EC3 works on National Landscapes Initiative

The Great Barrier Reef has been nominated as one of Australia’s National Landscapes, under the program developed by Tourism Australia and Parks Australia. The Steering Committee for the bid, including representatives from Tourism Queensland, the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Queensland Tourism Industry Council, the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators and Parks Australia have embarked on an ‘Experiences Audit’ the first step in achieving recognition as a National Landscape.  The project, funded by the Department of Resources Energy and Tourism, and led by Tourism Queensland will be completed by the EC3 Global consulting division.

The Experience Audit aims to identify and agree upon the competitive strengths of the Great Barrier Reef,  identify gaps in the product based on the latest research on consumer needs and identify a number of ‘hero experiences’ that will help to clearly position the Great Barrier Reef as one of the natural wonders of the world. Stakeholder workshops are planned for September 2009 in Cairns, Townsville, Whitsundays and Central Queensland.

‘Photo courtesy of Tourism Queensland.’

To find out more on National Landscapes click here: www.tourism.australia.com/nl or contact Mark Olsen

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Sustainable Regions

Tourism Queensland is embarking on an Australian first to implement a statewide sustainability program for the tourism industry. Their aim is to assist Queensland’s tourism regions to become sustainable tourism destinations and communities and subsequently position Queensland as a ‘leading’ destination in terms of climate change.

The program, titled ‘Sustainable Regions’, will initially be delivered through five pilot regions. EC3 Global is working with Tourism Queensland to deliver the pilot project in four out of five of these pilot regions - Stradbroke Island, Winton, Airlie Beach and Eungella / Pioneer Valley / Cape Hillsborough

The Sustainable Regions program will work with up to 20 Queensland tourism operators in each of the regions to complete environmental audits and develop operator specific action plans. Implementation of these action plans will improve the environmental sustainability of these businesses and lead to cost savings through more efficient use of resources.Tourism Queensland and EC3 Global will also work closely with the Local Council’s within each of the pilot regions to conduct an environmental audit for the region. Based on this audit and consultation with various local authorities, regional action plans will also be developed that will address key issues for the region. 
 
To find out more on Sustainable Regions contact Stewart Moore

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Earthcheck Science Inside

The Earthcheck Benchmarking System assists businesses to monitor and reduce their environmental impacts in the core areas of energy, water, waste, community, paper, cleaning and pesticides.

The Earthcheck system was developed by the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC) in March 2001. It is an internationally-trusted system of indicators that allows individuals, enterprises and destinations to systematically:
• Measure
• Benchmark
• Report and
• Manage their performance.

The following internationally accepted methodologies were recently used to upgrade the Earthcheck tool:
• Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 IPCC guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
• World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the world Resource Institute (WRI), 2004 The Greenhouse Gas Protocol – A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard revised.
• International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) 14064 range of standards for greenhouse gas accounting.

The national Reporting requirements and the emission data available for the tool’s top 25 user countries (covers approximately 88% of all countries currently using the tool) was also collected and assessed to ensure the tool delivers the most accurate emissions estimates possible.

To Read more on this story and to see the full list of countries click here

Adelaide Convention Centre - Gold service, green attitude secret to success

The Adelaide Convention Centre has become the first convention centre in Australia to obtain Green Globe Silver Certification. EC3 Global congratulates Adelaide Convention Centre on its leadership in addressing sustainability.

On any day somewhere in the world, there is a conference being held on sustainability and the environment. Rather than just host these conferences, the Adelaide Convention Centre’s senior management and board members decided to adopt the practices that were being discussed by experts from around the globe.

Adelaide Convention Centre Chief Executive Alec Gilbert says one of the first things that changed was that tired old chestnut: “We have always done it that way”.

“Underpinned by our Gold Service, Green Attitude philosophy, not only are these new practices reducing our impact on the environment, but they make good business sense with the costs of waste disposal, water consumption, energy costs and other services continuing to rise.”

Initiatives such as the installation of Biobin – an organic waste management system that initiates the composting process and also manages any odours – and a solar-powered, gigantic worm farm, has had a dramatic impact on waste.

In just two years, 90% of all waste from the Centre is recycled, reused or composted – just one of the reasons why Adelaide Convention Centre has become Australia’s first convention centre to achieve Green Globe Silver Certification.

For more information on Adelaide Convention Centre click here. To know more about EC3 Global programmes and members refer to our website: www.ec3global.com

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Sandals, More than a lover's paradise

For three decades, Sandals resorts have appealed to couples in love, yet it is also the nature lovers and ecologically cultivated guests who are drawn to the environmental element that this Green Globe certified hotel chain has to offer.

Sandals Resorts International (SRI) works to ensure that all environmental aspects associated with the operations of their hotel brands and the surrounding communities are ecologically sound—the current Green Globe Auditor Workshop sponsored by Sandals is one such effort. In accordance with the hotel group’s commitment to environmental education, the workshop is providing training on the enhanced Green Globe Company Standard with field excursions, team exercises and group discussions hosted at Sandals Royal Caribbean in Montego Bay, St. James.

The Sandals Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts International, was launched in March 2009 with a mission to support education, the community, and the environment.

With the environment as one component of the foundation, Sandals guests can fulfill their need to give back while on vacation by participating in activities aimed at making a positive impact on the environment and the community around the resort.

For more information on the Sandals Foundation, visit www.sandalsfoundation.org

For more information on EC3 Certification programme visit www.ec3global.com 

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The People Behind EC3: Mark Allen

Mark Allen
General Manager Technology
With EC3 Global since 2003

Mark has a long history in Tourism and IT which commenced in 1998 where he worked at Amadeus Australia on their global distribution system.  Since then Mark has worked on many tourism related projects including the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse, Decipher, IPAT, and Quality Tourism.  Mark is now responsible for driving the direction of EC3’s online certification and benchmarking software.

“We have been listening to feedback from our customers and from market.   I’m excited about the new features that we’ll be introducing into Earthcheck within the next 6 to 12 months.  These changes will establish Earthcheck as a true market leader.”

Mark loves the challenges that the I.T. industry brings.  “It is an evolving industry with exciting advancements that not only continue to challenge us but also help enable us to develop improved, quality-driven and user-friendly systems.”

Outside of the office Mark is often seen on the golf course and is also a keen rugby supporter.  He is looking forward to the upcoming Tri-Nations series and thinks the Wallabies will be hard to beat!

Green Globe Awarded Members by EC3 Global  

Green Globe is an international benchmarking, certification and environmental improvement programme, now delivered in over 50 countries world wide. EC3 Global has the exclusive rights to the brand in in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Mainland China) and non exclusive rights in the rest of the world.