City of Melbourne

www.melbourne.vic.gov.au

“EcoSTEPS approach their work with an active ear for listening and a precise methodology which I felt was always open for negotiation. What made the difference was the combination of expertise applied to our task. The intellectual resources available to respond to our brief and its development during the course of the project appeared to be deep and this inspired confidence as the task had complex aspects and threatened to get messy".
Adam Briscomb (TBL Coordinator), City of Melbourne

Melbourne City Council has a vision for moving towards 2010 as a thriving and sustainable city.

“The path to achieving sustainability is long and will take many years to travel. However, by 2010, we will have taken many significant steps.”
Melbourne City Plan 2010

Situation & Assignment

Melbourne City Council sought to identify consistency between all its policies and its overall sustainability Vision. The work required included:

• designing a policy map to assist staff understand the policy context within which their work is done;
• performing a gap analysis and establishing the hierarchical relationship of present policies to identify any areas of overlap, inconsistency and omission, particularly in relation to overarching strategic documentation, ie City Plan 2010, Sustainability Priorities and Councillor Priorities;
• Identifying indicators for ‘coherence’ and ‘sustainability’;
• Reviewing processes for potential improvement.
  

Solutions & Achievements

As a result of the work, recommendations were made in three broad areas: Vision & Integration; Indicators & Reporting; and Practices & Procedures.

• A clear ‘road map’ for the future which incorporates emerging initiatives such as the Global Reporting Initiative, UNEP Principles, Comprehensive TBL reporting;
• Distinction between elements that were ‘implicit’ and ‘explicit’ in the overall TBL Sustainability framework;
• Recommendations in respect of the development and vertical/horizontal integration of KPI’s
• Numerous initiatives/recommendations to improve internal processes.
  

To find out how EcoSTEPS can help you, please contact us.

B3 Local Government