Green plan is go!

06 December 2006

Sustainability is at the heart of a renewed agreement between UNSW and Randwick City Council to protect the local environment.

Signed by UNSW’s Chief Operating Officer, Peter Graham, and Randwick City Mayor, Councillor Paul Tracey, the agreement formalises a working relationship between the institutions to collaborate on programs whose aim is to foster a cleaner, greener environment within and adjacent to Randwick’s Local Government Area (LGA).

It commits the parties over the next 12 months to protect and enhance the environment through efforts such as using renewable energy, and reducing and recycling materials, water and waste.

“The Agreement sets out several partnering opportunities in the areas of education, water conservation, energy use, consumption and environmental auditing,” says Peter Graham.

“It builds on a substantial record of success since the University and the council established a relationship 18 months ago to improve environmental outcomes.

“Together, we can point to practical achievements in areas such as solar power use, harvesting and recycling of rainwater and storm water, and monitoring and auditing the university’s ecological footprint.

“Council greatly assisted UNSW to publish the Sustainability Report, which was the university’s first ‘triple bottom line’ assessment of its economic, social and environmental performance.”

Underlining the point, the Director of the Centre for a Sustainable Built Environment, Deo Prasad says: “Universities have a key role in working with their local communities and sustainability is an area of mutual interest.

“The 40,000 students enrolled at UNSW are equivalent in number to around one-third of Randwick LGA’s population so it’s vital that the University does everything it can to reduce its overall use of resources and its impact on the environment.”

Professor Prasad chairs the Kensington Group, an international think-tank in urban and regional sustainability, which is helping UNSW and Randwick City Council to achieve their environmental ambitions.

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