The Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) Annual Conference and Gala Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Awards night will be held in Sydney this year on 16–18 October.
This year, infrastructure investors, procurers, asset owners and key delivery partners will gather to Accelerate Positive Change for People and Planet. This year there is an exciting lineup of speakers, including the sustainability manager from London’s $26 billion Crossrail project, the CEO of Canadian Hyperloop company TransPod, Sebastien Gendron, and the President of the United Nations of Australia, Michael G Smith.
Local and global leaders will explore the most important issues, lessons learned and share exemplar case studies for infrastructure solutions that meet societal needs for the long term, as well as ensuring that any investment in infrastructure leads to increased liveability, equity, sustainability and low carbon outcomes.
Ainsley Simpson, CEO of ISCA, said, “We know that sustainable infrastructure connects societal and ecological communities, enhances economic productivity and inclusivity as well as enables our transition to a low carbon economy.
“With infrastructure being responsible for more than half of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the largest employers in Australia, the opportunity to make a positive impact for people and planet is monumental. The infrastructure industry is a critical driver in helping Australia reach its United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
The Infrastructure Sustainability rating scheme (IS) is an industry-led initiative, which many Australian government agencies have mandated as part of their procurement policies to drive better outcomes. ISCA, a member-based not-for-profit, is the peak industry body for advancing sustainability outcomes in infrastructure with a strong presence in Australia and a growing presence in New Zealand.
Benefits of the ratings scheme
Since the sustainability performance framework was developed for infrastructure in 2012, the IS rating scheme has been deployed on more than $97 billion worth of infrastructure spend across 86 projects in Australia and New Zealand. ISCA’s IS rating tool measures the impacts of these projects, which have collectively:
Avoided 18.7 million tonnes of CO2-e; equivalent of powering the households of Brisbane for a year
Reduced materials by 74 per cent, which has equivalent environmental benefit of diverting all household waste of Dunedin for two years
Avoided enough water to fill 67,000 Olympic swimming pools
“Be inspired, be motivated and better equipped with the tools and knowledge that will help accelerate positive change for people and planet when you attend our annual conference,” Ms Simpson said.
Featuring global sustainability and infrastructure trends, the conference will be a platform to learn, connect and collaborate. As well as international keynotes, there will be expert panels on:
- Building better business cases
- Enabling city and regional resilience
- Sustainable smart cities and communities
- Resourcing for the circular economy
- Stimulating social procurement and supporting supply chains
- Infrastructure delivering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
As well as an Innovations and Impact workshop and site tour hosted by Platinum partners Transport for NSW.
New awards and acknowledgements
Hosted by Logie-award winning comedian and star of Utopia, Dilruk Jayasinha, this year’s Annual Awards will also feature three new award categories; including an IS Emerging Young Leader Award to recognise the potential of the future leaders of this industry, and acknowledge the vitality and innovation that youth brings.
The IS Innovation & Impact Award recognises the project that has thought outside the box to deliver sustainable outcomes. ISCA has also separated the IS Outstanding Achievement award to include As Built and Design awards for highest scored projects in the past year. The Sustainability in Infrastructure Awards recognise and reward projects, assets, organisations and individuals who demonstrate leadership in advancing sustainable outcomes in infrastructure.
- IS Organisational Leadership Award
- IS Individual Leadership Award
- IS Emerging Young Leader Award
- IS Innovation and Impact Award
- IS Outstanding Achievement Award – Design
- IS Outstanding Achievement Award – As Built
“Our purpose at ISCA is to ‘accelerate sustainable change through collaboration’. We can only create industry-wide solutions by working together to enable positive outcomes,” Ms Simpson said.
Held at award-winning sustainability venues, Australian Technology Park and Doltone House Hyde Park, the conference and gala awards will bring together Australia and New Zealand’s current and emerging leaders in infrastructure and sustainability.
For more information and to register, visit www.isca.org.au.
