Earthshots are declarations of intent to solve complex social and ecological challenges.
it’s time for radically ambitious, collaborative action: earthshots for the regeneration of our city
A thriving and swimmable Birrarung river, from source to sea.
A city of participatory and truly liveable streets
Fresh, local food at the heart of every neighbourhood
Earthshots are interconnected pathways to a safe and just future
Our Earthshots are a declaration of intent to solve complex social and ecological challenges. These are essential when action is needed that transcends sectors and requires many, diverse solutions. Earthshots require ambition of possibility, coherence of a collective response and an agitation of the systemic conditions we operate within.
Co-developed with our partner organisations, our portfolio covers the major cultural and asset layers of what makes a city like Greater Melbourne come to life: our waterways, our streets and laneways, and our food system. These layers contain the history, culture and deep connections of our place. And yet they are also where we will face the greatest risks posed by climate change, inequality and the many other interconnected challenges of our time.
It is in place, on riverbanks, the streets we live, and in the food system we rely on, where the messy middle of change happens. And it is here that we are working together to bring new, better futures to life.
what we need for transition
Single solutions and isolated initiatives will not be enough to secure a thriving equitable future for people and planet.
Across the city there are many actors and initiatives working to reorient power, materials, resources and knowledges in service to the regeneration of our city. Yet our ways of collaborating, distributing resources and harnessing the collective intelligences of our place are not set up well to accelerate these pockets of potential. We need better bridges between what we have now and what we’ll need next.
These three Earthshots are our contribution to a city in transition. They seek to radically increase the city’s ambition of what is possible and to deepen our collective systemic impact through the active building out of new options for the future.
origins of an earthshot
It can be instructive to track the idea of an Earthshot back to the “moon-shot” - the declaration by the US to get to the moon in the 1960s. At the time it was not known how this might happen, nor did the technology, innovation, funding or sector organising exist to make it possible. By setting the wildly ambitious goal, new formations, new markets and new ways of working accelerated and it was realised.
In our context, instead of going to the moon we need to drive wildly ambitious goals that can accelerate new ways of operating for our city systems to thrive in balance between human needs and our straining planet.
The Earthshots designed for Greater Melbourne act as pathways towards the vision for place that was defined by more than 500 individuals in 2020. Such ambitious directions depend on orchestrating complex webs of factors and actors - we need spaces to hold the messy middle of change. That’s where Regen Melbourne comes in.
what makes an earthshot
Wildly ambitious: because we have to be
Impact oriented: systemic in nature, layers of interventions are designed in order to influence conditions and landscape level changes that will impact people’s daily lives
Whole of city: necessitates cross-disciplinary, cross-sector, multi-stakeholder collaboration
Coherence not consensus: there is no blueprint for the scale of interconnected responses required, forward leaning action looks like smart collaboration not consensus building
Long term and open: committed to building broad support for the long term, the Earthshots are platforms for many entry points
Of and for Melbourne: the Earthshots serve this city, they build on what makes this place unique and wonderful.