The Alliance rounded off a fantastic 2022/2023 year at its AGM on the 23 November last year. Some 30 reps from our 17 members attended to hear presentations from outgoing Chair Cr Rohan Webb (Mansfield Shire), Sharon Terry (Greater Shepparton), Peter Bain (Murrindindi Shire) and Carole Hammond (GMCA). Our 22/23 Annual Report can be read here.
The Alliance is in a healthy position, and it showed with strong interest in joining the Executive Committee, and for the position of Chair. We are now very pleased to welcome Cr Sam Spinks of Greater Shepparton City Council to the role of Chair of the GMCA and look forward to the 23/24 year under her leadership.
In addition we are very excited to also welcome Narelle Liepa (Mitchell Shire), Sam Niedra (Indigo Shire), Allison McCallum (GB CMA), Peter Bain (Murrindindi Shire), Cr Jack Herry (City of Wangaratta), Cr Sam Spinks (Greater Shepparton), and Cr Sarah Nicholas (Alpine Shire) to our GMCA Executive Committee.
We would like to offer deep thanks to our outgoing office-bearers, Cr Rohan Webb, Sharon Terry, and Elyse Kelly, who have put in so much of their energy, enthusiasm and time to keep the GMCA on-track and thriving. 
The AGM attendees heard presentations from Jacob Clifton, General Manager Government Affairs at AusNet Services, and Alastair Parker, CEO of VicGrid. Both spoke to the significant challenges and opportunities of the transition to renewables and its transmission and distribution across Victoria. 

A quick but very warm welcome to some new Alliance staff who I am sure we will meet virtually (and hopefully in person) over the next few months.

• Greg Karlson is the new Coordinator Circular Economy and Environment at Towong Shire Council. 
• Luke Bramley is the new Environmental Sustainability Officer - Energy at Moira Shire Council.
• Sanduni Kalingamudali is the new Environmental Sustainability Programs Officer at Murrindindi Shire Council

A note to check out the Campaspe Shire Council jobs page and forward the exciting opportunities there in environment and waste careers to your networks.

The VGAs have been busy submitting state and federal advocacy and meeting with State Government executives in the lead up to 2024. Planning meetings have also started for the 2024 VGA Conference.
Two new Executive Officers have commenced - Dean Thomson at the Northern Alliance for Greenhouse Action (NAGA), and an as-yet-to-be-announced CEO of the South East Councils for Climate Change Action (SECCCA) following the resignation of Dominique La Fontaine. 
The alliance of Alliances meet on a weekly basis to ensure a coordinated and collaborative approach to projects, advocacy and funding opportunities. If you would like something considered at our more formal bi-monthly meetings (Feb, April, June, Aug, Oct, Dec) please contact me.

2023 was a busy year for climate action advocacy, and you will no doubt hear talk in and out of the media that 2023 was the year that the world "woke up" to climate change. You can find our final submissions on the website here.
For those who are new to GMCA, the process is that once the government or authority seeks feedback, the Alliances will draft a response and initial feedback from the EOs is received before it goes out to each Alliance's membership for feedback. Once feedback and changes are undertaken, it's over to each Alliance Executive Committee for final approval, and we then submit.
​Deadlines and dates are important in this scenario, though I try to make it as easy as I can.
It can mean a lot of negotiating for Executive Officers, but is effective. When government agencies receive a considered, well-written document from (I believe) 71 local government organisations, it can make an impact.
Our latest submissions and meetings include:

• Alliance's response to the Senate Economic References Committee's inquiry into Residential Electrification;
• Strategic partnerships (multilevel governance) advocacy to address climate change;
• Alliance's Climate Active Review submission
• Infrastructure Design Manual review (submitted by GMCAs Sustainable Subdivisions Advisor);
• A meeting with DEECCW re Local Gov energy performance programs
• Regular meetings with DEECA senior Executives
• Meetings with various MPs with some Alliance Chairs particularly to further a multilevel governance agenda.

VIC BUSINESS RENEWABLES BUYING GROUP UPDATE
Date: Tuesday 16 January 2024
Time:  10am - 11am
rsvp:  confirm with Carole who will send your invite
About: 
This is for staff and councillors who are involved, or interested in the Buying Group (led by Yarra City Council) - which is essentially a VECO for high energy consuming business in your council municipality. The project is at EOI and investigation stage. This meeting will run through any questions you have, the next business webinar, promotion etc. A pilot of this project has been undertaken and the report can be read here. At this stage only Wangaratta has signed up from the GMCA region, but many more from central Vic, and inner/outer Melbourne have submitted an EOI.

COUNCIL ESD TRAINING IN 2024
The Shared Services Advisor will be meeting with Council contacts throughout January to set priority actions for the new year, including Council ESD training requirements. If you have a topic or issue related to sustainable development you would like considered for a training session or workshop in 2024, please send through your ideas to [email protected]. If your council is not part of the SSF shared service but would like to participate in this training please get in touch with your friendly Executive Officer.

SUSTAINABLE SUBDIVISIONS
​Following a successful first year of the of the SSF shared services role, Simon Blackwell has been appointed for a second twelve-month term as ESD Planning Advisor to six GMCA Councils (Alpine Shire, Indigo Shire, Mitchell Shire, Murrindindi Shire, Strathbogie Shire and Wangaratta Shire). The role is funded by the participating councils as well as Dept Transport & Planning, through the Regional Planning Hub. The contract commenced in early December 2023 and will run until late November 2024.
Simon’s role will continue to be focused on implementing the Sustainable Subdivisions Framework (SSF) within participating Councils. The SSF aims to improve the sustainability of new subdivision development through the planning process and increase capacity within Councils to demand, assess and achieve more sustainable communities on the ground. Simon’s second term will also see the inclusion of built form sustainability assessments and advice on relevant applications.
The SSF Phase 1 Trial (24 month) report has been finalised and a copy can be downloaded from the Sustainable Subdivisions page on the CASBE website.
Consultants Mesh Planning and LID are continuing their work on the SSF ‘Next Steps Project’. The project involves a planning and technical review of the SSF and will propose an implementation pathway for adoption of the SSF. Project completion is now expected early 2024. The work should pave the way for an improved SSF and clear next steps for policy implementation. CASBE are the project coordinators and the GMCA Shared Service Advisor, Simon Blackwell, has been heavily involved in consulting with the project team and reviewing draft outputs, to ensure that the feedback and aspirations of GMCA Councils are included in the revised framework.
Following the completion of the Next Steps project, CASBE will look to review the recommendations and make updates to the SSF Tool and supporting resources. This is expected to involve live trialling of the ‘SSF Version 2’ tool on planning applications across the GMCA SSF Councils.

A RESILIENT PUBLIC ESTATE
​Resilient Public Estates is a multi-council project identifying council owned and managed public assets vulnerable to projected impacts of climate change. The project will help councils understand how these assets might be made more resilient. A range of data collection and analysis, along with specialist mentoring of staff has been ongoing as part of this project.
The consultant, Spatial Vision, has sought data from member councils for a series of in-depth asset vulnerability case studies. Most of the candidate studies put forward for consideration were flood related, likely reflecting the recent experience of councils. Two have been chosen on the basis of available data, relevance, and diversity of geographic and climate approach:

• Murrindindi Shire – Thornton Bridge; and
• Greater Shepparton – Tree Canopy Coverage

The project is due to be completed in early 2024. Spatial Vision will present an overview of the outcomes to the February General Meeting of GMCA.
In addition, Spatial Vision is taking EOIs from GMCA members for a new Climate Change Spatial User Group. Members of the South East Climate Change Councils Alliance have also been invited. This builds on the growing appreciation of the value of integrating reliable climate data and geospatial systems into operations & strategies from our sector. If you are interested in joining and did not get an EOI invite please get in touch with your friendly Executive Officer.

RECHARGING GOULBURN MURRAY
​Recharging Goulburn Murray is a project to develop a supplier panel for renewables and energy efficiency technologies. This will form the basis of projects delivered by member councils to households and businesses. A successful panel will give member councils and their communities greater confidence in products that are essential to drive the energy transition.
GMCA has investigated different models, including having a lead council or the Municipal Association of Victoria host the panel. Our preferred model is to use some of the processes and materials developed through the highly successful Solar Savers program. This is hosted by the City of Maroondah, and has already developed its own suppliers panel, choosing a supplier that covers the entire state.
Solar Savers has generously provided GMCA access to its intellectual property, including a customer relationship management database at no cost.  GMCA is currently talking to member councils about contributions/ funding for a p/t position based in the region that would oversee the implementation and management of the panel locally, beginning in the 2023-24 or 2024-25 financial year.
An EOI will be forwarded to all members soon. If you have any questions please get in touch with David at [email protected]. 


That's all for this update, have a safe and resilient month everyone!
​Carole

October has been a busy month in the lead up to the end of 2023. GMCA has been running projects on neighbourhood batteries, asset vulnerability assessments, managed aquifer recharge, business renewables power purchasing, and so much more.

The first forum to commence our series of co-design workshops on Managed Aquifer Recharge with CSIRO kicked off on Thursday 28 September 2023 in Benalla. Some 23 organisations attended to hear presentations from SA Water, City of Marion, Environmental Services WA, Salisbury Water SA, and of course CSIRO.

Our next workshop with CSIRO and local agencies and authorities will be project-based and information will be sent out soon so stay tuned.

On the 17th October 2023 the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances wrote to Ministers McAllister (Victoria) and Bowen (Federal), noting as the risks and opportunities of climate change become increasingly clear, it is imperative that all levels of government work well together to accelerate the transition to net zero and to strengthen community resilience. To meet this challenge, the current fragmented approach to policy, funding and resourcing must be addressed.
​We noted that the recently released Many Hands Makes Light Work report identifies that a new approach to climate governance is required to empower all spheres of government to fulfil their climate ambitions by promoting effective coordination between and across all levels of government. This ‘multilevel governance’ approach is intended to turbocharge climate action and give those on the frontlines a seat at the decision-making table. It is also designed to stimulate collaboration, engagement and communication between government portfolios and sectors of the economy.
To emphasise this the VGAs attached design recommendations with the letter that outline improvements to the implementation of the Federal Gov Energy Savings Package, specifically by prioritising the $1.3B Household Energy Upgrades Fund for vulnerable and low-income households.
​
I will keep you updated to any responses - multilevel governance is set to be a long-term advocacy goal for the Alliances.

Procurement discussions have been progressing with various organisations regarding Recharging Goulburn Murray, our renewable preferred panel of suppliers. At this stage we are reviewing opportunities to partner with Solar Savers, the long-standing program run by the Eastern Alliance for Greenhouse Action (EAGA) and Maroondah City Council. 

Our discussions will be around tailoring a regional arm of Solar Savers that is an affordable option for our councils. It goes without saying that this program is tried and trusted, and operates extremely effectively, so if we jump into it there will be minimal disruption trying to set up something from scratch.

​Stay tuned!

A Resilient Public Estate project is running smoothly with the great assistance of our project officer David, and Spatial Vision, the consultants. Our Asset Vulnerability Assessments will be developed using state-wide and regional publicly available datasets to determine asset location and attributes where possible. These attributes and additional contextual information will be used to determine asset vulnerability to different climate-change related scenarios. This includes the identification of attributes that indicate sensitivity and adaptive capacity, 

After consultation and workshops, Spatial Vision has provided a document with suggested scorings from 1-5 (lowest to highest sensitivity/impact) for each asset attribute that may indicate how an asset will respond to climate-change related scenarios. 

For each of the following asset types, the logic behind the inclusion is stated,  identified attributes pertaining to vulnerability, and then an initial vulnerability scoring has been developed;

• Open Space
• Buildings
• Roads
• Bridges

The 11 councils have now engaged in Basic QGIS training and Climate viewer mentoring sessions, and workshops on how best to apply the data to an asset vulnerability assessment and its future climate change impacts. 

Ironbark Sustainability have got their annual Snapshot update webinar coming up at 11am AEDT Wednesday 8th November 2023. 

One big thing to note is the inclusion of fugitive emissions, which will impact on most council emissions profiles. Fugitive emissions are losses, leaks and other releases of gases such as methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere that are associated with industries producing natural gas, oil and coal. As the coal is mined gases contained in the coal seams escape and are known as 'fugitive'. These fugitive emissions account for approximately 8% of total global anthropogenic methane emissions - a significant amount.

Some councils fugitive emissions will be minor, but some may face major impacts to their emissions profiles.

Ironbark will also report on other interesting changes, accuracy improvements and extra years or reporting - they'll be going through it all as they reliably do each year.

If you are interested in attending, registration details are here and further background here. 

A series of Neighbourhood Battery training sessions are being made available both by the Alliances, and as part of the Victorian Government’s commitment to ensuring Victoria is best positioned to embrace our energy transition.

The first is an online session for  regional leadership and decision-makers (councillors, managers, Exec, officers) to understand the risks, resourcing requirements, and advantages of owning, leasing, and maintaining neighbourhood batteries in a local setting. Two save-the-dates for the same workshop will be sent out to choose - likely Thursday 7th and 14th December @ 2pm. This will be run by the Indigo Power team. Please forward this invite to your interested teams when it arrives in your in-box.

The second workshop opportunity is from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) who has engaged the Yarra Energy Foundation (YEF), an independent not-for-profit with a focus on facilitating the uptake of renewable energy and energy efficiency by all sectors of the community, to provide training in the fundamental elements of developing both feasibility and business cases on neighbourhood-scale batteries.
1 day course:
The 1-day course aims to equip participants with foundational knowledge to support feasibility assessment of neighbourhood battery opportunities, by considering:

• The rationale (i.e., is a neighbourhood battery a suitable solution?)
• The operating model (inc. use case, hardware, value streams, dispatch principles)
• The location (i.e., site selection processes and criteria)
• The stakeholders (i.e., communications and engagement)
• The elements of a feasibility study/assessment

2 day course:
The two-day course aims to provide participants with essential knowledge and tools to support planning and delivery of neighbourhood battery projects by exploring:

• The fundamentals of Battery Energy Storage System components, operation and procurement
• The different value streams available to neighbourhood batteries, considering market participation, retail arrangements and network tariffs
• Different business/operating models, use cases, and dispatch control methods
• Processes and criteria for site identification, assessment, and approval
• Approaches to conducting meaningful and successful communications and stakeholder engagement
• The role of neighbourhood batteries in decarbonising the energy system
• Priorities for project management, including relevant project partners and sequencing of critical project activities
• Steps towards developing and assessing a robust project plan and business case

 
Details:
The one-day course will be run in Melbourne. Cost for full day of training, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea - $237.28 including GST - discounts available for not-for-profit organisations.

• Monday 13 November
• Friday 17 November

The two-day course will be run in early 2024. Further 1-day courses may be held in the future if these courses are over-subscribed.
To register your interest, please email [email protected]
 
Please note that depending upon demand, spaces may be limited to two people per organisation.

La Trobe University and University of Sydney are holding a two-hour workshop that will bring together people from state and local government in Victoria who are working on climate change adaptation. The aim is to consider ways to embed environmental justice in adaptation policy and planning – environmental justice considers how environmental goods, benefits, risks, and burdens (over and above climatic conditions) are distributed geographically and across society.
 
Prior to the workshop, there will be a short overview of environmental justice and its potential application to climate change adaptation. During the workshop, why environmental justice is relevant to adaptation and examples of what it looks like in practice will be discussed, and then  how organisations are approaching climate change adaptation, and opportunities to build on existing justice and environment considerations in climate change adaptation policies and plans.
 
The hybrid workshop will be held at La Trobe University’s Melbourne campus (360 Collins street) and online via teams on Thursday 9 November, 10am to 12pm.  

If you are interested please RSVP to Dr. Lisa de Kleyn, Research Fellow, Climate Change Adaptation Lab, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria
E: [email protected]

​Ironbark has opened up registrations to their first big event, a webinar from 11am-12pm (AEDT) on Thursday 5th October 2023 for council staff, councillors, state governments, community groups, researchers and advocacy organisations interested in playing a role to support household electrification.
 
The webinar will communicate effective actions that councils can implement, and discuss strategies, policies, planning changes, funding avenues or advocacy that councils can champion to support household electrification. It will help set the scene on activity to date and provide an overview of existing resources and activities, case studies and Q&A. We’ve got some experts to come and identify and share replicable actions for local governments that incentivise and support residents to electrify:

• Imogen Jubb from Ironbark Sustainability to give a high-level overview, update, funding opportunities and state-of play.
• Electrification communication guru Donna Luckman, the Zero Carbon Campaigns Lead at Merri-bek City Council to give an overview of Electrify Everything: Communications Message Guide for Households and the Electrification Community of Practice run with over 100 local council officers focused on communicating the importance of electrification.
• Dr Rachel Goldlust, Sustainability Researcher at Renew who developed the incredible Getting Off Gas Toolkit.
• Dr Sangeetha Chandrashekeran, Acting Director of Melbourne Sustainability Society Institute at the University of Melbourne focusing on how to address the barriers to moving off gas faced by lower-income households and vulnerable communities.
• Kate Nicolazzo and Amy Brand from Let Me Be Frank, bringing their expertise on the challenges and solutions for tricky area of apartments and renters.
• Lisa Cliff from Better Futures Australia and Scott McKenry from the Eastern Alliance for Greenhouse Action to look at advocacy to the Federal government, multi-level governance and on-the-ground project procurement and implementation.

Registration details are here and a little more background (and potential updates) here.
​

Don't forget to register for GMCA and CSIROs forum on Managed Aquifer Recharge on Thursday 28th September. With El Nino and an Indian Ocean Dipole sitting on the doorstep this is a very timely, even overdue, forum which will lead to much needed adaptive projects across the region. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth and yet has made very little progress in terms of securing its water resources.

You can find more information about the event itself here, including speakers who are travelling to present from South Australia and Perth, and more about Managed Aquifer Recharge itself and our project here.
​
If you don't have an invitation yet please email the Executive Officer.

​The Victorian Greenhouse Alliances 2023 Conference went off with a bang last month on Friday 4th August. A record number of attendee's booked this year, well over 400, making it our most successful event to date. 

It was lovely to see so many familiar GMCA faces including those from Wangaratta, Murrindindi, Shepparton, Strathbogie, DEECA Hume, and GBCMA. I hope you all filled out the feedback so the 2024 Conference can come back just as good and even more relevant.

As you may remember Naturally Cooler Towns examined all 13 GMCA councils resourcing and potential to tackle the impacts of climate change in the area of open space and street plantings. The results of this important research led by Urban Forest Consulting can be found on the GMCA website here.

Two councils have gone on to leverage the work of Naturally Cooler Towns, Indigo Shire Council and Mansfield Shire Council. Indigo was successful in obtaining a grant from Emergency Management Victoria which it matched to undertake the recommendations of NCT. Mansfield Shire Council is currently leveraging the NCT research to support plantings on new subdivisions in the Mansfield area, which has seen enormous growth post-COVID.

Please send your post-NCT story in to the Executive Officer - everyone loves to see how these projects we work so hard on grow in value beyond wrap-up!

GMCAs project officer David Meiklejohn has been working hard on our panel of preferred electrification providers (just saying that is hard enough!).

David has been consulting and meeting with GMCAs members, business and community groups all year after we received funding for his role from DEECA Hume's Climate Ready Hume grant initiative.

Here is the Consultation report, and this is the Recharging Goulburn Murray draft RFQ for future tender, which we hope to step into next year after a lead council is settled. Discussions are ongoing with LG procurement committees.
​
Any questions or suggestions are welcome and can be forwarded through to the EO. If your council feels it could be a leader in the electrification of the Goulburn Murray, let's talk!

GMCA has successfully partnered with Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance and the Gippsland Alliance for Climate Action to roll out some 22 business cases for the state government Neighbourhood Battery Initiative.
Our GMCA participants include Wangaratta City, Alpine Resorts Vic, Strathbogie Shire, Alpine Shire, Murrindindi Shire, Benalla, Mansfield and Campaspe Shires.

Indigo Power has been successful in the tender to roll out the business cases and we are very happy to have local talent undertaking such a pivotal statewide initiative. It's also fantastic that the Alliances are so active in promoting regional economic growth that's sustainable.

The kick-off meeting was in mid-September, and the EO is on the Project Steering Group ensuring things stay on track, so watch this space!