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SBN Breakfast: Stress in the Workplace and more...
SBN Breakfast: Stress in the Workplace
Date: Tuesday 10 June
2003
Time: 7.30 am
Venue: The Hobson Room, Parnell
Community Centre (ex Blind Institute), Parnell Rd, Auckland
Registered Psychologist Hillary Bennett, The Mental Health Foundation Working Well team, and The Bell Gully Employment Law team will discuss managing stress in relation to the changes to The Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill (effective May 6) which will shift this responsibility to that of both the individual and employer.
Please contact Christine Takiwa by email office@sustainable.org.nz to register.
NZBCSD Youth Employment Project profiled for Global Summit
The NZBCSD Youth Employment project is to be profiled as part of the build up to the next Global Youth Employment Summit Campaign (YES).
The YES Campaign was launched at the Alexandria Youth Employment Summit in September 2002. The Summit brought 1600 participants from 120 countries for open dialogue on the state of youth employment and the best methods for dealing with the challenges. The Summit’s prime objective was to create awareness among stakeholders through knowledge generation and exchange. To that end, the Summit has launched the Global Knowledge Resource on youth employment to inform and guide the Campaign.
Our Youth Employment project will be part of that Global Knowledge Resource which seeks to:
Share information on "effective strategies" that have worked successfully towards providing employment and entrepreneurship opportunities at the grassroots level.
Create a platform for the youth, practitioners and policymakers to come together to exchange ideas and learn from each other to create synergies.
Adapt or scale up effective strategies in new countries or communities.
Develop a comprehensive database of information with the latest research and publications.
Develop an online service that provides toolkits to create employability and entrepreneurship opportunities.
We will forward information about the above mentioned online tool as soon as it is developed. For more information contact gkr@yesweb.org
Business Community Engagement Workshop - final report
In response to a number of requests, NZBCSD hosted a meeting between providers of community engagement programmes, interested businesses and community organisations with the aim of finding new ways to unlock corporate giving potential in the current New Zealand environment.
Thank you to those who participated.
The key outcomes were:
An opportunity for businesses and community organisations to meet and understand each others' issues and challenges
The mutual interest in partnership - money is important but meaningful partnership delivers so much more
The agreement and acknowledgement that every organisation is different and there is no one-size-fits-all solution
A number of potential next steps were identified and are outlined at the end of the report - your input on these is very welcome.
New e-learning tool on sustainablility from the WBCSD
The WBCSD and the the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry have just launched a new e-learning tutorial on the business case for sustainable development - Chronos. Visit Chronos website for more information.
Chronos is a motivating e-learning tutorial on the business case for sustainable development, jam packed with dilemmas, questionnaires and learning opportunities, its a fast, fun, and engaging way to learn about the business case for sustainable development. Accessible on the Internet, Chronos will help you make sustainable development a reality at very low cost.
Chronos was developed through a unique partnership between the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry (CPI). It combines the international experience of the world's leading business voice on sustainable development with the renowned quality of Cambridge University.
Log on and learn how to make the world more sustainable. Chronos is now ready so please visit the websiteWhat makes Chronos different?
Draws on the experience of many of the world's largest companies.
Is informed and influenced by both business and non-business voices.
Shows how social and environmental performance creates business value.
Challenges employees to find win-win solutions in difficult circumstances.
Tests an employee's ability to make the case for sustainable development.
Bridges the gap between personal values and corporate action.
Uses a range of training methods to appeal to individual learning styles.
Can be made available quickly, widely and cost-effectively.
The REDUCE YOUR RUBBISH challenge - and a chance to win great prizes...
Here's a challenge for you!
The Ministry for the Environment, regional and local councils are running a competition (with great prizes!) to reward people who try to reduce their rubbish. It's fun and simple and the goal is to get 20,000 Kiwis to enter before 6 June 2003.
To help spread the word and reduce our growing mountain of rubbish, simply
The Big Clean Up team - thank you for your support. For more info visit ARC website or email michelle.barker@arc.govt.nz
Money Available to Businesses for Waste Reduction Initiatives
North Shore City Council’s WasteWise Fund is available to businesses, individuals, community groups and schools to support projects that reduce waste in North Shore City. Around $100,000 is available through four funding rounds annually to assist initiatives that help the city achieve the target of ‘zero waste to landfill’.
The council expects most grants to be less than $5000, although it will consider larger amounts.
Projects eligible for funding include:
organisational waste reduction projects and waste audits
tertiary research projects on waste minimisation in North Shore City
service grants to approved organisations that offer waste reduction services and programmes
sponsorship and awards for waste reduction activities
feasibility studies for enterprises
The council wants to encourage North Shore residents and businesses to do the right thing by reducing the waste they produce or by finding ways to reuse resources.
The next funding Rounds close on:
Friday 28th July
2003
Friday17th October 2003
Further funding rounds application forms and guidelines for the WasteWise fund are available on the website or for more information contact North Shore City Council’s Actionline on 486 8600.
Perceptions of NZ State of Environment - kiwis think environment deteriorating
Lincoln University just released the results of the second biennial survey of people’s perceptions of the state of the New Zealand environment in 2002. These were compared with the 2000 survey results. It tests perceptions of all the main resource areas and in 2002 looked more specifically also at coastal management issues.
Key findings include:
Impact of business: 48% of respondents thought industrial impact on the environment was bad or very bad, 32% thought industrial impact was adequate, 12% didn’t know, 8% thought the impact was good or very good.
State of environment: New Zealanders consider the state and management of the environment to be good and better than other developed countries.
Is NZ Clean and Green: Most respondents agreed with the statement that New Zealand is ‘clean and green’ However, it is clear that neither Maori nor New Zealand European are as convinced about this view as the ‘other’ ethnic group is. One possible explanation for this result is the ‘other’ ethnic group may contain a high proportion of relatively recent immigrants to New Zealand who judge that New Zealand is ‘clean and green’ compared to the environment in their source country. Further research is needed to determine if that is a valid explanation for the difference in view.
Farming: Farming is seen to be an increasing pressure for a number of resources, including fresh water.
Spending on Environment: New Zealanders would like to see more spent on the environment, especially on fresh water related activities.
Fisheries: While the Government has dismissed implementing licences for marine recreational fishers the survey indicated that such a regime would generate a large income stream which would likely benefit marine recreational fisheries’ management (i.e. recreational fishers were prepared to pay for more licenses).
Ethnicity: Ethnicity is a key variable, e.g. for responses to water-related questions. Maori responses were often highly negative. Maori judge that water quality is lower, and management of water is worse than do New Zealand Europeans and ‘other ethnicity’ respondents, perhaps because Maori have particular affinities with water and their recent experiences with pollution are unsatisfactory.
There are policy implications from many of the report’s key findings. Generally speaking farming comes out negatively in this survey. The public give a very low rating to management of farm effluent and runoff and farming is perceived as an increasing threat to many resources. Policy makers should consider whether new policies are needed to combat these problems. The recent effort by Statistics New Zealand to monitor progress towards a sustainable New Zealand does not include any perceptions information. Future development of the Environment Perceptions survey might be able to more explicitly consider people’s perceptions of sustainability and therefore contribute to such progress monitoring.
Two thousand people, aged 18 and over, were randomly selected from the New Zealand electoral roll. An effective response rate of 45% was achieved. Data has been analysed descriptively and subject to statistical analyses in terms of comparing the 2002 survey response with that from 2000 and in terms of analysing responses by several demographic variables.
For more information or a copy of the report contact Lincoln University Agribusiness & Economics Research Unit, Ph 643 325 281 visit the Lincoln website
Seminar invitation - Ralph Benson, Trust for Public Land, US
The Long Bay-Okura Great Park Society*, with the generous support of the North Shore City Council, Auckland Regional Council and 3M New Zealand Ltd, is bringing to New Zealand Ralph Benson, Senior Vice President of the Trust for Public Land (TPL). TPL has been working for 30 years with community groups, government agencies, the business sector and landowners to protect over 1 million acres of land for public purposes in the United States. One of its publications is titled The economic benefits of Parks and Open Space - how land conservation helps communities grow smart and protect the bottom line. See more information at the Trust for Public Land website.
They invite members of the business sector to a meeting to hear how the Trust for Public Land developed and how it achieved its successes. Some of the creative and alternative methods TPL has used in the States to raise funds may have relevance to New Zealand, especially in regard to benefits and incentives for businesses supporting public projects relating to land acquisition.
The meeting details are:
Date: Thursday, 29
May 2003
Time: 6.00 pm
Venue: Vaughan Park Retreat
Centre, 1043 Beach Road, Long Bay
Light refreshments will be served
RSVP: 473 0871 (for catering numbers)
For more information about the Trust for Public Land, and Ralph Benson himself visit NZBCSD website
A flyer for the public seminar Ralph will deliver at the ARC Chambers, Vodophone House, Auckland, at 10 am on 31 May is available at NZBCSD website
*The Long Bay-Okura Great Park Society has been campaigning since 1996 for the establishment of a Great Park of 1000 acres. The Park would encompass rural land adjacent to the Long Bay Regional Park as well as the existing Park. With the expected rapid growth in Auckland’s population, there is very large support for a large open space near the city limits being reserved. Long Bay is the only remaining sizeable undeveloped area on the coast which is readily accessible from Auckland.
2003 Environmental Tax Conference 5-7 June
Energy Management Course in Auckland, 1-4 July
ENERGY MANAGEMENT and THE BOTTOM LINE - Massey University, in association with EECA, is running a 4 day Energy management course in Auckland, 1-4 July. For more information visit NZBCSD website
The cheap way to save electricity - Sunday Star Times Article from Wayne Inger (The Warehouse)
Power conservation guru Wayne Inger has good news for people who want to save on their power bills this winter but don't want to spend a lot of money doing so.
The article covers opportunities for saving energy in your business and at home,
Budget Contains $56m Education and Training for Young People
The 2003 Budget contains funding for a $56m package of measures to work towards all young people under 20 years of age being in education, training or work. See Jobsletter Source: www.jobsletter.org.nz
Employment Growth Continues
Employment growth continues: 0.5% increase during the last quarter, 1.5% over the year. See Jobsletter Source: www.jobsletter.org.nz
Low Wages Holding Economy Back
Wage rates are lagging behind the rate of inflation according to the CTU. This may have something to do with skills shortages. See Jobsletter Source: www.jobsletter.org.nz
NZ is Not Attracting Enough Apprentices
It is going to take more than government money to attract enough apprentices to the engineering industry, according to an industry training manager. See Jobsletter Source: www.jobsletter.org.nz
The Need to Retain Older Workers
The OECD warns that we need to
reverse the trend of early worker retirement or face a bleak
future of growing labour shortages, slower growth and
ballooning welfare costs. See Jobsletter
Source:
wwww.jobsletter.org.nz
Minister promises to 'lift the tempo' for small operators
John Tamihere has recently been appointed the Minister for Small Business. Among his top five priorities for small business, Tamihere listed:
Reducing the time spent on Inland Revenue compliance.
Looking at the fairness of ACC levies and asking if businesses should be rewarded for a good record.
Easing the number of relationships small businesses had with Government.
General compliance issues.
Ensuring that the sector had a voice.
WasteMINZ Conference - 2nd Call for papers
4 - 6 November 2003
Rutherford Hotel
Nelson
From Strategy to Action
Through lifeafterwaste, the Waste Management Institute supports the New Zealand Waste Strategy. We want your paper for our 2003 conference to say what action you have under way to give effect to it.
The final closing date for abstracts for presentation of papers is the 19th May.
We have had a good response so far and a lot of people have indicated they will be sending an abstract - we look forward to receiving these soon.
If you would like another copy of the Call for Papers please email: carole@wasteminz.org.nz or visit the WasteMINZ website
Australian launch World First Printer Cartridge Recycling
Planet Ark Australia has joined with major printer manufacturers to launch ‘Cartridges 4 Planet Ark’ a program that will recycle all the material in all types of printer and photocopier cartridges into new products, and keep the cartridges out of landfill.
The collected cartridges are sent for sorting to hi-tech Melbourne recycling company Close the Loop - inventors of ‘The Green Machine’ and the heart of the system.
In 2002 Australians used more than 18 million laser and inkjet cartridges - equivalent to 5,000 tonnes. The volume of ink and toner cartridges is increasing through increased use of printers and copiers in offices and homes. And use of digital cameras together with photo quality inkjet printers is also rising rapidly.
Companies supporting the programme and covering the cost of collection are: Brother, Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark, EPSON and Panasonic.
For more information on how this works, visit Planet Ark website.
Source: News and Views - email Ray Skinner at rayskinner@clear.net.nz to subscribe
Business Ethics Pay Dividends
New research released in April 2003 by the Institute of Business Ethics shows companies with a clear commitment to ethical conduct outperform those who do not.
While previous research shows the relationship between good financial performance and indicators of corporate responsibility is positive, there was little definitive evidence.
However, this UK research shows there is superior Market Value Added in companies which referred to their ethics' programmes in the annual report, compared with those who did not. The research is the most thorough of its type ever performed in the UK.
Source: Lyn Mayes issues update – email lynmayes@madworld.co.nz to subscribe
Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research
Last Friday the Government released an independent report on the research into greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture that will be needed over the next decade.
Go to Climate Change Office website to view the related press release. This includes a link to the report: Abatement of Agricultural Non-Carbon Dioxide Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Study of Research Requirements. A summary of the key recommendations in this report can also be viewed at Climate Change Office website.
Auckland Gets Electric Buses
Electric buses traveled the streets of Auckland for the first time on 26 May.
The Auckland City Council, the regional council, the city's business association and the bus company Stagecoach have bought four buses for $2.5 million.
A Stagecoach spokesman, Russell Turnbull, says three of the four electric buses will run on the inner-city circuit and passengers can travel on them free.
He says the new buses are quieter and more environmentally-friendly than normal diesel buses because they emit less fumes.
Mr Turnbull says Stagecoach will see how the new buses work out before deciding whether to invest in any more.
(c) NewsRoom 2003 Source: Sustainable Energy Forum and www.newsroom.co.nz
Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) Trust News and Work and Life Awards
EEO Trust Work & Life Awards is the annual event where we honour and celebrate workplaces which are leading the way with work/life balance. This year the Awards dinner is being held in September at the Carlton Hotel in Auckland, and once again the Prime Minister Rt Hon Helen Clark has been asked to present these prestigious Awards.
Fuel Cell Buses Trialed in Europe
The first of 30 fuel cell powered buses have been delivered in Madrid, Spain. The buses are powered by Ballard Fuel Systems fuel cells and are made by DaimlerChrysler. The buses will use hydrogen as fuel and will run on normal city cycles. This trial will be the most extensive for fuel cells anywhere in the world.
DaimlerChrysler has also announced it will partner with UPS and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to employ fuel cell vehicles in UPS’ delivery fleet. Initially UPS will start using Mercedes Benz A class cars fitted with a Ballard Fuel Cell and this will be complemented with Dodge Sprinter Vans later next year.
Source: Deloitte CO2 Update, email Andrew Sharpe at asharpe@deloitte.com to subscribe
GE Moving into Wind Energy
GE has established a significant market share of the wind turbine market after acquiring the asset from Enron. GE expects revenues in excess of US$1 billion (A$1.5 billion) in 2003. The company has expanded its traditional market of mainland USA to also start selling into Europe: a domain historically dominated by the Danish manufacturers. GE expects growth of 20% per annum in the coming years. Recently released figures suggest the EU may not meet its Kyoto targets
Parrot Analytics: Paramount Earnings - Can Ellison Strike The Right Balance?
NZ Trade and Enterprise: NZ Businesses Deliver $340 Million Trade Boost For New Zealand In China
Ngā Manu Nature Reserve: Celebrating The Return Of Tuatara To Ngāti Koata And Brook Waimārama Sanctuary
Employers & Manufacturers Association: Work-related Injuries In Manufacturing Create $1.23 Billion Economic Burden On NZ
Consumer NZ: Consumer NZ Questions Supermarket Specials: Are They Really Saving You Money?
NIWA: October Climate Summary - A Mild Month Overall, Very Wet For Much Of The South Island
