Developing a More Sustainable Swinburne
Background
This voluntary SUSTAINABILITY COVENANT is an agreement between EPA Victoria and Swinburne University of Technology under section 49AA of the Environment Protection Act 1970 made on the day of 10 October 2005.
The National Centre for Sustainability at Swinburne initiated the development of this Sustainability Covenant and has worked closely with the EPA to shape a range of initiatives as outlined in this document
This Sustainability Covenant was designed to facilitate the move to a more sustainable Swinburne, with support from EPA Victoria. The Covenant commits Swinburne to working in a more environmentally sustainable way, encouraging the dissemination of sustainable practices to students and staff through teaching, learning and research and promotion of sustainable practices to those with whom Swinburne engages externally.
EPA Victoria is of the opinion that this sustainability covenant is likely to be effective in increasing the resource use efficiency and reducing the ecological impact of Swinburne and the tertiary education sector, and as such is a signatory to this agreement.
Aims and strategies
The broad objective of this Sustainability Covenant is to educate for sustainability. This means that by implementing this Covenant, Swinburne will empower its staff and students to contribute to a more sustainable future. Rather than simply teach 'about' sustainability or conduct research 'about' sustainability, this Covenant will be a vehicle for action and life long learning.
Educating for sustainability at Swinburne includes the following broad areas which, for consistency are directly related to Swinburne’s Statement of Direction 2015. These include:
- Learning and Teaching for Sustainability
- Researching for Sustainability
- Engaging with Industry and Community for Sustainability
- Developing a Workplace for Sustainability
- The following strategies are considered pivotal to the success of the Covenant:
- Encourage involvement of all stakeholders
- Communicate outcomes to stakeholders
- Develop a teamwork approach where practicable
- Consider stakeholder values, attitudes and level of understanding
- Work at a realistic scale: adopt pilot projects where possible and promote as exemplary models to encourage others, both internally and externally
- Regularly review progress of sustainability initiatives
Stakeholders/partners
Swinburne University of Technology
The 1992 proclamation by the Parliament of Victoria, of the Swinburne University of Technology Act, not only established a new university, but recognised Swinburne’s distinguished history as a centre of technological research and learning.
Swinburne is a dual sector university with a strong reputation in Australia and overseas as a provider of career orientated education and as a university with a commitment to research. Swinburne maintains a strong technology base and important links with industry, complemented by a number of innovative specialist research centres which attract a great deal of international interest.
Swinburne is one of a few Australian universities whose responsibilities span the range of programs from apprenticeships to PhDs.
Swinburne is involved in a number of international initiatives and plays a significant part in the internationalisation of Australia's tertiary education system.
Environment Protection Agency
EPA Victoria has a charter to protect Victoria’s environment. It works alongside the community to achieve its aims, involving and empowering individuals, communities and businesses and encouraging them to take shared responsibility and action. EPA Victoria’s task as Victoria’s environmental watchdog is to help establish environmental benchmarks, report on progress and alert the community when environmental quality is threatened.
EPA Victoria operates having regard to the principles of environmental protection identified in the Environment Protection Act 1970. These principles combine integrated sustainable economic growth objectives with social development and environmental stewardship. In particular, these principles reflect the integration of triple-bottom-line approaches into EPA Victoria’s decision-making.
Project status
The Swinburne Sustainability Covenant is now in its third year of operation. In the past three years there have been many significant achievements as a result of implementation of the Covenant; evidenced in learning and teaching for sustainability, engagement with communities and industry for sustainability, research programs and workplace initiatives for sustainability.
Who to contact for further information
National Centre for SustainabilityPhone: 03 9210 1903
Email: ncs@swin.edu.au
