I can’t believe I have not written about Regen Melbourne before. I have been loosely involved with them from the beginning and the crafting of their original co-created vision statement, based on Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics model. I have also had the pleasure of being part of some of their workshops, and they have also been of great help and support with my own personal regeneration project.

Over the years, Regen Melbourne’s work has steadily evolved and now coalesces around three key Earthshots. An Earthshot is a declaration of intent to solve complex social and ecological challenges. Earthshots recognise that social and ecological regeneration are inseparable. They set an ambition of possibility, coherence of a collective response, and agitation of the conditions we operate within. Earthshots are whole-of-city in scope, long-term in commitment, and open to many entry points.

Each Earthshot has six key qualities.

Wildly Ambitious

Because the scale of the challenges demand it. We are all invested in the social and ecological future of this place.

Systems-oriented

Looking at the conditions we need not just outputs. Oriented towards multi-benefits not single solutions.

Whole-of-city

No one organisation can own the scope of the Earthshot. We are interconnected, so too must our response be.

Coherence, not consensus

There is no blueprint. Forward-leaning action looks like smart collaboration, not waiting for everyone to agree.

Long-term and open

Committed to building broad support over time. An Earthshot is a platform for entry points, not a closed project.

Of and for Melbourne

These Earthshots are in service to place. They build on what makes this city thrive and centre care for our future.

The current Earthshots they are focussing on are:

Swimmable Birrarung
A thriving and swimmable Birrarung, from source to sea
300,000 Streets
A city of participatory and truly liveable streets
Nourished Neighbourhoods
A network of resilient local food economies across our city

You can find a load more about all of this on their website but what caught my eye recently was this particular article, The Power of Participation: Strengthening the civic muscle of Greater Melbourne. [LINK] The author, Joel Backwell, covers a lot of ground in this post talking about Participatory Urbanism in Melbourne, from “what we are seeing” now, to “where to from here”. For anyone living in Melbourne it’s a great snapshot of some of the wonderful projects and orgs operating on the ground and the work they are doing. The article asks the big questions about participation as well as explaining its importance. Something I have done in previous posts: HERE and HERE

“What we are interested in is how all this participation comes together, in service of Greater Melbourne. How intentional must we be in directing this participation towards influencing and shaping power? Or is it enough to just create opportunities for people to come together to discuss what matters to them and their neighbourhoods, and then let a thousand flowers bloom? Can we expect that participation, in response to societal and environmental challenges, will organically scale up to political action? Or will it require organisations like Regen Melbourne to help join the dots, bring these spheres of activity together and build new spaces and institutions for collaboration and collective decision-making at a city scale?“

I’ll wrap this up here because I hope I’ve given enough reasons to go and read the post and check out more about what Regen Melbourne is doing in general on their website here: https://regen.melbourne They have their fingers in a lot of pies, so for anyone interested in Climate Change, Social Justice, or Regeneration, you will find loads of stuff to dive into: Climate Change Exchange – Democracy Beyond the Ballot Box – Connected Corridors – School Streets

Other links

You can follow The REGEN Gazette here: https://regen.melbourne/the-gazette
The People’s Plan for Footscray https://peoplesplanfootscray.net/
McKinnon and Foundations for Tomorrow https://foundationsfortomorrow.org
Doing Co: https://doingco.org/