February and March have been such a busy and dynamic time!
We have had a high energy atmosphere here in Sydney with the wonderful Purpose, Sydney Build Expo and Sydney Design Festival. How amazing to be amongst a group of passionate and purpose-driven individuals! It is often good to be reminded why we do what we do at GECA.
Sometimes we feel we are preaching to the converted. Sometimes in a standards body with rules and thresholds and technical data, multiple schemes, standards, we can feel like there are many hoops and hurdles and wonder why is it so hard? But then one takes time to step back and be part of the broader community and the reminder of why we do what we do is SO important, and the need for our mission becomes re-energised. The participants at these events want to know all about people like our GECA licensees and their products.
Hundreds and hundreds of people at Purpose were there full of passion and determined for meaningful change, all inspired by the likes of Paul Hawken and Rachel Botsman. Together, we can join the dots to help them live their lives the way they want to – aligned with their values for the environment, health and social good.
And if Purpose wasn’t enough, we then went straight into Sydney Design Festival and Sydney Build Expo, proving that “good” can be gorgeous too!
We had fun with Winya at Sydney Design Festival, showing that planet and people – including the people of our First Nation – are important too. And with Superlocalstudio, we showcased GECA’s Materials in Mind pod alongside a series of fascinating talks responding to the theme, Call to Action.
At Sydney Build Expo with our pod again, it was wonderful to see an increase in peoples need and understanding of sustainable materials. Good to remember – good products and good people do make good change.
And last but not least, we hosted the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology from the People’s Republic of China. Another source of inspiration. We need to stop thinking that we have everything sorted in Australia, and be on our game. The world is moving fast and it is looking to us for trusted, certified products and services.
China is leading the way in environmental policy and tracking and transparency of best practice products. Time for Australia to show our wares to the world and win a position of leadership in our region.
And to those of our licensees already doing it? Including meeting new challenges such as social supply chain?
Congratulations! Thanks for making the world a better place.
Feature image via Sarah Sannen. Additional images via Paula Clasby.
