*Photo gallery below
Rotorua Councillor and Cultural Ambassador Trevor Maxwell and Mayor of Rotorua Steve Chadwick welcomed guests to their city as IPWEA hosted delegates at its pre-conference drinks last night.
Mayor Chadwick told the crowd that there were more than 800 delegates at this year’s event from all four corners of the world – the biggest IPWEA conference ever.
“This is a milestone conference as it is the coming together at last of three separate conferences, the IPWEA New Zealand conference, the bi-annual IPWEA Conference and the IFME conference,” she said.
She was particularly pleased about the theme of the conference: ‘Sustainable Communities, Sharing Knowledge” as Rotorua has just been named the first sustainable city of New Zealand under the UN Charter.
In particular, she praised the town for its geothermal heating systems, clean air program and water quality program, which delegates will be able to find out more about on the many partner tours arranged for Thursday 11 June.
IPWEA President Michael Kahler, IPWEA New Zealand President Braden Austin, CEO IPWEA NZ Ross Vincent and Conference Chair Andy Bell also took to the stage to welcome delegates.
Austin described the event, which sees the IPWEA conference join with the IPWEA New Zealand conference and the IFME conference as a “Once in a generation occasion”.
See who you can spot in our gallery below:
IPWEA's 2015 Conference – Opening night drinks by Slidely Photo Gallery