Council Training & Networking

Council Sustainability Training

Sustaining Our Towns was able to support Councils to further explore sustainability. This included the legal implications, community expectations and practical applications. In April 2011 Queanbeyan City Council took the opportunity to develop the sustainability understanding with a cross functional group including many senior staff. The group left the workshop with some shared actions as well as individual ideas to follow up.

Networking Councils

Sustaining our Towns set up a network of Council sustainability offices across our region.  This networks helps to share information and resourcess so that staff do not have to ‘reinvent the wheel’.  Staff involved in the network include officers managing assets (with the potential to improve their operational efficiency), staff involved in environmental planning, and staff managing other aspects of integrating sustainability into the way their Councils plan and operate.

The NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change has recently launched the EfS Learning Hub. It aims to build the skills and competencies of people working as sustainability change agents in organisations or communities.  It allows the participant to assess their own skills against required competencies, and access resources and training to enhance their professional development.

Council staff should also consider joining  Sustainablenet to share resources and knowledge with other professional sustainability practitioners.