About us

ACTS aims to inspire, promote and support change towards best practice sustainability across all types of campuses. We do this by building cross sector partnerships, bringing together sustainability educators, practitioners and change-makers to create a community for positive engagement, capacity building and impact.

RMIT’s Ngarara Place Indigenous garden © Moorina Bonini

Governance

Past AGM minutes

People

Paramount to the success of ACTS is the time and dedication provided by our voluntary Executive Board and the core operation and development is undertaken by our small staff team. This passionate group of sustainability-minded professionals and educators has guided the strategic direction of ACTS, supported its initiatives and broadened the standing of ACTS regionally and in an international arena.

Director of Sustainability

At Macquarie, my primary responsibility is to oversee the change towards sustainability within the principles and practices of the University through operations, education and engagement, and planning and development. In the context of ACTS, I’m excited about the direction that we are taking to assist practitioners and educators to embed sustainability across campuses. I am constantly in awe of the work that occurs across Australia and New Zealand and am grateful to be a part of that.

Leanne Denby
President

Manager, EcoCentre

I have been working in the sustainability space for the last 17 years as manager of the Griffith University EcoCentre. The EcoCentre is a key element of the Griffith Sciences Group, promoting sustainable development, environmental education and community engagement. Collaborating with many organisations, I get to work with government, industry and the wider community in the education and public awareness of sustainability. I am very fortunate to work with many sustainability leaders and sit on several environmental working groups. In 2007 I became a member of Al Gores Climate Reality Leadership Program and still play an active part in the organisation. Proudly I am the founding Secretary/Treasurer of ACTS and still remain the Secretary. Watching ACTS grow from a networking group of university sustainability champions to an international influencer and leader in sustainability in the higher education sector, has been a highlight of my career.

Delwyn Langdon
Secretary

Sustainability Officer

I came to Australia in 2007 to work as an academic in marine conservation, but my increasing interest in sustainability led me to a career change in 2012. As Sustainability Officer at the University of Tasmania, I am involved in various projects, but my passion is carbon management. I am a numbers person, and confident that I can contribute to ACTS as a Treasurer and in other ways to bring our tertiary education sector to the next level in sustainability.

Dr Carmen Primo Perez
Treasurer

Manager, Sustainability

I am responsible for augmenting UTS’s sustainability performance through the planning, delivery, monitoring and communication of the university’s sustainability initiatives. With my technical background in architecture and experience in integrating sustainability into the built environment, I provide strategic sustainability advice and review for university building projects, infrastructure and operations. I also work collaboratively across the governance, research, learning and engagement areas to deliver sustainability outcomes.

I have been working in the tertiary education sector since 2011, previously working as a sustainability consultant in Australia and London. ACTS provides a great forum to share knowledge and recognise success across the research, learning, operations and engagement sectors.

Danielle McCartney
Director

Co-Lead, Sustainable Buildings and Construction,
One Planet Network (United Nations 10 Year Framework)

I have worked in government, and industry before recommencing work in academia. As a ‘reborn’ academic, I am even more interested in walking the talk in relation to how we achieve sustainability outcomes in teaching, research and showcase examples of best practice in university. We can use our universities as exemplars of teaching and learning for our students as a living laboratory. I look forward to working towards this in my role as VP for EfS.

Assoc. Prof. Usha Iyer-Raniga
Director

Senior Manager, Sustainability

Lin Stevenson has been working at RMIT University since 2009, having previously worked in various UK local government sustainability roles. As the Senior Manager, Sustainability and Deputy Chair of the RMIT Sustainability Committee she leads a team which provides strategic advice to the executive and the wider community on sustainable management of assets and operations. Based within the Property Services Group, responsibilities include strategy development, project coordination, infrastructure planning, reporting, partnership development and communication to enhance the University’s profile as a sustainable organisation.

Linda Stevenson
Director

Sustainability Manager

I have been active in the education sector for decades whether as a student, researcher or employee. My Masters degrees in Environmental Science and Public Administration have enabled me to combine my personal and professional interests and allowed me to be active in sustainability issues generally, but specifically in Tasmania since arriving via an Antarctic research vessel in 1996.

I have been active in the not-for-profit sector, including 5 years as President of Sustainable Living Tasmania, and am a graduate of and mentor in the Tasmanian Leaders Program. I have led award-winning sustainability efforts in water conservation, renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, student involvement, food gardens and sustainable transport at both MacKillop College and at the University of Tasmania as Sustainability Manager since 2010. I also have a Certificate IV in Carbon Management and have International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) certification.

Corey Peterson
Director

Manager, CSU Green

Ed considers himself to be pretty lucky. He earns his living doing something he thinks is very important and which he just happens to really enjoy. Ed and his team at CSU Green cram their working days implementing projects that reduce Charles Sturt University’s footprint as well as showing students and staff at the University how they can make the world a more sustainable place, particularly through the skills that they pick up via their CSU degree and the knowledge that is created through their research. He is proud to be associated with Australia’s first certified Carbon Neutral University.

Ed’s particular areas of interest and experience include:

Sustainability leadership
Carbon reduction
Energy & water efficiency
Student/staff engagement
Waste minimisation and resource recovery

Ed has 14 years’ experience working in resource efficiency roles and possesses formal qualifications in Environmental Science, Carbon Management, Small Business Management and University Leadership.

Edward Maher
Director

Sustainability Manager

After several years of championing sustainability in tertiary education and working with outstanding colleagues across the sector, I am very excited to be part of the ACTS Board. I started my career in the energy efficiency industry and then joined Victoria University of Wellington over a decade ago. My role has evolved over time in line with the University’s growing commitment to sustainability.

I hope that ACTS can provide the tools and resources to help sustainability practitioners prove the value of sustainability and embed it as part of core business. The tertiary education sector collectively has a huge role to play in delivering a sustainable future.