The Australian Green Development Forum is a not-for-profit coalition of associates from community groups, development industries and government bodies whose purpose is to encourage the understanding, and quicken the acceptance, of sustainable practices in the Australian building industry.

They achieve this by:

- Forging strategic business alliances between relevant organizations, government departments, financial institutions and regulatory bodies

- Providing leadership in promoting and implementing sustainable practices in Australia's development industry

- Keeping abreast of newest sustainable technologies, designs and guidelines, and acting as a distributor of this information.

• Click here to view the AGDF Website

The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) has established the Sustainable Urban Development Program (SUDP) to support ongoing improvements in development ventures. Instigated in mid-2002, the SUDP invited developers to submit project proposals featuring sustainable design principles/technologies and addressing environmental, social and economic issues.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency of Queensland (see below) the SUDP received 25 applications, which offered improvements in energy and water usages, initiatives in design, biodiversity protection, innovative technologies and socially-friendly, community-focussed development.

The champion projects were chosen due to the range of initiatives they integrated to deliver triple-bottom-line outcomes. The UDIA has thus used these projects to provide practical demonstrations of the practicality of sustainable development and establish an elevated standard for future development in Australia.

• Click here to view the UDIA Website

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a department of the Queensland Government. They are also one of Queensland's leading agencies to promote eco-efficiency and sustainability in the urban development industry.

Key functions of the EPA are environmental planning, environmental policy, environmental operations, sustainable industries, environmental and technical services, corporate affairs, and corporate development.

The EPA is currently a major player in trying to institute the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD).

ESD aims to:

- integrate the economic, social and environmental concerns and needs of the community.

- account properly for the economic costs of environmental degradation

- accept and acknowledge that each generation is responsible for the welfare of future generations

- understand environmental uncertainty and risk

- understand the global scale of environmental issues

• Click here to view the EPA Website

So, this is what a number of organisations are doing to ensure we achieve sustainability.
The question is... What are you doing?