The winning project, announced at the Floodplain Management Australia awards dinner on 23 May, was the Hawkesbury-Nepean River Flood Study (NSW Reconstruction Authority, RHELM, Catchment Simulation Solutions and WMAWater). Although not the winner, the Greater Wellington Climate Resilience Programme is the first ever New Zealand project to enter the awards and was a finalist alongside 11 other outstanding projects across Australasia. The awards are held every year and include three categories: FMA IAG Young Floodplain Manager of the Year Award, FMA Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award, and the FMA IAG Flood Risk Management Project of the Year Award.
The Project of the Year Award is given to a project that demonstrates the highest level of achievement in areas of flood risk management including best practice, public benefit, community involvement and innovation – all of which the Greater Wellington Climate Resilience Programme has in spades. This is the first year that projects outside Australia were eligible to enter the awards, and Greater Wellington was proud to be a finalist. Sue Ribbons, President of Floodplain Management Australia, said all award finalists were of particularly high standard this year and deserving of acknowledgement, making the role of the judging committee particularly difficult. “An important role of the Awards is not just to announce winners, but to shine a light on some of the many impressive flood risk management activities being undertaken by FMA Members.” “So please start considering which flood projects and champions you can nominate for the 2025 Excellence Awards.”
Floodplain Management Australia (FMA) is the peak national body for flood risk practitioners in Australia and has an Associate Member category for international members. The theme of the 2024 Floodplain Management Australia conference (held in Brisbane in May) was ‘Floods in a Changing Climate’ and covered flood risk management, environmental and cultural river management projects and issues, community engagement, policy and planning. The conference attracted 486 practitioners who are working in or interested in flood risk management, including Commonwealth, state and local government representatives, research organisations and education providers as well as consultants, engineers, land-use planners, emergency responders and community volunteer organisations from New Zealand, USA, UK and Singapore.
Having received a Highly Commended award at the at 2023 LGFA Taituarā Excellence Awards, and as featured in the September 2023 Quarterly Update, Greater Wellington’s Climate Resilience Programme has delivered wider cultural, social, economic and environmental outcomes alongside their flood protection work.
Find out more:
- View the finalist entries, here (Greater Wellington is on page 17)
- Information about Floodplain Management Australia
- Read more on the Resilient River Communities website: Broader outcomes initiatives
- Watch the video below to find out more about the wellbeing focus within this project
