The Victorian Spatial Excellence Awards Gala Dinner was a magnificent opportunity to reward the best and brightest of Victorian spatial sciences. AAM claimed success by receiving the People and Community and Overall Excellence Award for the Pacific Island Capacity Building Submission in partnership with CRCSI and NGIS Australia.
The Commonwealth Department of the Environment engaged the CRCSI to design the Pacific Island Coastal Inundation Capacity Building and Planning Project. To support the two main project requirements AAM was engaged as a leading airborne acquisition provider and NGIS Australia engaged as a leading capacity building and training provider. The team of AAM, NGIS Australia and CRCSI achieved outstanding project outcomes.
The project team achieved excellence in Spatial Enablement and People and Community by including local people in every stage of the project. As examples, the CRCSI enabled locals to identify priority areas for survey, AAM involved locals in acquiring ground survey data and NGIS Australia enabled government officers to create coastal inundation maps and to present output to their colleagues. The project team fine-tuned the program in each partner country to ensure delivery of the fundamental data, skills and tools necessary for Pacific Island communities to plan for sea level rise and coastal flooding.
The judges declared AAM, CRCSI and NGIS as the winner of the People and Community Award stating “We are impressed not just with the focus on enabling evidence based planning but the primary goal of capacity building, demonstrating grass roots involvement with the community and providing data, skills and tools to assist them in mitigating against the impact of sea level rise.”
AAM, CRCSI and NGIS also received the highest accolade, the Victorian Government Award for Spatial Excellence. The judges stated that the project “Drew on a broad range of skills from the Spatial Industry to provide an excellent technical solution to the problem of planning for sea level rise and coastal inundation in the region.” The judges were also impressed by the strong emphasis within the project on customised solutions to training and capacity building, leaving the Pacific Island nations the necessary skills and knowledge to build community resilience in the face of climate change and rising sea levels.
These awards provide an outstanding opportunity to reflect upon and celebrate again the AAM’s ability to partner and deliver effective solutions. Congratulations to all involved.
