Friday, 06 February 2009 02:07

ECO-CITY MELBOURNE

building a low carbon future

Wednesday 25th – Saturday 28th February 2009

An exhibition of designs for an Ecological Business District neighbouring Docklands. Visions from the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab.

What does Melbourne look like in 2032? The Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL), funded by the Victorian Sustainability Fund has looked at the last remaining vacant land available for development in Melbourne’s CBD known as E-Gate and applied some very radical thinking.

Last year VEIL ran a series of workshops with design staff from Melbourne, Monash, RMIT and Swinburne Universities who engaged with international and local experts to develop revolutionary visions for the E-Gate site as a zero-carbon eco-city. Around 200 students took these visions to develop design ideas for a demonstration city as a living expo of a low-carbon urban community, now known as the Ecological Business District (EBD). EBD is an eco-city of the future between the Docklands and the CBD, a new model of sustainable prosperity.

For the first time, you can take a peep at the sustainable future at ECO-CITY MELBOURNE, an exhibition featuring designs from the EBD workshops, guest speakers, tours, and a ‘Sustainable Cities Roundtable’ networking event from Wednesday 25th – Saturday 28th February 2009 at Shed 4, Docklands.

“Transforming our economy to deal with climate change means transforming production, infrastructure, built environments and life-styles. That can seem an overwhelming task, particularly when we have just decades to achieve real change. Yet it is clear that many people want to act now, to do what they can to make their lives more sustainable. The EBD development aims to support people to make that change. It will provide an opportunity to join in a pioneering experiment in living better, consuming less. It is being designed so that all people who live and work on the site will meet Victoria’s 2050 environmental targets twenty-five years ahead of time.”
Professor Chris Ryan, Director VEIL

Opening Speech: Major Projects Minister Tim Pallas,  Victorian State Government

Keynote Speakers: The Honorable Tom Roper; Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Susan Riley

Exhibition Sponsors: Major Projects Victoria, Melbourne City Council

In partnership with: Monash University, University of Melbourne, RMIT University, Swinburne University

Sustainably supported by: Mountain Goat Brewery, Allira Winery

The attached pdf includes details of the Exhibition Program.