Greater Geelong has been listed as one of two municipalities that have qualified for the main award at the Keep Victoria Beautiful Sustainable Cities Awards.
The City is in the running for the 2021 Sustainable City award, alongside four of its clever and creative projects being listed as a finalist across a range of categories.
The projects nominated for the statewide awards include:
Zero Carbon Buildings Program (Energy Award)
The program has reduced the ecological and carbon footprint of the City’s community facilities, through renewable energy generation and energy efficiency improvements. Measures include rooftop solar systems, energy efficient lighting upgrades, automated building control systems and upgraded heating and cooling systems.
Ramblers Road Artificial Reef ((Environment Award)
The award-winning coastal protection solution has been effective in preventing further erosion, limiting the over topping of waves and stabilising and widening the beach at Ramblers Road, Portarlington. It has also delivered co-benefits in terms of habitat creation and restoration of seagrass.
Bella Wiyn Birralee Family Centre (Environment Award)
The centre is a 5-Star Green Star certified building, incorporating world leading environmentally sustainability standards in its design, construction and operation. Its features are backed by the commitment of centre staff, children and families to sustainable living, which includes practical learning about conserving energy, saving water, growing food, reducing food waste and recycling.
Recycled Roads (Waste Award)
The City’s innovative road construction projects incorporate materials collected via their kerbside recycling services. The first roads built using crushed glass as a replacement for sand are now open and other road construction projects have been completed using PlastiPhalt, which incorporates plastics destined for landfill in road construction materials. These projects are keeping tonnes of glass and plastics out of landfill and the highly efficient construction process is reducing project CO2 emissions by as much as 30 percent.
Mayor Stephanie Asher, the Sustainability Performance Chair, said the annual awards program celebrated positive initiatives taken to act on climate change and enhance local environments.
“Being selected as a finalist for the overall Sustainable Cities Award shows the quality and depth of work we are delivering, and the positive culture of sustainable practice we have created,” Mayor Asher said.
“Through our Sustainability Framework, we are addressing climate change and providing the best social, environmental and financial outcomes for our community.
Sustainability is the biggest opportunity of our time and it’s imperative that it’s at the centre of everything we do.”
Mayor Asher said five of the City’s own 2021 Community Green Achiever Award winners had also been listed as finalists:
- Mik Aidt – Climate Emergency Declaration Campaign (Education Award)
- Geelong Sustainability – Sustainable House Day 2020 (Education Award)
- Andrea Dennett – Conservation of the Hooded Plover (Environment Award)
- Friends of Waurn Ponds Creek – Waurn Ponds Creek Restoration (Environment Award); and
Lids 4 Kids – Saving Plastic Lids from Landfill (Waste Award)
“This is great recognition of the extraordinary work being carried out by the community across climate change campaigns, wildlife conservation and waste diversion initiatives,” Mayor Asher said.
“There is a collective will in the region to reduce our community’s footprint and to protect the world-class biodiversity that exists locally.”
