What To Expect At The 2019 NZ IS Summit – #ConnectNZ
What To Expect At The 2019 NZ IS Summit – #ConnectNZ
Join ISCA and the kiwi Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) community in Auckland on 15th-16th May 2019.
After the success of 2018’s inaugural IS Summit, the renamed #ConnectNZ returns for an extended two days.
The theme for #ConnectNZ is Culture, Climate and Community – three areas being explored and challenged throughout the Summit’s discussions.
Day 1
The summit kicks off with a behind-the-scenes site tour of New Zealand’s largest under-construction transport project, City Rail Link. The project has unique challenges and demanding conditions, not only immediately adjacent to a live railway station but also excavating below sea level with the Waitemata Harbour only a few metres away. On top of that, some remarkable skills and innovation have been used to protect the heritage-listed Chief Post Office (CPO) building in lower Queen Street so that the tunnel boxes could be constructed beneath the building. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2024.
After the site tour, delegates will return to Grid AKL to eat delicious Sri-Lankan food prepared by social enterprise, WISE Catering. WISE is umbrellaed by Belong Aotearoa (formally known as Auckland Regional Migrant Services) and has a partnership with ARCC (Aotearoa Resettled Community Coalition) Out of that partnership the WISE project was born and focuses on supporting women who have an isolated refugee background. WISE has helped them gain new skills, experience and information whilst enabling them to build relationships with others in similar situations and within their wider community. Despite lacking English language skills and often formal education, these women have plenty to offer their communities.
The afternoon of Day 1 is aimed at Infrastructure Sustainability practitioners, those either implementing sustainability on infrastructure projects on the ground, or people wishing to learn more about it. There will be presentations from sustainability managers on a variety of projects at different stages of their life cycle. The IS Rating Scheme will be explored in its entirety, and attendees have the opportunity to ask questions to some of New Zealand’s and Australia’s most experienced professionals.
The afternoon kicks off with Perspektiv’s Pat Ilott, who unpacks in simple terms how exactly to carry out an IS Rating successfully. Pat speaks from experience, having been part of the team who achieved the highest ever IS Rating score – NorthLink WA.
After that, there will be knowledge sharing from Ken Lunty, who has worked across a myriad of projects including the Paramatta and Newcastle Light Rails, on how sustainability should be implemented in the planning phase, followed by Auckland Council and Jacobs’ tag-team presentation on how they have incorporated sustainability throughout the design of Auckland’s Scott Point Park.
Glenn Hedges will then share a cost-benefit analysis of the successful implementation of the IS Rating Scheme on Adelaide’s Torrens-to-Torrens – demonstrating how well-executed sustainability can save money.
Metro Trains Melbourne achieved the first ever IS Operations rating, and sustainability manager Audra Liubinas is coming to Auckland to discuss learnings, challenges and solutions involved in running Melbourne’s train network sustainably.
A verifier panel follows, lining up some of infrastructure’s most experienced personnel, involved in verifying IS Rating scores. This is a chance for the audience to ask those curly questions – to dive deep into credits, to ask for advice in preparing better submissions, and to shape the discussion around sustainability.
Day 2
Day 2, the Summit’s main day, explores the theme of Culture, Climate and Community. With community in mind, the day kicks off with a Mihi whakatau from local Iwi leaders, before a keynote address from Infrastructure Minister, Hon. Shane Jones.
Steve Webster, Chief Infrastructure Officer at platinum summit partners Watercare, will be sharing their 40-20-20 goals – by 2025, they aim to reduce build carbon by 40%, reduce year on year health and safety incidents by 20%, and reduce costs by 20%. Following Steve, Arihia Bennett, CEO of Ngai Tahu, will share the story of recovery as a Ti Tiriti Partner, and how this can be translated into the BAU operation of transport, tourism and social infrastructure assets.
The construction industry can learn a lot from other industries, and as such, there will be a keynote presentation from the Warehouse Group’s David Benattar, who has been instrumental in the group’s strides towards carbon neutrality.
There will be a climate panel, which gathers four experts, each achieving unique climate-related wins. Sara Templeton, of Christchurch City Council will share how the city is driving towards a carbon neutral 2030, Nick Braxton explains how climate change resilience has been incorporated throughout City Rail Link, and Kirk Archibald will be sharing how Auckland Council are driving distributed infrastructure in New Zealand’s largest City. Dr Rob Bell, climate change scientist, offers his experience on coastal engineering, risk from natural hazards, and the impacts of climate change on coastal communities and infrastructure.
Culture is, deliberately, a broad topic which encompasses multiple elements. Brandi Hudson will be speaking on behalf of the Independent Maori Statutory Board on demonstrating the Treaty of Waitangi principles in action by integrating Maori Values into the Built Environment, Louise Aitken will be sharing an Akina Foundation perspective on social procurement, and Hawkin’s Nancy McConnell will be sharing how Downer is engaging and creating employment opportunities for the young and disadvantaged. Simon Carter will be delivering a presentation on sustainable digitalisation – which touches on how there must be a societal culture shift to embrace a new digital age.
The final session for the Summit is the ever-popular Innovations and Impacts workshop – which sees six experts showcasing their latest trend or technology with delegates. In this session, the audience get an up close and personal encounter, as they break away into workshops to learn more about the innovations of most interest to them. From biomimicry to biofuels, hydrogen to recycled plastic, this session is a taste of the future.
To close the Summit there will be networking drinks in celebration of the ISupply Directory – ISCA’s new website to connect sustainable suppliers with projects and organisations looking to achieve sustainable supply chain outcomes.
