Regional Sustainability Alliance Ballarat

RSAB

What is RSAB?

The Regional Sustainability Alliance Ballarat is a network of organisations from the public, private and nonprofit spheres that is taking a leading role in moving the region towards sustainability.

Why was it set up?

These organisations united to take advantage of an opportunity to help the community learn to live sustainably. They jointly applied for and received funding from the state government’s EcoLiving Grants Program. The funding is for the creation of an EcoLiving Ballarat Learning Network that will demonstrate, through community centres, how to live and work sustainably.

The group decided that there were many more ways to promote their vision of a sustainable Ballarat region where people lived well, but within the limits of the available resources. They decided to formalise their partnership by creating RSA Ballarat. The alliance will ensure strong collaboration between all of the organisations wanting to move the region towards sustainability.

What is our focus?

The Ballarat region is home to areas of natural beauty, productive farmland, and diverse landscapes. But the environment has suffered over time. While much has been done to repair the damage, key challenges remain. The community must protect its precious water supplies, use energy more efficiently, and reduce its reliance on the fossil fuels that cause climate change. It must also do more to safeguard and restore the biodiversity that is both essential for our existence and intrinsically valuable in its own right.

In the face of these challenges, the alliance explored alternative scenarios for the future. From a set of three scenarios for the Ballarat region in 2020, the group chose one – where the environment is repaired to the point where more carbon is absorbed than emitted, leading to regional prosperity.

To realise this ideal future, RSA Ballarat has identified four key directions that will guide its work:

  • Developing renewable energy opportunities: Community-owned models and farm scale projects, starting with a focus on bioenergy;
  • Sustainable industry: Big businesses represent a sizeable part of Ballarat’s energy and water use;
  • Sustainable living: Sustainable goods and services, with less consumption, eases pressure on natural resources; and
  • Natural resource management: Water, soil, minerals and biodiversity must be better protected to improve natural landscapes.

 

Contact

Ian Rossiter, Chair: ianrossiter@tpg.com.au 

RSAB Membership

Andrea Mason Friends of Royal Park andrea.mason@findingnorth.net.au
Andrew Lang World Bioenergy Congress lizzbizz@tca-online.com.au
Belinda Coates City of Ballarat and CVGA belindacoates@ballarat.vic.gov.au
Brendan Clarke Central Highlands Water bclarke@chw.net.au
Cherie Draper Ballarat Environment Network silverswan2008@gmail.com
Craig Hurley NCS-Federation Uni c.hurley@federation.edu.au
Dale Smithyman Golden Plains Shire dsmithyman@gplains.vic.gov.au
Hazen Cleary PLEA Network hmc433@hotmail.com
Ian Rossiter BREAZE ian@breaze.org.au
Janene Trickey DELWP janene.trickey@delwp.vic.gov.au
Jeff Rootes Friends of Canadian Corridor jeffie1952@gmail.com
Keith Jackson  Grampians Central West Waste Resource Recovery Group keith.jackson@gcwwrrg.vic.gov.au
La Vergne Lehmann Grampians Central West Waste Resource Recovery Group lavergne.lehmann@gcwwrrg.vic.gov.au
Laurel Freeland SHARE & Federation University Australia l.freeland@federation.edu.au
Lauren Malins Grampians Central West Waste Resource Recovery lauren.malins@gcwwrrg.vic.gov.au
Lisa Kendal City of Ballarat lisakendal@ballarat.vic.gov.au
Liz Hamilton Victorian Bioenergy Network Liz.Hamilton@ecodev.vic.gov.au
Lucinda Staley  Cultivate Agribusiness Central Highlands  Lucinda.staley@cultivate.org.au
Melanie Robertson Committee for Ballarat ceo@committeeforballarat.com
Nick McKinley Leigh Catchment Group leighcg@ncable.net.au
Peter Gell Federation University p.gell@federation.edu.au
Quenton Gay City of Ballarat quentongay@ballarat.vic.gov.au
Ray Draper BEN raydraper2004@gmail.com
Rob Law CVGA eo@cvga.org.au
Ross Irving Sustainability Victoria ross.irving@sustainability.vic.gov.au
Scott White Sustainability Consultants  scott@environmentalevolution.com.au
Sebastian Kline  Hepburn Shire  sklein@hepburn.vic.gov.au 
Tim Hudspith DELWP timothy.hudspith@delwp.vic.gov.au

 

RSAB Minutes & Reports