Upcoming Events
Stormwater Australia invites you to attend STORMWATER 2016, the 4th National Conference convened by Stormwater Australia, to be held from Monday, 29th August to Friday, 2nd September, 2016 in Surfers Paradise, Queensland.
In 2009, the United Nations reported that more than half the world’s population lived in urban centres. This proportion is set to increase to 66% by 2050, when it is estimated that city dwellers will live and share their neighbourhoods with an additional 2.5 billion people.
As our cities grow and evolve, it is imperative that we manage our resource and our natural resources to ensure they continue to provide clean, healthy environments for ourselves and the next generation. Access to adequate supplies of safe and fit-for-purpose water will be increasingly important to meet the needs of a growing population, while the responsible management of runoff from both increasing sprawl and density in existing urban areas will be needed to increase our resilience to natural disasters such as flood and heat waves, and to avoid further environmental and social degradation.
The modern stormwater industry seeks to balance traditional issues with emerging priorities which are being placed on our infrastructure. Practitioners are experienced in working at the coal face, often pragmatically dealing with issues in a complex environment where policy requirements are often unclear, but the demand for good outcomes and multiple benefits are not. The growing need to work in multidisciplinary teams, to lead and influence, to understand and assimilate different points of view and technical requirements, will be core skills required in the future.
Challenge and change brings opportunity. Fiscal constraints are an ever present reality. New and emerging technologies are developed to provide technical solutions. Increasingly we are seeing new business models that empower greater choice. Increasingly we are looking to solve nexus issues around water, energy and food. In an increasingly connected world, information has a new currency to support decision making and engagement with community. As economies around the world transition to make better use of all this knowledge, there is potential to develop new markets and trade opportunities.
The ‘Rising to the Challenge’ Conference will reach out beyond our core industry practitioners to engage with a broader group of committed and talented people who will all need to work together to develop the solutions of the future. Stormwater Australia invites you and your colleagues from all disciplines and experiences to participate in what we anticipate to be an exciting and engaging Conference that builds upon earlier successes, inspires participants and provide opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing.
For all enquiries and registrations please visit – www.stormwater2016.com.au
The Report Card provides an annual assessment of the pressures facing our waterways, their current environmental condition (A-F grade), and the level of social and economic benefit the waterways provide to local communities (1-5 star rating).
As their organisation transitions into the new entity Healthy Waterways and Catchments, they have leveraged the combined skills and resources of Healthy Waterways and SEQ Catchments to further build upon their holistic monitoring and reporting approach. This includes working with the Council of Mayors to assess the risks to environmental values in each sub catchment. A component of this assessment will be released through the 2016 Report Card, identifying the sub catchments in most need of action to reduce sediment pollution.
To release the results, four launch events will be held simultaneously across South East Queensland.
Central Launch
Host: Healthy Waterways and Catchments
Venue: Riverlife Centre – Naval Stores, Lower River Terrace, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane
Northern Launch
Host: Unitywater
Venue: Mooloolaba Yacht Club, 33-45 Parkyn Parade, Mooloolaba QLD 4557
Western Launch
Host: Somerset Regional Council
Venue: Kilcoy Information Centre, 41 Hope St, next to Yowie Park, Kilcoy, QLD 4515
Southern Launch
Host: Scenic Rim Regional Council
Venue: Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk, 333 Geissmann Dr, Mt Tamborine QLD 4272
For more information and/or to register your attendance, head over to http://healthywaterways.org/eventscalendar . You don’t want to miss this one!