This year the winner of the GHD Award for Environmental Leadership is Thames-Coromandel District Council for its 'Shoreline Management Pathways Project'.
Presented by Stephen Douglass, Market Lead - Environment; Future Communities Leader at GHD, this award recognises programmes, projects, or initiatives that provide tangible benefits to the environment, or showcase leading practice in managing environmental impacts in the local community. The approach must be capable of transfer to other local authorities.
This year's winner, Thames-Coromandel District Council, has undertaken shoreline management planning for its 400km of coastline to reduce risks to people, property, the environment and tāonga associated with coastal hazards. The result is a set of 138 adaptation pathways specific to the aspirations and concerns of each community and the principles of kaitiakitanga.
The judges said "Thames-Coromandel’s management planning provides tailored, flexible solutions to ensure future resilience of the Coromandel’s coastal communities. We were taken by the extensive community engagement on a highly complex set of decisions at the intersection of science, policy and property rights. Sixty-six councils have a coastline making this one of the most transferable of this year’s entries."
The sponsor of this award is GHD. GHD are committed to addressing the world’s biggest challenges in the areas of water, energy and communities. GHD is a global network of over 10,000 multi-disciplinary professionals, passionate about providing its clients with integrated solutions through our engineering, environmental, design and construction expertise. Its future-focused, innovative approach helps to connect and support communities around the world, building resiliency and sustainability for generations to come.
This is the third year that GHD has sponsored the Environmental Leadership category, and their fourth year overall (having previously sponsored the now discontinued asset management category.