There’s an exquisite moment that can happen in local governments facing the challenge of the sustainability transition.
It’s when a developer for instance wants to use low carbon concrete or some other sustainability innovation in their development.
The concept has already passed a mountain of hurdles with the developer’s internal stakeholders, but now here’s the council – the consent authority.
That’s where the plan can hit a roadblock, says Paul Himberger, Technical Director (NSW/QLD) with HIP V. HYPE.
It’s where the project can slam up against one of the biggest barriers in the approval process – local government siloes.
Which are perfectly understandable, he says. Councils are notoriously underfunded so they have resource constraints, staff constraints and existing siloed departments.
But to get a new material approved, you need “everybody talking together to find these synergistic solutions,” says Himberger, who will speak on these issues at The Fifth Estate’s Local Government, Net Zero and Resilient Communities Summit on 10 September.
What you need is a collaborative approach, he says.
But how do you break through the siloes to create one?
“Sometimes, it’s lock them in a room until a decision is made,” he laughs. “But the key is to find out what the underlying problem or challenge is.
“For instance, if the project is getting low carbon concrete approved in a council area, it’s got to pass the planners.
“That’s fun!
“They’ve got their strategic objectives. It passes by the sustainability team because it’s like, great: ‘This is a low carbon product. It reduces our emissions.’
“It hits the engineering, the assets and maintenance team, and then it stops.
“That’s because it’s new, it’s not something they’ve been using for 20 years. They don’t know much about it,” Himberger says.
The alternative is to bring everyone together, back at the strategic planning phase.
“The more that education piece factors into it the greater chance you have at converting them to an advocate or having them champion some sort of initiative, whatever it is – nature or circular economy.”
“That’s when you bring the engineers in so they have time to look at the material specifications, maybe check out how another local council has used it, seeing it actually in progress, talking to peak bodies until they get to a comfort level so that when you come to the approval process everybody signed off on it, as opposed to going at the very end and going, this is getting poured in three weeks. We need your approval now. “When they’re on the back foot, they say no because they’re ultimately responsible for it.”
Human nature.
But also the weight of responsibility because if things go wrong, “residents will go straight to council, not the developer”.
On the other hand there’s that other weight councils must bear – expectation from the community to lead change.
There are cases where the executive and the councillors have stepped in to get a great sustainability outcome, perhaps overriding a maintenance or construction department.
There needs to be a clear reason for this, Himberger says, but whether it’s council or community led, what can make it work well is building underlying strong governance and leadership capacity both in the executive and councillors.
“The more that education piece factors into it the greater chance you have at converting them to an advocate or having them champion some sort of initiative, whatever it is – nature or circular economy.”
Asset maintenance can work for sustainability
Sometimes the nature of asset maintenance can work in favour of trying out more sustainable materials.
For instance, putting coffee grounds or crumbed rubber in road asphalt turns out to work quite well.
And no, it’s not just a gimmick, Himberger says.
This is because after a number of years roads need to re-surfaced anyway so as long as the material has added some sustainability benefit and lasts the distance until resurfacing, the innovation is a positive.
These are some of the patches that Himberger works in.
His background includes several years with the NSW government developer Landcom where he delivered projects and “got his hands dirty” understanding how to incorporate new sustainability materials into various works, and 10 years with AECOM in the US.
Today he’s worked on about 100 resilience and sustainability projects with councils, such as urban heat strategies, climate resilience assessment, and community energy or battery project as well as private companies such as the large McDonald Jones housing developer.
Through it all has come a focus on assisting organisations at the corporate level to better embed resilience and sustainability while “driving value”.
Conversations starting with mandatory climate related disclosures can quickly expand to biodiversity, nature, waste, and the circular economy.
The key, he says, is to break down the processes step by step and simplify the concepts into easy to understand language, bringing on board the experts that fill in the knowledge gaps.
There’s often a level of fear and hesitancy and even panic around mandatory reporting, he says. Courses to help are “a dime a dozen”, but the tangible steps to take are what make a big difference: you need a risk register, add climate risk. “Just break down the complexity into more tangible things.”
And among the best lessons he’s reaped from the sum of this work is the benefit of encouraging synergies.
This is especially possible with local government.
For instance, urban heat mitigation can also promote biodiversity and nature retention. Or flood management that also has “biodiversity, waste and climate resilient aspects.”
And there’s always a benefit to bringing some financial analysis to the table, he says.
Trees and green canopy produce higher property values.
“So trying to provide a little bit out of financial valuation to it as well, that return on investment, as opposed to just that intrinsic value of nature that we all get.”
What’s the best way to manage community opposition to sustainable projects?
At the local government summit, Himberger will share how his views on how to manage growing opposition to wind farms or renewable transmission lines has shifted in the past few years.
Himberger says sustainability people really want an ideal outcome that’s going to “exactly get us to net zero 10 years earlier” he says, “but in the meantime it can create a detriment”.
Best, he says is to “meet people where they are, and figure out what works and what doesn’t, and do a heck of a lot of what’s working.
“Maybe don’t try to butt your head with what’s not working.”
With white roofs you can say, you’re banning dark roofs but that you encourage light roofs because there’s a huge benefit to them.
“If you tell someone that you’re taking gas out, they’re immediately affronted by it. They’re immediately going, ‘Oh, you’re taking something from me’, as opposed to flipping it, and going, well, we’re going to make you healthier. We’re going to make you happier, because we’re going to reduce childhood asthma rates. We’re going to not expose you to second hand smoke and save on your utility bill.”
Positive outcomes work!
Get your tickets now to engage with Paul Himberger in person on 10 September.