Martin Brennan

Martin Brennan has had a long association with local government as both an elected representative and a professional working in the sector. In 1995 Martin was appointed by the  Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) as the National Facilitator for Regional Cooperation and Development to lead the campaign to build regional cooperation and development across Australia.

Martin was elected to the Melbourne City Council for 3 terms commencing in 1988. During his final term on Council (1999-2002) he was Chair of the Finance, Corporate Services and Governance Committee during this time the City Council established the Sustainable Melbourne Fund, introduced Triple Bottom Line Reporting and established a Councillor Code of Conduct..

Martin was a founding member of ICLEI – Australia / New Zealand in 1998. As Deputy CEO he was responsible for providing political and partnership support to councils’ participation in ICLEI international campaigns - Cities for Climate Protection and the Water Campaign.

In 2011 Martin was appointed ICLEI Oceania, Regional Director and played a role internationally attending United Nations Climate Conferences and ICLEI World Congresses. Martin has also worked with city governments in Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and China.

In July 2015 he was appointed Honorary Senior Research Fellow with the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL).  Martin’s role is to provide support to students undertaking research as part of the Post Carbon Resilient Future Cities Node Project, funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living and coordinated by the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL).