Developed by the Australian Water Association (AWA), in collaboration with its Sustainability Specialist Network, the Water Sector Sustainability Framework is a series of documents and tools designed to assist AWA Corporate Members to embed sustainable practices into their businesses.
The Water Sector Sustainability Framework (the Framework) aims to:
• Guide the integration of the numerous sustainability activities that organisations currently undertake.
• Collate meaningful results of progress towards sustainability, for the benefit of the Water Sector.
• Bring the efforts of the Water Sector together in a single endeavour.
• Take steps to towards a potential baseline for future benchmarking opportunities.
The Framework will provide further impetus for water businesses to undertake change aligned with sustainability principles. The Framework aims to assist in setting a strategic vision for the water sector and is geared to assisting the entire sector, particularly those organisations that struggle to engage with sustainability.
Together with some of the leading sustainability thinkers from the water sector, AWA has developed a suite of resources as listed below. The elements are collectively referred to as the Water Sector Sustainability Framework.
Below the three key elements of the Framework are outlined. The first two documents can be downloaded from the sub-navigation box on the right of this screen.
1. Business Case: For organisations new to the concept of sustainability, or questioning where to start, a Business Case document has been developed to assist in clarifying the reasons why sustainability is important and the benefits your organisation, your sustainability team, your stakeholders and your employees can gain from being activley involved in sustainability.
2. Sustainability Charter and Principles: Organisations which would like to be engaged with the Water Sector Sustainability Framework are then encouraged to commit to the Sustainablity Charter and Principles. The sustainability principles contained in the Charter were developed by the Sustainability Specialist Network and focus on the needs of the Australian Water Sector. This one page certificate is to be signed by the Chief Executive Officer or Chairperson of organisations committing to the Framework.
3. Implementation Toolkit: The toolkit outlines how to apply the Framework and some of the useful tools and techniques for embedding sustainability into an organisation. Through the Sustainability Specialist Network Working Groups, AWA is developing an online Sustainability Knowledge Point, which will be a portal for these tools.
AWA wishes its Corporate Members to keep in mind that this Framework is an evolving instrument. Lessons from the application of the Framework will lead to a refinement in its structure and operation, further encouraging improvement in its implementation.
Pilot Benchmarking
An important part of any organisational sustainability journey is assessing organisations progress, measuring sustainability maturity and undertaking benchmarking alongside sector peers. Benchmarking can be challenging, however organisations will benefit from being able to track progress and compare results with peers in similar sectors. The Framework is working towards offering sector benchmarking opportunities and interest has been expressed in running a number of Benchmarking Pilots, with the objective of identifying common indicators for the different businesses within the Water Sector.
An initial round of discussions with organisations from within the sector has secured interest in development of a benchmarking study. AWA intends to categorise organisations and conduct four pilot benchmarking projects as below:
1. Manufacturer / Supplier
2. Consultant / Construction / Contractor
3. Water Authority / Local Government
4. Other
AWA is working on developing a Benchmarking tool and will distribute this for consideration. If your organisation would like to be involved in the benchmarking pilot, please email the Project Manager.