Sustainable tourism destinations III: Australia

In the third release of sustainable tourism destinations -after Mexico and Canada- we analyze now what are the Australian cities with a greater level of commitment to sustainable development.

To do so, we will review the latest ranking by the platform Keep Australia Beautiful, a national organization created in the late 60s to promote the care of nature that today also promotes good sustainable practices in employment, education, health and environment throughout the entire country.

The third largest city in Australia ranks in the Top 5 of more sustainable cities in the country thanks to its performance in transport: its bus fleet is 100% accessible for disabled users and has approved an investment of 120 million dollars over the next four years to provide the city bike path.

In addition, Brisbane won in 2015 the Dame Phyllis Frost first prize, which is given annually to the city with the most sustainable actions in waste management, through initiatives such as an application on local recycling, courses of specialized education in composting or cigarette butts recycling campaigns.

In the metropolitan area of Sydney, the City of Canada Bay is a relatively new town -it was officially born in 2000- that drives the social values of sustainability, in fact they won the Community Action & Wellbeing award in 2015, according to organizers event, "thanks to its strategic approach to environmental, social and economic sustainability is embedded in all council activities."

The common feature of all the initiatives launched by the local administration is that citizen participation will be key in the plans. In addition, they've launched the Greenhouse Action Plan, with which the City Council has committed to reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases.

The small town of Glenorchy, located in the metropolitan area of Hobart, won the Young Legends award in the Australian Sustainable Cities Awards in 2015. This place located in the island state of Tasmania had an outstanding effort in educating the kids with awareness campaigns on solidarity recycling (soda cans rings collection), compost recycling or urban gardens.

In addition, Glenorchy also received an special recognition for the project of industrial reuse of rainwater, which will save 476 million liters of water a year.

The only Australian Mid West city listed in this Top 5 is Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Located more than 500 kilometers from Perth inland, Kalgoorlie has implemented an innovative technology in the field of renewable energies combining solar thermal energy with ground heat exchangers and have reduced gas consumption by more than 70% and emissions by 216 tons per year. They have also launched other projects on energy generation and water saving.

On the other hand, there is a social initiative in which natives of the area make guided tours to Karlkurla park, showing the flora and fauna and sharing their knowledge about natural medicines or the history of the area.

Finally, the city of Frankston, in the metropolitan area of Melbourne, won the Environmental Sustainability award in 2015 thanks to a program launched in 2006 with which they have achieved that the 54% of waste generated throughout the city is compost, 22% is recyclable materials and only 24% is non-recyclable waste.

On the other hand, it also important the participation of volunteers in the city. The City Council is actively working with local community groups, schools and businesses, demonstrating a positive partnership that reflects a sense of belonging and civic pride in pursuit of a sustainable future.

Sources: Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Sustainable City Awards and Australian Government