Executive+Summary+075

Warringah Council has identified a need to provide e-learning solutions for staff development as a consistent, timely and accessible approach to building staff capability. They have examined the e-learning staff development solutions used by Northern Sydney Council as well as private industry options that tailor elearning for specific staff needs.

In particular, the Warringah Council Environmental Education Team Leader and Learning and Development Officer have identified the challenge of keeping staff updated on changes to NSW legislation and other regulations, as well as enabling staff to identify potential environmental impacts from Council activities and operations.

To meet Warringah Council’s workforce learning challenge, Northern Sydney Institute will deliver e-learning for Environmental Responsibility using a package that was developed by the NSW Dept of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) and the TAFE NSW Primary Industries and Natural Resource Curriculum Centre(PINR CC). The e-learning delivery platform SAKAI will provide the learning management system for this project. The NSW TAFE Curriculum Centres Business Education for Sustainability Group will map this e-learning in Environmental Responsibility to units of competence within National Training Packages and DECC will provide advice and access to resources and personnel to support this project.

All staff at Warringah Council currently undertake a face to face induction program at which environmental awareness is a part. There is currently no structured environmental responsibility training for staff. The e-learning for Environmental Responsibility AFLF project will deliver and evaluate a trial program with a specific target group from Warringah Council staff, who will be able to determine the impacts of their Council activities on the environment and understand the legislative requirements of the Protection of the Environment Operations (POEO) Act 1997.

Through the DECC’s partnership in this project, e-learning systems and tools can provide an e-learning and blended delivery solution for NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change’s Sustainability Advantage program that currently offers Environmental Responsibility to over 200 NSW businesses and government agencies on a face to face basis.

The challenge faced by Warringah Council staff and the business clients of the DECC’s Sustainability Advantage program is that there is such a wide range of resources available on environmental responsibility that trainers and business managers can often be confused in knowing what environmental skills are required by their organisation to meet legislative and other requirements.

This project will work with the DECC to ensure links to current legislation and policy are available on the elearning for Environmental Responsibility program and that a mechanism is provided to enable Warringah Council to keep up to date records on who has completed the training and the currency of that training.

The outcomes of this project provide an opportunity for Warringah Council to:
 * meet its training obligations in environmental responsibility
 * improve staff capability in mitigating harmful environmental impact
 * promote a corporate culture of environmentally responsible behaviour
 * deliver a flexible learning environment that engages and empowers people to take action and adopt
 * sustainable practices at work.
 * reduce training delivery costs
 * consider other innovative approaches to learning

By customising and trialling the e-Learning program on Environmental Responsibility to specific industry activities and operations, NSI and the DECC will be able to provide a sustainable staff development solution to enterprises that are concerned about legislative compliance and corporate environmental responsibility.