Water Sensitive Cities 2012 Study Tour prepares for Europe

The Water Sensitive Cities 2012 tour group is about to embark on the overseas leg of their tour. Scheduled to leave at the beginning of May, the group will be visiting a number of innovative projects and organisations across Europe and Singapore.

The two week itinerary includes:

Singapore – Public Utilities Board (PUB), the ABC water programme
London (United Kingdom) - visiting the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network organisation, Olympic Village, Barking Riverside development and a session with Environment Agency UK on the EU Water Framework Directive and new UK Water White Paper
Malmo (Sweden) – tour of various sustainable developments
Hamburg (Germany) - Hamburg Water, and the urban developments of Trabenbahn Farmsen, Hafencity and Jennfeld AU
Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Amersfoort (Netherlands) including ‘Parc of Luna’ and City of the Sun, visiting the Research, Design & Manufacturing (RDM) campus to hear about the RDM cooperative venture and the redevelopment of the city ports, the Rotterdam Water Plan and Climate Initiative.
Munich, Stuttgart (Germany) Isar River Project, DEUS21 and a full day workshop in Stuttgart with German water professionals to exchange ideas and experiences.

The study is looking forward to building connections with their international hosts and exchanging knowledge and experiences.

The Australian tour was undertaken as three separate full day visits in Sydney (February 2012), Adelaide (March 2012), and Melbourne (March 2012), with information gathered from Perth and SE Queensland, where tour participants saw innovative ideas and technologies being applied within Australia.

Clearwater will provide another update in our e-newsletter once the group has returned. Make sure you have subscribed.

About the 2012 Water Sensitive Cities Study Tour
The group comprises of 18 young water professionals, from 14 organisations across five states and aims to build a network of emerging leaders in Australian cities to positively influence the transition to a water sensitive future. This ‘action learning’ project will draw inspiration from overseas examples of sustainable cities and water management to influence practices within Australian.

The key objectives of this tour are to understand the drivers for integrated water management, the range of tools and mechanisms being used to achieve this, and to learn lessons from successfully implemented projects helping the transition of cities to being more water sensitive.

More information: Please contact Sam Innes, City of Port Phillip, on (03) 9209 6382 or sinnes@portphillip.vic.gov.au.