It was a pleasure this month to hear from the Honorable Minister Angus Taylor, our Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation and the Liberal Member for Hume. I got to hear his thoughts not once, but twice in the same week.

It intrigues me that Minister Taylor is the Minister for Cities but comes from the reasonably remote regional town of Goulburn (good on ya, Goulburn!). Though I’m a city girl, I also spend time at a remote property in his electorate, so I was particularly interested to hear what the Minister had to say.

I can see that he gets it: the challenges and opportunities of both town and country. From his exposure to country life and challenges of industry and economic survival, he has seen it all.

So, what are the challenges? Read more from Kate here.

The annual Green Cities conference wrapped up in March for another year, and GECA was proud to be greatly involved as a supporting sponsor.

We were also Production Partners to the event, working with our clients to furnish some of the conference and pre-conference areas with GECA certified furniture. It was great to see so many attendees enjoying and taking advantage of all the GECA certified furniture at the venue (such as the GECA coffee lounge, furnished by Stylecraft and Dunlop Foams, pictured). We heard a big announcement from the GBCA, and the conference also examined Asia’s green growth. Read more.

We're pleased to welcome Kebony as one of our newest licensees!

Developed in Norway, the Kebony® technology is an environmentally friendly, patented process, which enhances the properties of sustainable softwood with a bio-based liquid. The process permanently modifies the wood cell walls giving Kebony premium hardwood characteristics and a rich brown colour. Read more.

We’re pleased to welcome our newest licensee, Quarran Health Products, with their ekoWorx cleaning solution! ekoWorx is a “next-generation universal cleaning solution” that uses the science of green ionic chemistry to create an effective “clean anywhere, clean everywhere” solution. The product is certified under GECA’s Cleaning Products standard.

The ekoWorx solution is based on water and minerals to create a unique cleaning method that is free from harmful toxic substances. Read more.

Frasers Property Australia, in its first collaboration with the Living Future Institute of Australia is about to launch The Brickworks Living Building Challenge – Australia’s first Living Building Challenge design competition, and the first in the world that focuses on a retail centre. GECA is proud to be a sponsor of the event.

Designers, professionals, environmental experts, students and everyone else interested in a regenerative future from around the world are invited to submit ideas for this new retail centre – ideas that can dramatically raise the bar from a paradigm of doing ‘less harm’ to one in which we view our role as steward and co-creator of a true ‘living future’. Find out more here.

Australia has moved quickly in establishing free trade agreements with China and other Asian countries.

It’s important to know how this affects local manufacturing in Australia through export opportunities, and also the implications of imported products used in our own supply chains. Both the Chinese manufacturing industry and the Australian construction industry are growing increasingly aware of the true cost of cheap substituted products.

What’s needed is consistent access to high-end, fit-for-purpose products that are ethical, affordable and accessible - and ecolabels can help. Read more at Sourceable.

GECA is once again a proud Supporting Partner for DesignBUILD, and the expo is celebrating 30 years in 2016! Kate will be speaking at the event to explore how Australia and China can work together to achieve positive change, and you can stop by the GECA booth while you're there.

DesignBUILD brings together Australia’s architects, building professional, contractors and designer community together with manufacturers, suppliers and service providers who work across the residential and commercial industry sectors, for 3 days of unrivaled networking and inspiration from 4 - 6 May. Read more.

Exhibition booths are still available, and GECA licensees can access a promotional discount - contact us to find out more.

If you're interested in the new ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement Standard, check out the upcoming Global Forum on Sustainable Procurement event, held in Sydney on 2nd May. It's a great opportunity for manufacturers of sustainable products to connect with sustainable procurement professionals.

The forum will answer questions such as:
What’s being done around the world and in Australia?
What are the leading practices across all sectors?
What is the future direction for sustainable supply chains?

Through a series of short and powerful presentations, you will hear about practical experiences from sustainable and socially responsible procurement functions and supply chains, as well as insights on ISO 20400. Read more.

Australian Govlink is Australia's only digital magazine dedicated to promoting partnerships between government and the private sector. Their latest issue has just been released and is available to read online for your convenience.

You can also check out GECA's article on page 34, where we discuss what it means for something to be truly 'fit for purpose', and making sure it's not only compliant from a safety perspective, but also has an ethical supply chain. GECA is continually working to strengthen the criteria in our standards that relate to ethical supply chains, benefiting workers, manufacturers and purchasers. Read more.