Food waste trial: Results of resident feedback workshop

Woollahra Municipal Council began a food waste collection trial in September 2006 with approximately 2,400 households in the LGA. During the trial, participating households were able to place all kinds of food waste into their garden waste bin (with their normal garden waste). To assist them to do this, Council provided all households in the trial area with a kitchen tidy bin in which they could collect food scraps. Workshop structure After four months of the trial, residents were invited to attend a workshop to provide their feedback on the trial. The workshop was facilitated by Emma Partridge of ISF, and was held on the evening of Wednesday 14 February, at the Gunyah (Vaucluse Scout Hall), Watsons Bay. The workshop ran for one hour and was attended by thirty-eight (38) local residents who had participated in the trial. The main component of the workshop was a facilitated group discussion about the trial. Participants were invited to make comments about the trial, and these were recorded on butcher's paper. Participants were assured that Emma Partridge would compile their comments into a report to be provided to Woollahra Council. The facilitator structured the discussion by using a series of trigger questions to ensure coverage of all aspects of the trial, and to draw out detailed comment on a number of specific issues. This discussion session elicited numerous constructive comments and questions from participants, which were all recorded. Following the discussion, Emma Partridge gave a short PowerPoint presentation to the group, outlining the results of the residents survey that had been conducted by Council approximately one month prior. The PowerPoint presentation is at Appendix A. The comments made and questions asked by the residents at this feedback workshop have been collated and are summarised in this report. Actual quotes from residents are in italics, and other comments have been summarised or paraphrased

From ambivalence to activism: young people's environmental views and actions

Do young people really take a particular interest in environmental issues, or are they apathetic? This paper considers what young people really think about the environment by drawing together and reviewing attitudinal polling and other research into young people's views. It seeks to challenge simplistic assumptions, and instead acknowledges the inherently complex nature of young people's attitudes to environmental problems

Active Transport for Childcare Centres: A Case Study and Resource for Councils

The project is presented as a case study, and accompanied by a series of resources and references that may be of interest to other Councils considering interventions in this area. The case study project, Active transport for parents and children at Council preschools and childcare centres, was funded from the Local Government and Shires Associationsâ (LGSA) Healthy Local Government Grants Program. The 3 Sydney Councils involved, namely Waverley, Marrickville and Sutherland Shire, agreed to work with their Council childcare centres on the issue of active transport, as a means of promoting both environmentally sustainable transport and better health in their communities. This report is aimed at the local government sector, particularly Councils seeking ways to support active transport as a means of promoting positive environmental and health outcomes in their communities. The focus of the case study project was on parents and children who use Council childcare centres and preschools, and the resource will be particularly useful in that context. However, the report is also of wider relevance with respect to the issue of active transport in the local government sector more generally. Aims & rationale The project sought to explore and understand the reasons for current travel behaviour to and from Council preschools and childcare centres and the barriers to active transport. The Councils aimed to use this research to inform the development of interventions designed to increase the use of active transport. The project also aimed to build or strengthen partnerships between Council staff and childcare centre staff. This partnership approach intended to make use of Council resources to support interventions in the Centres and also to enable local active transport issues to be addressed in plans and strategies at the LGA level

The economic value of Community Legal Centres

CLCs provide a range of legal services to individuals and their communities. These services include legal representation in courts, tribunals and other dispute resolution venues, as well as preventative services provided in the form of advice, information and referral services, community legal education, law reform and policy reform work. Work by CLCs provides clear private benefits to individuals. The clients of CLCs are most likely to be people who live in disadvantaged circumstances and have legal problems that are typically part of a number of interlinked problems. CLCs play a crucial role in untangling these legal problems and assisting individuals to move on without being penalised by their inability to access other forms of legal assistance. What is less well recognised are the broader public benefits provided to society as a result of the work of CLCs. Such recognition is critical to identifying the total economic value generated by CLCs services. Much of the work of CLCs is preventative in that it reduces the need or extent to which individuals are (or could be) involved with the legal system. CLC work therefore produces invisible benefits including how an individual accesses the publicly funded legal system and welfare services, and how that individual is able to contribute to society in the future. These indirect effects generate avoided costs, in other words costs for which government would have been liable but for the intervention of CLCs. In addition to these avoided costs, other benefits include the intrinsic benefit to society of providing a certain level of social service, welfare, assistance, protection or information to vulnerable citizens. The costing of such benefits is difficult for many reasons but this Report illustrates the need for such costs and benefits to be considered

Watering sportsgrounds during restrictions: perspectives from Melbourne Metropolitan Councils

Restrictions on outdoor water use have been a key element of the response to drought in metropolitan Melbourne. When stage 3A restrictions were introduced in April 2007, managers of grassed sportsgrounds mainly local councils were limited to watering 1 in 4 sites, and were required to make a 25% saving in water used outdoors. In late 2007, an allocation scheme was introduced as an alternative option available to councils for watering sportsgrounds. This research aims to inform the development of future drought response mechanisms, by providing insight into recent perspectives from Melbournes metropolitan local councils on watering sportsgrounds during drought. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, this research explored the underlying drivers, barriers, constraints and opportunities for efficient water management for grassed sportsgrounds