Adelaide City Council Corporate Sustainability Strategy Options

Client: Adelaide City Council

Institute researchers developed options to how Adelaide City Council could develop a Corporate Sustainability Strategy. The Council engaged the Institute to develop the options papers. To produce the options paper Institute researchers reviewed existing Council planning documents as well as selected external documents. This was done to develop an understanding of the organisational context for corporate sustainability planning within the Council and in the wider context of South Australian local government. They also carried out desktop research into the approach to corporate sustainability by a selection of capital city and other councils in Australia, and to a lesser extent internationally. This was done to identify the ways ‘corporate sustainability’ and ‘sustainability’ were defined and approached in other Councils as potential case studies. Finally, the researchers conducted interviews with selected Council staff members and a representative of the Local Government Association of South Australia. The aim of the interviews were to provide a deeper understanding of the organisational context and current work being done in the Council to review and revise existing plans, and provide the staff’s own views and ideas on developing the Strategy. From the findings the Institute researchers developed a series of recommendation about the general approach, as well as three options for how Council might proceed with the project.

Ashfield City Council’s Community Strategic Plan

Client: Ashfield City Council

Institute researchers worked in partnership with Ashfield City Council in inner west Sydney to develop a 10-year Community Strategic Plan. The Plan incorporates a vision for the future of the municipality, shared by both community and Council, and sets out strategic directions and priority actions to deliver this vision. An effective and well-managed community engagement programme was developed to complement consultations with Council’s Integrated Planning Team and Councillors. Over 1,100 residents and stakeholders provided their views on the future directions for the municipality through 26 different events or ‘conversations’ including two public 'world cafe' meetings and an online forum. The first public conversation involved small groups discussing key issues that emerged from earlier broad community consultation. The Institute then developed options for strategic directions and priority actions and these were considered by participants at the second public conversation. The outcomes of these conversations were incorporated into the Plan.

Barriers and Drivers to Sustainability for Local Government

Client: Urban Sustainability Support Alliance (USSA)

This report, Barriers & Drivers to Sustainability in Local Government, documents the research undertaken for the Urban Sustainability Support Alliance and covers:
• The main drivers and barriers in relation to achieving sustainability in Local Government experienced by council staff;
• The tools and approaches being used by NSW councils to measure progress towards sustainability; and
• A summary of evaluation frameworks and tools used more broadly in Australia and overseas.
The research presented here is the product of the application of two methodologies.
Firstly, ‘desktop’ research reviews of the literature available in various media, and secondly, semi-structured interviews with individuals nominated by the 32 participating NSW councils, undertaken from late November 2008 through to early February 2009. The report is structured to represent the findings of each of the interview questions, and includes the findings on evaluation tools and frameworks as an appendix.

Pillora S, Blackburn N, Artist S, 2009, Barriers & Drivers to Sustainability in Local Government, prepared for the Urban Sustainability Support Alliance by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney. View/download

Council of Capital Cities Lord Mayors Sustainability Policy

City of Sydney

The City of Sydney is Chair of the Sustainable Cities Policy Committee of the Council of Capital Cities Lord Mayors (CCCLM). ISF was engaged to develop a draft Sustainable Cities Policy and policy template for this Committee. ISF worked with the client to define the scope of the policy and its relationship to other policies and plans within CCLM. We developed a template for the policy which provided a clear distinction between policy context, objectives, commitments, and implementation. A document review was conducted of existing commitments of the CCLM, national and international policy, commitments and research into sustainable cities. The Policy was adopted by CCLM and the template used to guide development of subsequent policies of CCLM subcommittees. The Policy will be used to represent the priorities of CCLM to State and federal politicians and to guide funding applications for program development.

Cross-Scale Barriers to Adaptation in Local Government, Australia

Funded by: National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF)

A key feature of this study is to identify cross-scale barriers to planned adaptation within the context of Local Government (LG) in Australia.  Many of the impacts of climate change and variability have or will be experienced at the local level. As a result, LGs in Australia (and overseas) have initiated plans to adapt to these impacts, however, the pathway to planning and implementation of adaptation is not a barrier free process.  LGs are embedded in a larger governance context that has the potential to limit the effectiveness of planned adaptation initiatives on the ground. 
Drawing on current best practice, a framework and diagnostic tool will be used to investigate and understand the governance architecture that gives rise to cross-scale barriers and their significance to certain contexts and sectors. This will facilitate the identification of these barriers and related strategies to overcome them. Further, by identifying barriers experienced when coping with climate variability at a local government level, limitations and possible strategies to respond to future climate change induced impacts will be identified.
Various methods are adopted in which end-users are engaged throughout the study, including: 3 workshops with LG representatives and multi-stakeholders, 5 case studies reflecting the critical barriers with a key focus on NSW but will have replicability at the national level, 20 key informant interviews in various States to validate results and desktop studies.  A checklist matrix of 8-10 critical barriers for LG across Australia will be developed with proposed strategies to overcome them.

Division of Local Government Community Indicators Project

Client: Elton Consulting

In collaboration with Elton Consulting the Institute developed a baseline resource to help NSW councils develop a set of community indicators to support evaluation of Community Strategic Plan (CSP) objectives. The Division of Local Government (DLG) New South Wales engaged the Institute and Elton Consulting. CSP is part of the new Integrated Planning and Reporting (IPR) framework introduced in 2009, and this resource is only one in a series of tools and forums developed by DLG to support councils in implementing the IRP. Community indicators reflect the IPR’s quadruple bottom line (social, economic, environmental and governance issues) and are developed to track trends in quality of life for a given community and as a basis for improving community engagement, community planning and policy making. The project used targeted desktop research and stakeholder consultation to build on previous work. View/download the Community Strategic Planning Indicators Resource.

Hawkesbury Sustainability Action Plan

Client: Hawkesbury City Council

This Institute project provided support for the Hawkesbury City Council in a process of change. The Council initially engaged the Institute to help them develop a sustainability action plan. However, Institute researchers used an iterative scope and methodology, and worked with the Council’s Strategic Planning Team to refine the scope of the project and identify the most useful tasks to do. The project took place in a changing institutional environment, and in consultation with the client the project’s scope changed from a ‘plan making’ project to a ‘staff engagement and capacity building’ project. The two main goals of the project were to 1) help the Strategic Planning Team and the Council meet impending milestone dates in regards to their new legislative requirements under the Integrated Planning and Reporting Act, and 2) to embed sustainability principles into the actions that will be committed to in these new planning documents Council will need to make rather than creating a separate plan. Two workshops attended by almost all Council managers addressed the refined objectives. As a result of the workshops and collaboration with the Strategic Planning Team the Institute could provide recommendations to continued progress in achieving the goals. Further, the project resulted in managers having an understanding that the new legislation requires change in the Councils planning and will affect their work.

Review of Kogarah City Council's Environmental Sustainability Delivery Plan

Client: Kogarah Municipal Council

Institute researchers provided feedback to Kogarah Council on its draft Environmental Sustainability Delivery Plan. Kogarah Council commissioned the Institute to review its draft plan, and provided the researchers with a set of key questions to address in the review process. Based on the review the Institute was able to make suggestions and recommendations to improve the Plan.

 

Sustainability Tool Selector: A Guide for Local Government

Client: Urban Sustainability Support Alliance (USSA)

Drawing on its extensive experience with local government sustainability approaches, the Institute was commissioned to produce The Sustainability Tool Selector: a guide for Local Government by the Urban Sustainability Support Alliance (USSA). The Guide showcases ten tools that can help council staff with evaluation, decision making, developing performance indicators and tracking progress towards sustainability at both an organisational and project level. It describes each tool and its intended outcomes, its strengths and any special considerations or limitations on its use. The guide includes case studies that show how the tools have been used by councils. Practical considerations such as costs and time commitment, support offered and where to find the tool are also included. The Guide is intended to save time spent by Council staff researching tools and to help reduce confusion about the differences between the many tools available. It focuses on solutions and provides guidance on which tool to use and when. The Guide follows earlier research undertaken by the Institute on barriers and drivers to sustainability in local government and was launched at a series of workshops around New South Wales in March 2010. It has received positive evaluation feedback from users and potential users in the sector. View/download evaluation report (4.3MB).