environmental management

	Case Study
Name:	Sustainable Stormwater Management Capacity Building Program
Client:	Lower Hunter and Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy (LHCCREMS)

Description: The Lower Hunter and Central Coast region has been subject to considerable population growth over recent decades and the health of waterways within the region are showing signs of stress. As conventional stormwater disposal methods do not have the objective to protect the health of the waterways, a change of focus is required. In view of this, the LHCCREMS applied for project funding from the Commonwealth Government's Coast and Clean Seas Program in 1998 to facilitate the delivery of a sustainable stormwater management action program to raise the capacity of the urban community and catchment managers of the region to design and implement more sustainable urban stormwater practices.

Scope: SD Environmental Management was commissioned through APrince Consulting to develop and implement the capacity building component of the sustainable stormwater management program. The following project objectives were addressed:

• Increase the capacity of stormwater and catchment managers to design, implement, maintain and monitor sustainable stormwater management programs and practices;
• Develop skills and knowledge within local government and industry through innovative "learning by doing" training programs and the facilitation of partnerships between stormwater managers and industry to establish identification and implementation of stormwater demonstration sites;
• Establish the project as a basis for a co-ordinated, long-term regional stormwater management program in the Lower Hunter and Central Coast regions.

SD Environmental Management developed a program that provided flexibility and responded to the changing needs of stakeholders, was hands-on, promoted debate and questioning, was interactive and offered opportunities to explore case studies and on the ground examples of Urban Water Cycle Management techniques, and facilitated regional interactions between councils, State Government and industries.

The tools/sessions co-ordinated and implemented by SD Environmental Management included:

• Seminars and discussions forums
• Council briefings
• Problem-based learning exercises
• Workshops
• Role plays
• Performances
• Field trips
• Cross-disciplinary design competition
• Fact sheets
• Case studies
• Interactive Training CD
• Hard-copy toolkit (incorporating workshop notes etc as listed above)

The program earned LHCCREMS five awards in the 2001 Local Government and Shires Association Excellence in the Environment Awards, including divisional winner and overall state winners for both the 'Built Environment' and 'Stormwater Management' categories.

For more information on the program and copies of the toolkit, click here.

Client Comments:
"SD Environmental Management showed absolute dedication to achieving sound environmental management and capacity building outcomes and commitment to the production and delivery of top quality events and publications. They showed a can-do attitude and complete delivery of all components of the project brief, as well as loyalty and patience under sometimes "very trying" conditions."
Meredith Laing, Director LHCCREMS