Regen Melbourne

We’re excited to welcome not one, not three, but TWO new members to the Regen Melbourne team this week: Josh Devine and Joel Backwell 💥🌱✌️ ➡️  Josh is our new Collaboration & Investment Lead, extending our work in new urban governance and maturing collaborative and participatory approaches to urban transformation through our Earthshots. Josh will also be leading our work in systemic investment, developing new ways to harness capital in service of regeneration. Josh is a proud Wonnarua man and has been working most recently at First Australians Capital (FAC) focused on connecting ecosystems, supporting First Nations businesses to access capital and providing advisory services. ➡️ And Joel is our new Policy & Urban Governance Lead, driving the systemic integration of our work with public policy making across the city. Joel will also be further developing our work around new urban governance, exploring new forms of structured governance and how it can enhance agency and participation in Greater Melbourne. Joel is a Senior Executive with extensive Private and Public sector experience across Asia and Australia, including leadership roles as a Public Servant, Lawyer, Director and Diplomat in areas including education, trade, investment, economic development, transport, infrastructure, planning and local government. Welcome to the team, team! We’re thrilled to have you with us. 🚀

💦 NEWS SPLASH! 💦 On the front page of the Herald Sun today you'll find the Yarra Yabbies, Yarra Riverkeeper Association's Carolyn Tate and Regen Melbourne's Charity Mosienyane discussing our collective vision for a Swimmable Birrarung. And earlier this morning, Matt Sykes of Regeneration Projects was invited on The Today Show to discuss the Swimmable Birrarung – demonstrating how an entire ecosystem of actors is coming together in service of our river. Alongside our partners, we're committed to the vision of a healthy, thriving and protected Birrarung – one that future generations of Victorians can enjoy, take pride in and yes, even swim in. Pick up your copy of the Herald Sun today for the full story, or read the digital version here (paywalled) ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gveEkCeZ

Exciting news! You can now undertake a PhD alongside Regen Melbourne, with the Birrarung as your subject 🎓👩🔬💦 Led by OPTIMA CI Peter Stucker and Al Paul Satur from Monash University and titled 'Measuring the Birrarung: Data Fusion and Optimisation', this PhD will help paint a much fuller picture of the state of the Birrarung than is currently possible. You’ll be investigating questions such as: 🤔 Where does geographical lack of data about the Birrarung make it hard to estimate its state? 🧑🔬 How can we best supplement lack of data: by citizen science, new instrumentation, or modelling methods (such as kriging); to gain a fuller understanding of the river state? 📈 How we can effectively measure the effect of interventions in terms of improving overall river health / water quality to increase the swimmability corridor along the river length? We could never have predicted that our shared vision for a Swimmable Birrarung would result in a data optimisation PhD. But here we are. If you’re an analytical data whizz and computer scientist who also loves looking after our wild places, you can express your interest in this PhD right here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g-huxq9d

We’re thrilled to announce Dr Dominique Hes as the newest member of the Regen Melbourne board. 🌱❤️ Alongside her traditional Director responsibilities, Dominique’s role will be to represent the voice of nature in everything we do. Our work at Regen Melbourne is with and for nature. And it was important to us to find a way to embed the voice of nature deeply and meaningfully in our governance structure. We didn’t want to rely on policies, documents or a set of values pinned to the wall. We wanted a living, breathing voice for nature at the centre of our work. Enter Dominique. Though she needs little introduction, Dominique has spent over 20 years working in the regenerative space. After founding the Living Future Institute in 2012, Dominique has held roles at the University of Melbourne, Beyond Zero Emissions, Trust for Nature, City of Melbourne and is currently Chair of the Board of Directors at Greenfleet. Dominique’s work has been centred nature and regenerative practices in a range of industries and sectors. Her book, ‘Designing for Hope: Pathways to Regenerative Development’, co-authored with Professor Crisna du Plessis, is about to celebrate its 10th birthday. And her most recent book, ‘The Stories of Newport Lakes’ shares the hidden history of one of Melbourne’s most incredible community-driven regeneration projects. Regen Melbourne is now one of a small group of Australian organisations to formally recognise nature on its board – and we hope others follow suit. We’ll be sharing updates from Dominique’s journey with us in the coming weeks. Until then, welcome Dominique. It’s great to have you with us. 🌱🐞🐾

Can investing be harnessed as a force for good? 🤔 We know that our current systems are broken. Issues like the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and increasing socioeconomic disparity only highlight the limitations of traditional singular solutions. And shifting capital is one way to divert energy and resources to the organisations working on essential interventions. Join us for a masterclass with Kaj Löfgren, CEO at Regen Melbourne and Daniel Almagor, Founder of Small Giants Academy, where we delve into the essence of systems thinking and its application in investing. ⬇️ We will transcend the narrow focus of investing in isolated solutions and offer a comprehensive understanding of the interconnectedness within complex systems. Danny and Kaj will cover elements like leverage points, the three horizons, broad vs narrow boundaries, feedback loops and multi order effects and how your own investing can utilise these powerful models for impact. Get your tix ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gnkNN2yH

Urban transformation is a double-edged sword. ⚔️ As our cities evolve, the rise of fancy restaurants, chain stores and boujee organic cafes often comes at a hidden cost: the displacement of local institutions. The kind that are almost impossible to replace. Typically, it's the family-owned businesses that have been neighbourhood anchors for years, providing affordable, culturally meaningful food to their communities. These aren't just places to eat – they're where communities gather, connect, and thrive. With food insecurity growing in gentrified areas, protecting these vital spaces has never been more important. In this Croakey Health Media piece, Regen Melbourne's Dheepa Jeyapalan and co-authors Vijaishree Krishna Kumar, Ann (Xiang) Li, Sisi Jia and Stephanie Partridge highlight the immense challenge our streets and our communities are facing. They also highlight those who are working tirelessly to address the issues, organisations like The Community Grocer, Cultivating Community Melbourne, and the African Youth Policy Study (Christina Zorbas and Khalid Muse). Building better food systems requires us to hold space for both progress and preservation. We simply can't advocate for healthier, more sustainable food without protecting the cultural fabric that food weaves through our communities. Read all about it over on Croakey Helath ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ghbb8NWr

Without the need for a crystal ball, there are a few things we already know about 2025. 🔮⬇️ We know it’ll have 12 months and 365 days in it. We know our global political landscape has shifted. We know we’ll be at the whims of an increasingly unstable climate, no matter where we live or our socioeconomic status. And we know, despite it all, that so many millions of us will spend the next 12 months planting seeds in the hope they might one day bear branches strong enough to hold our visions of a better world. This week, Regen Melbourne CEO Kaj Löfgren Lofgren reflects on why these seeds matter now more than ever. Read now on The Regen Gazette ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g9JXWrcY

When it comes to swimmable cities, Rob Stokes is a bit of a luminary 🏊 The former NSW Minister for Infrastructure, Cities, and Active Transport was one key player behind making the Parramatta River swimmable again, Sydney’s Blue/Green grid, and the Places to Swim initiative. So basically a super-achiever in the subject of urban transformation. Needless to say, he has plenty of unique insights and experiences around swimmable urban waterways and how they can transform our cities for the better. Regen Melbourne can’t wait to host Rob as he shares his water-based wisdom to help wrap the National Gallery of Victoria's REIMAGINING THE BIRRARUNG 2070 exhibition. Plus, tickets include a private tour of the exhibition! 📅 Thursday January 30, 6pm–8pm 📍 NGV, Melbourne 🎟️ Via Humanitix ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gR3F-TBd

How can the recommendations from the Greater Melbourne City Portrait begin to influence policy and planning decision-making across our great city? 🍩 Director of Regen Melbourne’s Systems Lab, Alison Whitten, explains how the City Portrait is shifting gears through 2025 and beyond. Read all about it on The Regen Gazette ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gXfnXJ8N

In this episode of the Modern Maze podcast, Regen Melbourne’s own Caroline Sanz-Veitch talks about how we can empower individuals and communities to shape their collective future. Caroline delves into our work on new urban governance, emphasising community engagement, storytelling, leadership archetypes and innovative democratic models. Listen now ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gMR-kJ5a