Mayor presents report on overseas study tour

CITY of Greater Geelong mayor Bruce Harwood has outlined the findings from his overseas study tour.

The mayor’s report was presented at last week’s council meeting and covered his attendance at the UNESCO Creative Cities annual general meeting in Poland and visits to two other Cities of Design (Dundee in Scotland and Turin in Italy), tours of waste-to-energy plants in Dundee and Turin, and a series of meetings in Kuala Lumpur meetings with Air Asia executives, local business groups, and the mayor of the city.

Cr Harwood was accompanied by the city’s manager of economic development and Events Tim Ellis on the 18-day tour, which had a travel cost of $19,696.

The mayor and the council have received some criticism for the trip, but Cr Harwood said that by “marking the beginning of our city’s transition as a City of Design, we are showing our commitment to this UNESCO designation”.

“To not attend our first opportunity would have left many asking why was all the work done to become a City of Design in the first place, and it would have been disrespectful to UNESCO.

“We learnt through discussions with other Cities of Design that changes don’t take place overnight, but with a plan in place and a committed and motivated team and community backing, you can truly transform your city.

“We saw examples of projects that used design thinking to solve community challenges around social inclusion, financial inclusion and youth empowerment. These examples and connections are what we’ll draw on when developing a strategic plan for Greater Geelong.”

The council will host a civic reception in Geelong for Air Asia officials on October 31, and also resolved to use the learnings from the tour to progress discussions with other councils about a potential waste-to-energy operation to the west of Melbourne.

“Gaining first-hand insights into some of the world’s best waste to energy plants gives us a better understanding of some of the challenges involved and what we need to consider when building such an operation,” Cr Harwood said.