Bundaberg Regional Council’s One Million Trees program is the recipient of the prestigious Granicus Digital Government Award for its innovation and positive contribution to the environment.
Granicus, the leading provider of government experience cloud tools, honours government entities and employees who have embraced modern technologies that drive awareness of community programs, improve resident experiences, transform outdated processes and inspire civic action.
The organisation recently recognised winners across five award categories: Customer Experience, Community Engagement, Website of the Year, Digital Changemaker and Data for Good.
Winners were selected by an internal advisory board and were evaluated based on criteria including government efficiency and effectiveness, program performance, customer satisfaction and overall customer experience.
Bundaberg Regional Council was presented the Data for Good Award for the development and implementation of the One Million Trees project.
Bundaberg Region Mayor Jack Dempsey said it was positive news for Council and the region’s environment.
“It’s fantastic to receive recognition for a program that will not only help Council’s carbon footprint and move towards Net Zero strategy, but will have far reaching positive impacts on the region,” he said.
“By utilising technology and consultation sessions with our residents, everyone has been offered an opportunity to take part in planting some trees while making a difference to our environment.”
The One Million Trees project focuses on Council working collaboratively with residents, businesses, schools and community groups to plant as many trees as possible throughout the region.
Traditionally, similar programs across the nation are managed manually and with little data, if any, collected on the number of trees and planting locations.
Such programs have relied on printed vouchers, resulting in additional paper wastage on program delivery.
Bundaberg Regional Council has leveraged its community engagement website, Our Bundaberg Region, for community members to easily apply and find all necessary resources on one site.
Moreover, the process for managing tree applications and distribution is streamlined between residents, Council and tube stock suppliers so that tree and planting location data is collected and well-managed throughout the entire process.
The data has been leveraged to review demand and promote the program throughout the region.
Since implementation, the One Million Trees project pages have been consistently in the top three most visited sites every month.
The project will continue to be developed so that more trees can be planted to help achieve the goal of achieving a regional net zero carbon target by 2030.
Mel Hagedorn, Granicus’ Director of Client Services for Australia and New Zealand, congratulated Bundaberg Regional Council on its award.
“The 2022 Granicus Digital Government Award winners exemplify the dedication of agencies and staff to serving and engaging their communities in inspiring, innovative and effective ways,” she said.
“These organisations, teams and individuals are leaders in the digital government space, and we are honoured to partner with them.”
Find out more about the One Million Trees program here.
Ironical given the BRC’s approval of clear felled real estate developments such as that on Branyan Drive. Can not Council mandate preservation of trees? Can not Council stipulate lot sizes that enable the growth of urban greenery? Can not developers integrate existing trees into housing estates without clear felling the whole site?
I am still wondering where are the million trees? This looks like classic greenwashing. Driving around Bundaberg environs, there is hardly a tree anywhere. Try and find ONE tree you could sit under and have a sandwich in shade, along Bargara Road, or along any of the roads to the environs, like the beaches. The Port looks like a radioactive bomb site, is so ugly. Hardly a tree anywhere there, and has been like that since the 1970’s, when I first arrived. So ugly. Should be trees everywhere, but for some reason, Council (and previous councils) seem to hate them. Can remember the beautiful big figs along Maryborough Street in town ages ago. All chopped down due to a Council error evidently (oh really?). I had a coffee at Burnett Heads recently, and a lovely coffee shop opposite the Pub, and some nice trees (but hardly enough, on a hot day). Then I walked around the corner, and not a tree, no shade for as far as the eye could see. With all the melanomas and heat waves getting more and more now, this is not good enough. I have no idea where these million trees are. Council, Please tell me. Smoke & Mirrors maybe?
I agree with BRC that we need more trees but BRC should be implementing changes to their Town Planning Scheme that forbids developers clearing treed blocks. I refer particularly to the block of land on the northern side of Gorlicks Road and Branyan Drive which is currently a forest of native trees. I understand that every tree on the block is going to be bulldozed when the sub-division development begins because there are no provisions within BRC to protect these trees. As I see it, retaining native trees is far easier, cheaper and better at protecting our biodiversity than growing them from small seedlings.