A Vision that had Global Impact

This week City of Newcastle marked the 25th anniversary of the historic declaration signed in Newcastle to pursue sustainable development.

The acknowledgement of the the 1997 Newcastle Declaration came during a meeting of the Hunter Region Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Collaboration Group, which works together on ways to achieve the United Nations’ goals across the region, before representatives from Hunter businesses, not-for-profit, local and state government.

It is important to recognise this significant milestone and the actions of our former leaders who were forward thinking for their time in responding to the challenge of establishing sustainable management practices with the Newcastle Declaration.
Remaining committed to the objectives laid out in the original Newcastle Declaration, we are now a leader in this space and over the past 25 years, have successfully achieved economic, social, cultural and ecological goals by integrating sustainability into the design and implementation of our policies, programs and projects.

Declan Clausen – Deputy Lord Mayor of Newcastle and I were so pleased to catch up with former City of Newcastle Director Lincoln Hawkins who steered the initiative at Council in 1997.
Lincoln reflected on the Pathways to Sustainability International Conference in 1997 as the Conference Chair and acknowledged the collective work of all those involved in the Newcastle Declaration.

“The Pathways Conference was held during a crossroads in the 1990s – a very significant time in Newcastle with the 1997 Bicentenary,” Mr Hawkins said.
“The Newcastle Declaration was agreed on behalf of towns and cities around the world, who took a major step toward embracing the global challenge of sustainability at a local level.
“The challenges and opportunities faced then are clearly no less important today. Their legacy continues to play a critical leadership role in showing us how to successfully transition to sustainability.”