Text Version from the Field

Text version – From the field

Slides 1 and 2: Home screens

From the field

A case study on the journey to a more sustainable business.

In 2007 Illawarra Institute -TAFE NSW set about planning and then implementing environmental sustainability initiatives.

Play the following introduction and then explore more questions about this case study in each learning topic.

What were your priorities for improving the organisation’s environmental sustainability?
What have been key actions contributing to the success of your environmental sustainability strategies?

David Bisiker tells the Illawarra TAFE story

David Bisiker is Manager District Operations, for TAFE Illawarra Institute. He talks about how the organisation implements and monitors sustainable work practices and improves resource efficiency.

Slide 3: What were your priorities for improving the organisation’s environmental sustainability?

The number one thing that we looked at when we first talked about having an environmental focus on our organisation was our footprint; in other words our impact on the communities in which we exist. Another area was to start to look at reducing our energy usage which was actually going up. Every year we used more and more energy, so we actually looked at trying to reduce that energy.

And it was twofold in that, not only being a good environmental citizen from that but there was some financial savings for us by reducing that continual increase in our energy uses. And also be a role model for the businesses that we serve in the community so we were seen as the benchmark organisation: ‘look how well TAFE does, a large organisation and their energy usage is actually declining… significant savings’. And also use that as a business advantage so we could actually on-sell some of the things we’ve done and some of the strategies we’ve put in place to actually reduce our energy usage and our impact on the environment.

Slide 4: What have been key actions contributing to the success of your environmental sustainability strategies?

Our journey started probably in about 2004 and it was the Carr, State Labour Government then that wanted government departments to start to look at the environmental area. Illawarra Institute’s response to that was to set up an ‘environmental portfolio’, if you like, which I was asked to manage.

A couple of things that we did from that setting up of that portfolio: number one was to set up a management committee that would have representatives from all areas across the Institute. And the other important thing we did was employ an Environmental Officer whose role was to look at the way we operate as an environmental citizen, what sort of things we did, and was an Executive Officer on that committee.

So that committee comes together four times a year, and we look at monitoring our performance in terms of energy usage: how can we improve that? The other important thing that we do is to look at how we engage our staff, and how we actually have our staff to become champions of the causes that we’re doing, because we want our staff to come with us on this journey. So if our staff are champions of what we are trying to do our students therefore will be influenced by the way our staff operate. Our students go out and work in industry, in particular in the trades, and other professions, and if they are champions of the environment and their work practices are seen as environmentally friendly, and been trained by Illawarra Institute, that is seen as a big advantage for us.