General Assembly I visited Auburn and Strathfield councils who had expressed interest in joining CCP. The meetings were very productive and maybe in the new year we will almost complete the Sydney metropolitan jigsaw for CCP participation!
I also visited NSROC at Lane Clove and briefed their Executive Director, Dominic Johnson. Now that all councils in the ROC are participating in CCP there are regional opportunites to be developed and implemented.
|
