Mission Statement: The LVSG will endeavour to educate, guide and assist residents and businesses of the Greater Latrobe Valley region. in attaining a community with economic growth and a sustainable way of life for now and into the future.
Who are we?
The Latrobe Valley Sustainability Group is a grass roots citizens’ group dedicated to encouraging the acceptance and understanding of the principles of Sustainability by the wider community. We use as our focus the idea that human induced climate change affects the whole planet, but solutions to it are only to be found when all of Earth’s citizens take responsibility at a local level for how they use resources. We believe that the transition from fossil fuel based energy to energy derived from renewable sources is a matter of urgency. We are aware that if greenhouse gases are allowed to increase, modern society will not be able to continue with the quality of life we enjoy at the present. Alternative, sustainable and renewable means of producing our energy and material needs must be developed as a matter of urgency.
Aims & Objectives of LVSG:
The aims and objectives of the Latrobe Valley Sustainability Group are:
To educate and promote the principles of living sustainably, e.g. by letter writing, film nights, displays and exhibitions, providing guest speakers who are specialists in their fields and information sharing by word of mouth, online, media interviews and other means
To promote greater awareness in the community of the causes and remedies of global warming
To promote sustainable building practices, energy efficiency, use of renewable energy and self-responsibility for resource usage.
To promote local food and fibre production and processing
To encourage lobbying of all tiers of government in the cause of Sustainability and better environmental outcomes
To promote Renewable Energy Technologies to replace fossil fuels
To Encourage the LV to become a hub for carbon abatement technologies and a base for manufacturing of cutting edge energy efficient consumer goods and renewable energy engineering projects to provide alternative job pathways when inevitably coal fired electricity is phased out.
To enhance the attractiveness of public transport by better timetabling of existing train and bus services to better reflect usage patterns of the public.
To encourage the orderly transition from coal fired electricity production to renewable electricity so that jobs are protected.
To engage business leaders in dialogue about the best way of managing change to a sustainable future.
To form links with other environmental organisations.
Develop big picture ideas about phasing in of renewable energy development and promoting them.
To form a working relationship with Latrobe City to urge more consideration of the bigger picture issues and longer term thinking.
To provide information about government grants and aid in incorporating sustainability measures into homes and businesses.
To build up the credibility of the LVSG so that it is seen as a point of contact by the media when contentious or on the other hand environmentally progressive projects are proposed.