The Australia Quarterly invited CEO of Regen Melbourne, Kaj Löfgren, to reflect on RM’s work in the context of the polycrisis for their April 2025 edition. The article is republished here with permission.

Regen Streets convener, Nina Sharpe, reports back on the strategies and conversations that emerged from our recent “local economies” workshop with world-renowned localisation expert Helena Norberg-Hodge and community organisers from across Melbourne.

What are we learning from the likes of Amsterdam and Cornwall about how to put Doughnut Economics and the City Portrait into practice here in Melbourne? Regen Melbourne City Portrait Analyst Lokesh Sangarya reflects on how international practice continues to inform and evolve the Melbourne Doughnut.

Last year, the Swimmable Birrarung project enjoyed an exciting but completely unplanned viral media moment. We responded well, but were caught off guard. Here, Charity Mosienyane explains how we did things differently when the same thing happened this February. 

How do we transform our city’s streets to shape the neighbourhoods Melburnians want? Through lengthy community engagement, Regen Streets has identified seven key building blocks to get us where we need to go.  

Helena Norberg-Hodge has dedicated her life to rebuilding connections. As founder of international not-for-profit Local Futures, she’s helped reimagine the status quo, advocating for ecological and social renewal, thriving local food systems and strengthened communities via a decentralised economy.

In April, Regen Melbourne’s will be co-hosting a ‘Hot Food’ workshop in collaboration with Sweltering Cities and the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation. Here, our Food Systems convenor Dheepa Jeyapalan chats with Sweltering Cities founder Emma Bacon to discuss what it’ll take for Melbourne’s food system to become truly resilient. 

This month, we welcome Dr. Dominique Hes to the Regen Melbourne board, where she will take on a very special role: to represent nature. Here, Dominique reflects on the opportunities and responsibilities ahead - including what nature can teach us about purposeful governance within our organisations.