This page contains progress reports, news and history of sustainability initiatives and activities that the City of Stirling is involved with.
Global Reporting Initiative
The vision for the City of Stirling is to build a sustainable future for the community. Sustainable development can seem complex and somewhat idealistic, with high levels of economic growth, social complexities and environmental challenges. But these challenges offer opportunities for the City to use adaptive innovations, technology, policies and management schemes to lead the way in sustainability.
As part of adaptive management, the City has adopted the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to monitor our progress towards sustainability and clearly demonstrate to stakeholders how the City is achieving its goals.
GRI comprises of a set of indicators across a range of factors, to monitor our performance and determine successes and challenges. These indicators are presented to the community in the form of a Sustainability Annual Report.
2009-2010 Sustainability Annual Report
The Sustainability Annual Report will ensure that stakeholders are better informed of activities, achievements and the challenges faced as a community.
The Sustainability Annual Report 2009-10:
• Offers a comprehensive view of the City's achievements and challenges
• Demonstrates the City's leadership in implementation of sustainable development principles and practices.
Climate protection reporting
Each year, as part of our involvement with the Cities for Climate Protection program, the City of Stirling calculates its annual greenhouse gas savings through our various initiatives. This information is provided in our Sustainability Annual Report and will form one of our GRI indicators. For more information, please visit the Climate page .
Water conservation reporting
As part of the City's commitment to the Water Campaign, we will be reporting on our water consumption in the Sustainability Annual Report as one of our GRI indicators tracking our sustainability performance. Please visit the Water page for further information.
History of sustainability in the City of Stirling
The City of Stirling has a strong history of embracing sustainability and adopting initiatives and measures to manage a changing world.
1987
The Brundtland Commission is created through the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development. The release of the fundamental sustainability report Our Common Future provides the impetus for widespread international support of sustainable development.
1992
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) - the 'Rio Earth Summit' - is held in Rio De Janeiro, leading to an international commitment towards sustainability and the signing of 'Agenda 21'. This pivotal document calls for local governments to create Local Agenda 21 (LA21) sustainability plans.
1997
The City of Stirling Council recognises that the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainability are interdependent, and that the interplay between these should be taken into account in decision-making. Accordingly, the Council supports the preparation of a ‘LA21’ plan and an audit of our systems and activities.
1998
The City releases a 12-month LA21 Action Plan 1998-99 and adopts the Sustainable City Statement. The Sustainability Working Group is also formed as an internal team of proactive and like-minded staff from all business units, tasked with implementing change, driving sustainability and delivering the Sustainable City Statement.
2000
The Council resolves to participate in the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), specifically the Cities for Climate Protection program, to target the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
2002
The City makes a comprehensive submission to the Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy: Hope for the Future publication.
2002 - 2004
The City takes significant action on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions as part of the Cities for Climate Protection program.
2004
The City produces the first annual Sustainable City Review status report, documenting action taken on the Sustainable City Statement.
2005
The City produces its second Sustainable City Review.
2006
The City completes the Cities for Climate Protection program and joins the next stage of the program, Cities for Climate Protection Plus, as well as the ICLEI Triple Bottom Line capacity building program and the Men of the Trees Carbon Neutral program. It also produces the third Sustainable City Review.
2007
The City joins the ICLEI Water Campaign program, a national program to improve water quality and quantity in both City operations and the community.
2008
The City produces its fourth Sustainable City Review, and joins the Global Reporting Initiative. It also commences the development of a peak oil strategy, the Million Trees Initiative and Watersmart Parks initiative.
2009
The City commences work on establishing a community food garden, develops its first sustainability policy, Sustainability Declaration and local biodiversity strategy, and produces the second Sustainability Annual Report.
2010
The City plants over 51,000 trees under the Million Trees Initiative, makes a massive reduction in water consumption - 1,021,366 kilolitres, or 408 Olympic-sized swimming pools - through the WaterSmart Parks program.
Other milestones include:
• The first community food garden is established in Joondanna
• Perth's first bike library is established for the Women on Wheels program
• 209 supporters register for the Adopt-a-Park program
• 2.3 tonnes of batteries are recycled by local schools.
2011
Please return here later to read more about what we are doing in the coming year to address sustainability and build health, resilient communities.