Council publishes a community newsletter relating to sustainability on a quarterly basis. Click on the link below to view the latest newsletter:
Sustainability is often used as a substitute for the term Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD), which involves the effective integration of economic, social and environmental considerations in decision-making processes. The principles of ESD include:
Council has developed its sustainability theme called "Kiamasphere", which aims to bring together all of its projects across the Council that relate to environmental management and sustainability. The Kiamasphere logo that incorporates Council's corporate colours was developed and its design represents the holistic approach required to achieve sustainable living in the Kiama Municipality.
All of the pressures on the environment have an impact on the overall sustainability of the Kiama Municipality. For sustainability to be achieved, these pressures must be counter-balanced by actions and technologies implemented throughout the community.
Council has developed three Headline Sustainability Indicators, with the objective to chart the overall progress of Council and to measure the effectiveness of actions and technologies at achieving a more sustainable Municipality. These Indicators are included in the annual State of the Environment Report. Each indicator graph includes a "sustainable zone", based on the data in the baseline year of 1999-2000 (which is when the previous comprehensive SoE report was prepared). The sustainable zone includes any result that indicates a similar or improved environment compared to 1999-2000. The graphs therefore indicate the move towards or away from the sustainable zone.
The Crooked River Estuary Management Plan needs to be updated and we need YOUR help ... more informationMany of the projects and policies outlined on the Environment section of Council's website aim to work towards a more sustainable local environment with more efficient use of natural resources, including the Water Sensitive Urban Design Policy (pdf 1.16 MB) and the implementation of the Building Sustainability Index for new developments.
The Illawarra Sustainability Roadmap Project is about assisting Kiama, Shellharbour and Wollongong Councils to integrate the consideration of sustainability into all decisions that we make as a local Council. This Project has been assisted by the New South Wales Government through its Environmental Trust.
Several activities are being undertaken with staff from all sections of each Council, to result in two guiding documents:
The three Illawarra Councils, (Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama) have been investigating opportunities to establish a more strategic approach to sustainability programs and initiatives delivered to our community. The Councils believe that combining their resources and knowledge on sustainability projects will ensure a more consistent message is being delivered to the region’s communities.
As a result, all three Councils put their heads together to apply for a regional grant funded by the NSW State Government’s Environmental Trust. The funding is part of the Department of Environment and Climate Change’s Urban Sustainability Program initiative.
In August 2007 the Environmental Trust approved the Illawarra regions submission with funding of $2.2 million dollars to be rolled out over a three year period.
The project’s vision and purpose is described below.
The vision for this project is for the Illawarra Councils (Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama) to balance their social, environmental and economic goals to ensure a sustainable and adaptable future. This will be achieved by:
The Sustainable Kiama Communities project is a 3 year project which has been funded by the NSW Government through the NSW Environmental Trust Urban Sustainability Program.
The vision of this project is to create a sustainable, cleaner, greener Kiama Municipality. To achieve this, the project has established the following objectives:
The project will focus on the key areas of energy, water, waste and biodiversity, with a number of initiatives, events and programs including:
To find out about upcoming sustainability events, programs and workshops, visit the Kiamasphere website www.kiamasphere.com.au and see the What's On page or call Council’s environment and health team.
Last updated: Monday 7 January, 2013
