EMS Association Newsletter Winter 2007

1. What’s On

EMS National Forum

EMS National Forum
Burke and Wills Motel
Toowoomba Qld
15-17 May 2007

This event will be the first cross industry EMS National Forum to be held in Australia. Plenary speakers confirmed in the program include:

1. Tim Anderson from Wisconsin who has worked with a broad range of industry groups to develop EMS in America and internationally for many years. Working in partnership with agencies such as the Departmental of Natural Resources, county and municipal agencies, trade association and the like, Tim strives to drive performance improvements in businesses and promote wise resource use.

2. Harold Thornhill from KwaZulu Natal province in South Africa, who is returning to Australia to share learning from his last trip and present how KZN province is moving ahead with EMS and why.

3. Councillor Di Thorley, Mayor of Toowoomba, and leader of the pro-recycled water debate in that city. Cr. Thorley will no doubt provide some unique insights into the difficult job of trying to keep all resource users happy.

4. Di Dibley, from the Australian Industry Group, will present on Wednesday with a

5. Finally, Roger Carthew from the Carthew Corporation will present an Ecomapping workshop (see below for further details on Ecomapping) on the Monday afternoon, with a shorter session to follow during the Thursday field trip, and also outline the reasons his business is pursing EMS implementation during the Forum program.

EMSA members qualify for a discounted registration fee of $330 for both days. For further information regarding the Forum, to register both attendance and to submit an abstract for consideration in the program, please see http://www.ems.asn.au/events/2007_forum.index.htm

2. What’s News

EMS for Climate Change Seminar

EMSA organised a very successful seminar on 24 January, in Sydney. Jennifer Smith Grubb, President of the Sustainable Silicon Valley project outlined the innovative and collaborative use of the EMS process to engage a wide range of businesses in a regional environmental planning, monitoring and management approach. Speaking to an audience comprised private enterprise, corporates, Government, industry, research, farmers, Landcare and catchment planning representatives, Jennifer discussed how using a public ‘pledging’ approach to target setting, monitoring and reporting, particularly for greenhouse gas emissions and energy use targets, had seen substantial reductions in emission, improved business performance, and enhance community consultation and action. For a report on the seminar see: http://www.ems.asn.au/events/070124.htm

EMS Pilot Project

The individual EMS Pilot Project final reports are now on line. These follow up on the full report on the Pilots discussed in last month’s newsletter. They can be accessed at the following link: http://www.daffa.gov.au/natural-resources/land-salinity/ems/nat-pilot-programme

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture

A special edition of the Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture (Volume 47, No: 3) has just been published. This edition, titled ‘Environmental Management Systems in Agriculture – Diversity and Innovation’ features 13 papers drawn from presentations given to the 4th EMS in Agriculture conference, held in Beechworth in 2005. See http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/72/issue/3746.htm for further details.

The Journal of Corporate Citizenship

The largest independent library of articles on corporate social responsibility and environmental management is now available on-line. All journal papers from "The Journal of Corporate Citizenship", "Greener Management International" and "AccountAbility Forum", along with book chapters from Greenleaf Publishing titles, are available to download on a pay-per-view basis. To try the service, go to: http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com and click on "PDF Shop" in the "Bookshop" menu or scroll down to the direct link. All journal papers and selected book chapters that have been published since 1999 can be searched, and PDF versions downloaded. Topics covered include the business case for sustainability, working with communities, handbooks and resource guides for sustainable development foe engineers and explorations of the interface between science and society.

Climate Change: Risk and Vulnerability

The Greenhouse Office has produced a resource examining climate change titled ‘Climate Change: Risk and Vulnerability’. Developed by the Allen group in March 2005, this 159 page document is available at:
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/impacts/publications/pubs/risk-vulnerability.pdf

3. Coming up

There are a huge number of events coming up with an environmental focus. Here is just a selection of what’s on offer. Don’t forget, if you want your event to be drawn to the notice of EMS professionals and practitioners, remember to include a notice to contact@ems,asn.au or call Claire Braund on 02 4369 6006. EMSA members can advertise at a discounted rate.

Contamination CleanUp07 Conference and Australian Industry Contamination Summit

The Contamination CleanUp07 Conference and Australian Industry Contamination Summit in June 2007 will be the key event for those involved in the reduction of environmental contamination. From 24th – 28th June 2007, leading scientists, industrialists and regulators from around the world will gather in Adelaide, Australia to explore emerging issues related to the assessment and remediation of contaminated sites, to speed up technology transfer and to exchange information on innovative developments in fundamental applied environmental research. The Conference will also provide an ideal opportunity to witness major case studies in site remediation with local and international speakers discussing their challenges and successes. CRC CARE recognises the need to provide enhanced training in contaminated site assessment to post graduate students, consultants and local council planners. To assist in facilitating this, the Conference will also include workshops on Ecological Risk Assessment, Human Health Risk Assessment and Source Characterisation and Contaminant Modelling in Groundwater for current and future practitioners in these fields. For further information on the Conference visit the website at www.crccare.com. For all enquiries please send an email to cleanup07@crccare.com.

July 2007 Institute of Australian Geographers conference

The Institute of Australian Geographers Environmental Sustainability Study Group will be including specialist sessions/panels in the July 2007 Institute of Australian Geographers conference in Melbourne. Please contact Nick Gill - ngill@uow.edu.au or call on 02 4221 4165 to discuss these sessions. You can find out more at
http://www.uow.edu.au/science/eesc/staff/ngill/ng.html

Australian Fertilizer Industry Conference

The next Australian Fertilizer Industry Conference is to be held 6 to 10 August 2007 at Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, Queensland, Australia. Further information, links to useful sites and sponsorship opportunities are available at http://www.fifa.asn.au/default.asp?V_DOC_ID=1134

Renewable Energy and Regional Australia

A conference to be held at the Capital Theatre in Bendigo on the 16-18 September 2007 will examine ‘Renewable Energy and Regional Australia: Creating local economic development opportunities’. Ideas, examples, actions and papers are now called for. Registrations will open in March 2007. For further information call, Pat Ibbotson,Conference Manager, Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities at the Bendigo campus of La Trobe University on 03 5444 7859, or go to
www.latrobe.edu.au/csrc

69th Annual New Zealand Grassland Association Annual Conference

The 69th Annual New Zealand Grassland Association Annual Conference will be held at the Bayview Wairakei Resort, Taupo, New Zealand in November (13-15, 2007). A call for papers has been made (closing February 28 2007), with the conference theme being ‘Future Proofing Profitable Farming”. Abstracts are to be sent to secretary@grassland.org.nz, and need to be on the Abstract Submission From, available at http://www.grassland.org.nz There are a range of proposed session themes. Those most likely to be of interest to those with an EMS bent include:

• Conflicting land use – integrating tourism, farming, life style blocks
• Operating grassland farming in a regulatory environment
• Non-point source pollution
• Soil health and management
• Forest to farm – land use conversion
• Land use - water quality interactions
• Farming in fragile catchments
• Seasonal pressures on production

2ND International Salinity Forum, Adelaide 2008

The 2nd International Salinity Forum, to be convened in Adelaide 31 March - 3 April 2008 has issued a call for papers. While salinity is a significant topic, the Forum will explore the wider issues pertaining to the theme of Salinity, Water and Society. Reflecting this theme, headline speakers include such social science luminaries as Professor Brian Wynne (Lancaster University – sociology of science and technology) and Professor Roland Robertson (University of Aberdeen – sociology of globalisation and founder of the concept of Glocalisation) among others. In addition to both biophysical and social scientists, community people from around the world will also gather at the event to share their hands-on experience in managing environmental issues at both farm and watershed scales.

Information about the conference can be found from the website www.internationalsalinityforum.org. Following negotiation with a range of international journals, the call for abstracts intended for peer-reviewed publication has been extended to 30 June 2008. The call for all abstracts intended only for publication in the Forum proceedings remains 30 June 2008.
We want to share as many EMS stories as possible, so if you, your EMS partners or clients have a story to tell, we are happy to post it on the website. Please contact that Association at contact@ems.asn.au to discuss such postings. To advertise EMS events, jobs or opportunity, remember to use the website. Members can advertise at a discounted rate. Please contact Claire Braund on 02 4369 6006 if you wish to take up this opportunity.