Episode Seven of the Inogen Alliance, Rethinking EHS Podcast explores the importance and meaning of environmental justice across different global regions.
Tune into this episode to hear interviews from leading Social and Environmental Justice specialists, Erica Olesson, Sustainability Leader – Tonkin + Taylor, Scott Recker – Environmental Remediation Practice Leader at Antea Group USA, and Valentina Vieri – Sustainability Specialist for HPC Italy.
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Podcast Episode Seven – Perspectives on Social and Environmental Justice
The group discusses strategies for achieving sustainable development, emphasizing the need for community engagement, regulatory compliance, and addressing vulnerable groups.
Erica Olesson – Tonkin + Taylors Group Sustainability Leader says, “The term, environmental and social justice, is not one that we use very commonly in Australia and New Zealand where I’ve worked. We talk more about social license to operate, so it’s a similar concept, perhaps a bit reversed. It’s more about what the company needs to do for, what the organization needs to do for the community to be happy that they’re there and to be making sure that they’re responding to those community needs.” – Erica Olesson
The group explore a case study from a Tonkin + Taylor Project, surrounding Iwi and community engagement and restoring a sense of Justice for the Taranaki-based Iwi
The Ngāti Tama is an Iwi (Indigenous Māori tribe) in Taranaki, Aotearoa / New Zealand. In the 1860’s, wars with British colonists resulted in loss of life and land for the Iwi. This was settled as a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi under the Ngāti Tama Claims Settlement Act 2003 (TRoNT).
TRoNT was approached by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) in 2016, to re-route the Te Ara O Te Ata/ Mt Messenger Bypass through land which Ngāti Tama owned or exercised mana whenua (authority and responsibility for their tribal area) over. This was the first time the Crown had sought to acquire land which had so recently been returned to an Iwi. The Mt Messenger Alliance was formed, to provide sustainability and engineering capabilities, and to support our client to have full participation of Ngāti Tama, where the Iwi is highly involved at all levels of the project.
Listen in to hear our experts perspectives, and how they were actively applied to Te Ara O Te Ata
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