2016 National Council - EWB NSW Member Reflection
Posted by NSW Region, 6th November 2016, 3:23am

A reflection on 2016 National Council and the role of EWB Chapters in achieving EWB's 2020 Vision and the Sustainable Development Goals from UNSW School Outreach Coordinator, Karats Eisenmenger.

EWB NSW region delegates

Over 16th-18th of September, a group of over 120 EWBers gathered in Canberra for the annual National Council. Hosted by ANU, we discussed and planned for the years ahead and how to make the 2020 Sustainable Development Goals a reality. The task wasn’t easy, but amongst the corporate engineers, university students and EWB Australia board members; ideas flowed freely and fruitful. The schedule was jam-packed, including events such as TedTalks, a Q&A panel with National leaders (like those of University Deans and NGO CEOs), several breakout sessions to target specific areas EWB currently works on and hands on workshops that increased our awareness on appropriate development strategies.

Needless to say, I’ve learnt more than you can expect from a couple of days in our nation’s capital. Being constantly surrounded by like-minded people who are passionate and inspiring in the work that they do got me excited for next year and many years to come. One of my personal highlights was getting the chance to meet those from other university chapters. There was a great representation of university’s including: RMIT, Monash, UMelb, ANU, UWA, Curtin, Edith Cowan, QUT, UQ, Griffith University, University of Adelaide, Flinders, University of Auckland (yes, there was a New Zealander!), UTS, USyd and of course UNSW. It was great to see how each chapter ran programs like SOs, Regioneering, SAIL, AppTech and Engineering on Country. We all exchanged pros and cons, raised potential initiatives and left feeling invigorated to return home and implement the points we discussed. Probably the most hopeful thought to result from National Council is knowing that you are not alone, there is a network of people ready to support you and work with you to achieve our common goal. If anything it is clear as day how crucial chapters like UNSW are. We are a piece of a jigsaw that completes a much bigger picture when we are all connected.