For the first time in history the majority of the world’s population live in cities. How do we reduce the environmental demands of cities whilst maintaining and expanding the cultural and social vitality that can make life in the city so desirable and rewarding? In cities everywhere people are concerned about sustainability. Action is occurring at many levels and on many fronts.
SustainableMelbourne.com is a network and communication system to deliver information, to connect people and projects, to accelerate the city’s transformation. The site delivers and shares information on sustainable activities and initiatives within Melbourne. In 2008, SustainableMelbourne.com will also have a greater research focus on local sustainability initiatives that could link to the VEIL Melbourne 2032 visions. The first research project for 2008 investigates the scope of local urban agriculture.
The Sustainable Melbourne community also gathers offline, at the Sustainable Cities Round Tables. Mid-week evenings held every six to eight weeks are designed to enhance collaboration between key stakeholders in urban sustainability, while brainstorming new ideas and connections to further sustainability within Melbourne. The evenings start with a "pecha kucha" session of speakers, each speaker having 3 minutes to present their work and focus. The remainder of the evening, in the VEIL tradition, is devoted to networking (building collaborative environments) and creative discussions (solution seeding).
SustainableCitiesNet.com is an online portal linking the Sustainable Melbourne community to like-minded thinkers and do-ers across the world. The portal aims to create a broad network of people working on sustainability within cities in Australia and throughout the world. The tag-line, "the city is re-inventing itself", expresses the idea of dynamic change from within the city as a living entity. It comes from the site SustainableRotterdam.com which has quickly become a model for creating a window on the social, cultural and design activities that are part of a great city being transformed by the demands of a sustainable future.
VEIL believes that sustainable solutions will result from diverse groups of people working together. If you would like to contribute material to SustainableMelbourne.com, join us at the next Sustainable Cities Round Table. Or if you would like to find out more about the project, please contact Ferne Edwards or head over to the websites:
Sustainable Cities and Sustainable Melbourne is supported by the Victorian government through the Sustainability Fund.
Project co-ordinator and site moderator: Ferne Edwards.
VEIL Director: Chris Ryan.
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