Archived News for Professionals in Local Government - February, 2011
RMIT University researchers are developing a participatory toolkit for establishing local urban sustainability indicators.
The toolkit, Circles of Sustainability, is being developed in partnership with the UN Global Compact Cities Programme, which is based at RMIT.
It brings together city leaders, citizens groups and businesses to identify and debate critical issues and to set targets for progress towards sustainable development.
Developed through pilot projects in cities worldwide, the Circles of Sustainability method has been adopted as part of the UN Global Compact Cities Programme approach to resolving intractable urban development issues.
The pilot projects addressed issues such as sustainable tourism in French cities, sustainable urban planning in Mongolia and infrastructure for clean water in cities in India and the United States.
Professor Paul James, Director of RMIT's Global Cities Research Institute, said the last decade had seen enormous growth in the use of sustainability indicators.
"There are corporate-sustainability indices, city-liveability indices, community-sustainability indices, waste-disposal indices … the list goes on."
He said that developing an adequate indicator set had become a difficult task. The size, scope and number of indicator sets could cause an organisation to lose focus and not use available local resources that could support sustainable practices.
The Circles of Sustainability toolkit supports local communities in developing a means to track sustainable practices in relation to a global framework while encouraging the use of locally relevant quantitative with qualitative measures of sustainability.
It aims to balance economic and environmental sustainability concerns with the political and cultural dimensions of the issue.
When completed in 2013, the toolkit will be an open-access resource for governments, non-government organisations and businesses debating issues and actions required for sustainable urban development.
The Circles of Sustainability project team is led by Professor Paul James and includes contributions by Professor Lin Padgham and Associate Professor James Thom from RMIT's School of Computer Science and Information technology, Professor Hepu Deng from the School of Business IT and Logistics, and Research Fellows Dr Andy Scerri, Dr Liam Magee and Dr Sarah Hickmott.
The project is supported by industry partners FujiXerox Australia, Cambridge International College, Microsoft Australia, Angusta Systems and the City of Melbourne.
Federal Government releases skills shortages summary
New research shows Australia’s skills supply and demand picture remains patchy.
Western Australian councils call for reform
Western Australian councils have called for a state-wide governance review to revitalise the local government reform process.
NSW local councils closer to forming single representative association
Shires across New South Wales have agreed to form a single association representing local government in the state.
Sustainable Population Strategy submission period coming to a close
The opportunity to comment on a sustainable population strategy for Australia is coming to a close.
New Local Government Minister for Queensland
A reshuffle of the Queensland Cabinet has resulted in a new Minister for Local Government.
Tasmanian councils to plan for climate change
The Tasmanian Government has announced a Future Proofing Tasmania’s Councils project, which will bring together climate change research and projections to be integrated into council policies and procedures.
WA councils sign up to reform program
Ten WA local governments in the Goldfields-Esperance region have signed up to the State Government’s local government reform program.
Queensland Local Government Minister resigns
“I assure the people of Cairns that I will represent their interests vigorously over the year ahead and make sure to do all I can for Cairns before this term of Government comes to an end,” Ms Boyle said.
Jim Pollock the new president of SA Local Government Association
Whyalla mayor Jim Pollock has been appointed as the new president of the South Australian Local Government Association (LGA).
NSW releases development assessment report card
Temora Shire Council is again the best performing local government in New South Wales in terms of assessment times for development applications.
WA to establish 15 Development Assessment Panels
Western Australian Planning Minister John Day will establish 15 Development Assessment Panels across local government areas across the state from July 1 this year.
ACELG analyses responses to survey into local government training
Nearly 900 submissions have been lodged by respondents to a survey carried out as part of the "Learning in Local Government Project" being undertaken by the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government.