FROM THE VICTORIAN PRESident
The Victorian Chapter Council and National Council elections are now underway and I encourage all eligible members to get involved in the election and vote – learn more on this page. It is a great indication of member interest and of democracy in action to see ten of our Victorian members nominating for the five vacancies on the Victorian Chapter Council and eight members from across Australia nominating for the two vacancies on National Council. Please read the nomination statements and vote accordingly – it is a great way to ensure your views are best represented in Institute activity. It is your Institute, so have your say!
2023 is shaping up as an exciting year for Continuing Professional Education, both for virtual and physical events that disseminate the many dimensions of architecture. In particular, ESD and sustainability in general are critical topics which are subject to significant change and technical development with which we need to work to stay abreast of.
This year for the first time the National Awards program has included a mandatory sustainability questionnaire for all award entries and the sustainability category can only be entered through the jury’s assessment of each questionnaire. This is a program that was trialed in New South Wales last year and has now been endorsed by National Council for use across the Awards program. To assist members with their award submissions, I am pleased to advise that the co-authors of the questionnaire, Jamileh Jahangiri and Gabrielle Pelletier, have kindly agreed to present the questionnaire and explain its intent in our first Lean-in session for 2023 on 25 January, a week or so before awards submissions are due on 6 February.
February will see the launch of the Institute’s “Going Carbon Neutral Campaign” which focuses on carbon neutrality for practices and is time for the Sustainable Living Festival which many members are contributing to. Lean-in sessions on carbon calculation of a building’s embodied carbon and operational carbon are proposed for March and April as the Institute rolls out a multitude of opportunities to better understand the technicalities of ESD and upskill our profession in what is both a fundamentally important and urgent task.
In the meantime, after an intense year of industrious activity and a plethora of demanding broader issues we have had to address, I hope all members can take some time off over the Christmas New Year period for some rest and recuperation to recharge the batteries in preparation for a busy and enlightening 2023. I wish all members and their families a joyful and safe Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing you involved in 2023.
David Wagner FRAIA
Victorian Chapter President
