Cities Power Partnership recently brought together over 40 West Australian councils to discuss the opportunities for local government to act on climate change and capitalise on the benefits of the state’s emerging clean economy.
In the first week of November, we held two events across two full-days in Perth and Busselton – both titled ‘Delivering WA’s Local Climate Opportunities’. Council representatives took part in workshops, panel discussions, and case studies, and heard from experts in the fields of climate science, sustainable design, energy and collaboration. Attendees travelled from as far and wide as Albany, Wyalkatchem and Boyup Brook.
Dr Portia Odell, Director of the Cities Power Partnership, said that West Australian councils are increasingly stepping up to lead on climate change action to set their communities up for a prosperous future.
“Collaboration and knowledge-sharing events like these demonstrate West Australian councils’ desire to work together to significantly reduce emissions this decade, which is what the science tells us we need to do.
“We were thrilled to have over 40 councils represented across our WA events, most of whom are Cities Power Partnership members, and we look forward to continuing to work with them on their emissions reduction journey.”
There were over 100 attendees across the Perth and Busselton event, which were hosted at the Town of Victoria Park and the City of Busselton, with council sustainability officers, CEOs, elected officials and economic development managers all present.
Sessions ranged from a panel discussion with Curtin University professors Peter Newman and Josh Byrne, to best-practice case study presentations from the Australian Institute for Architects, Sustainable Energy Now, The Climate Council and more.
In addition to plenary sessions, elected officials had the chance to participate in climate communications training, whilst officers took part in an interactive community engagement workshop. Finally, the days concluded with a constructive and inspiring roundtable discussion, which explored the opportunities for councils in electrifying their facilities and operations.
The Cities Power Partnership currently has 33 member councils across Western Australia and hopefully we’ll see more following these successful events!
