Council Sustainability Resources

Increasingly,  Councils are recognising the ‘business case’ for sustainability within their organisations, as well as changing community expectations about what they deliver and how.   And given that sustainability is generally not about doing new or additional things – but rather about doing the things we already do in a different way – sustainability is increasingly being used as the central platform of how Council business gets undertaken.  

Information about Council Sustainability

Ecologically Sustainable Development and local Councils

The LGSA has developed the ESD information guide for Local Councils.

The Department of Local Government has developed a Councillor guide to sustainability (see Appendix V).

The NSW Government has developed the NSW Sustainability Policy.

Local government integration of sustainability

The Urban Sustainability Support Alliance works through the LGSA to support Councils in their sustainability journey; their website includes many valuable Council resources that include local government sustainability guides, tips, training materials, tools, case studies and more.

The USSA commissioned the Barriers and Drivers to Sustainability in Local Government report, which is a good summary of the current challenges and opportunities for integration of sustainability into local government in NSW.

The USSA also commissioned Sustainability Selector: A Guide for Local Government which provides an overview of the tools available to help local Councils integrate sustainability into their planning and operations.

Sustainable Choice is a sustainable purchasing program run by the LGSA for Councils in NSW.  It includes a database of recycled content products and materials commonly used by Councils.

Sustainability Victoria has developed the Sustainability Resource Locator for local government, a conduit to all things sustainable for local government.