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Welcome

I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, who have nurtured the area for centuries. Western Australia has spectacular scenery, particularly at this time, the wild flower season. I hope you all get some time to enjoy the natural beauty of the Bunbury area.

Welcome to all of you attending the third national EMS Conference organised by the EMS Association. Hello again to members who have supported us from the start, and welcome also to those delegates who have found us more recently. I’m sure that the next two days will provide you with much to think about with regards to environmental management systems, the diversity of their application, and challenges in how they are used to bring about the best outcomes.

The Association, as a not-for-profit membership based entity, relies heavily on two sources of funds to allow us to operate – our membership fees and event fees. As we strive to keep the fees for events as low as possible, sponsorship for events becomes particularly critical for running large events such as this. For this reason, I would especially like to thank all of our sponsors:

  • The Joint Accreditation Scheme of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ)
  • Baiada Poultry
  • The Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia
  • Ecosure
  • Custom Composts
  • drumMuster
  • The City of Bunbury
  • The Regional Institute Ltd.

Thank you all for you support – the conference would not be taking place without your help. In addition, those of you at last years’ conference may remember the very generous support provided by Mr Petar Johnson, which has allowed us to highlight the existence of the Association to an ever-increasing diversity of EMS users. This diversity is reflected in the range of presentations you will hear over the conference.

I’d also like to acknowledge the work done by the Association committee and members of the Blackwood Basin/Best Farms group, who have partnered with the Association in this years’ event. In particular, Claire Braund, EMSA secretary, deserves special mention for not only putting in many long hours to get this event up and running, but also for managing to do all of this, whilst adding to her own family in the last two months. Thank you also to the session chairs, time-keepers, and anyone else I’ve tapped on the shoulder with a request for assistance.

With the imminent introduction of carbon trading, pollution reduction schemes, the standardized global use of environmental management systems (as proposed with the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme – EMAS - going global), increasing oil prices and temperatures and climate change, the need for credible, robust approaches to management of environmental issues continues to grow. In order to participate in reward schemes, recognition of both actions and actors is crucial. For this reason, the participation of JAS-ANZ at this Conference is timely.

Developing workable, practical and affordable means to evaluate performance and the use of enhanced management will be critical in the future. Developing and employing standard approaches that also provide flexibility in management is vital. The input from all of you during the interactive session on auditing, certification and accreditation will guide not only the Association to develop recognition mechanisms for EMS users, but will also feed back into JAS-ANZ and other recognition bodies.

For this reason, I am also very happy that we have been able to continue the EMS Awards this year. The farmers and small business awards have again be sponsored by CGU, while sponsorship from drumMuster allowed us to include a local Government category.

Being able to recognize that achievements of EMS users through the Awards continues to be an important means to encourage others to participate in their own EMS experimentation, whilst also providing guidance and support, through knowing that others have ‘been there, done that’.

Finally, I would ask all of you to bear in mind how you would like to see the Association evolve in the future, and how you can contribute to this. The Association aims to collate relevant and useful EMS information in a readily accessible format for all members. It seeks to stimulate and facilitate information flow between all industry sectors, and provide recognition for EMS users and the improved environmental outcomes they seek to achieve. Critical analysis of the EMS process, related tools and outcomes is vital in achieving the on-going evolution of EMS as an adaptive, useful management tool. All of these things can only occur with the support and experience of the Association members.

We need your input into events such as today, but also through the website and newsletters. We need you to let others know about the Association. We also need free and open sharing of your experiences, and the benefit of your wisdom. What have you learnt about EMS, the outcomes that can be achieved and pitfalls to avoid? The Association will arrange and host EMS events at members’ request. Your thoughts about what you want to learn and to share are very important to the committee in arranging such events.

Please approach any of the committee throughout this Conference, or via the contact details on the website to have your say.

I look forward to two days of stimulating discussion and thought-provoking conversations - I hope you do too. Welcome again to the conference, and I hope to work with you all to make the EMS Association a really useful part of your overall EMS toolkit!

Genevieve Carruthers
EMS Association President 2006 - 2009

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