Engineering sustainable development: a community approach

The Presidential address to the ICE in 2008 re-stated the six key themes which the Institute would continue to pursue during the course of his term involving: sustainable chemical technology; a healthy and safe environment; reliable and secure energy; the production of food and drink; potable water and biosystems engineering. In 1992 the United Nations at the Earth Summit produced Agenda 21, for the involvement of all in sustainable development. In the same year Australia adopted a, ‘National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development’. The objective of the current research is to integrate these political and professional endeavours into a practical approach, at a regional level and to assess both the longevity and scalability of the results. The approach to be taken will take the form of a case study, based on the Currency Creek, Geographic Indicator (GI) Region, as authorised by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation. The study will not focus on the wine industry, the adoption of the GI definition, is to emphasise the non-political nature of the research. The boundaries of the region, so defined, encapsulate some of the mixed community aspects of the area, including agriculture, vines, tourism, retail and other small scale industries. The first stage deliverables will include a rigorous statement of methodology including: who, how, when, reporting, certification, accreditation and auditing, data and analytical methodology. Longer term, as appropriate the region will be analysed in terms of carbon, water, soil, transport, built environment, consumption, waste, economic and social footprints.Ian Powrie, Brian O'Neillhttp://www.chemeca2010.com/abstract/443.as