Introducing our portfolio of wildly ambitious projects
In a time of crisis it is often difficult to know where to apply our energy. Our instinct can be rightly to protect and defend, to limit hurt and to ultimately survive. Solidarity with an alliance of partners can help us to build resilience to shocks and to limit harm.
Our increasing sense at Regen Melbourne is that we should also meet this moment of disruption with an equivalent level of ambition for systemic transformation; for projects that lift our collective ambition beyond survival and towards a truly regenerative Melbourne. It is only by working together that we are able to articulate what these projects could be, and then to collectively hold onto this level of ambition.
Regen Melbourne is developing a portfolio of projects based on thematic clusters in the network (e.g. healthy waterways, citizen agency, regenerative streets, and many more). Drawing on the work of Mariana Mazzucato around Mission-Oriented Innovation (or Challenge-Led Innovation in the Australian context) and Collective Impact models, RM serves as a nervous system (not the project manager) for each project.
As the host for each project, our role is to be the active backbone function that increases collective ambition and deepens systemic impact. We (re)organise the actors, resources and relationships to enable each project to be successful. This involves:
Strategic convening
Catalysing collective innovation
Active communication between actors
Collective measurement
Policy engagement
Designing funding architecture
Public campaigning
Each project has a dedicated Lead Convenor who works closely with the broader RM team, and with our university partners through the RM Lab. These talented humans work across systems to unlock and build collaborative partnerships in service to the project.
Mariana Massucato’s mission-led innovation model with the Swimmable Birrarung project example.
Below are some of the elements of what makes a Regen Melbourne project.
We’d love your thoughts and feedback on this as we embark on this work together.
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Our projects ask us to consider what our ultimate earth-shots for Melbourne could be? What could we achieve if new and unusual alliances were built and all forces aligned?
They are not rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, but instead are actively encouraging and demanding a transition towards a more regenerative city.
Achieving the long-term goal of each project inherently requires shifts in the cultural, social, economic, ecological and political fabric of our city. Collectively pursuing these goals will therefore contribute, in small and large ways, to shifting and improving the underlying conditions that currently breed the many harms that we are struggling against.
Our projects should be brave, bold and risky. They should feel wildly ambitious.
And they should ignite a fire in your belly about what we can achieve together. -
Single actors don’t solve systems problems. Regen Melbourne exists to explore and convene around projects that inherently require many actors and many solutions.
Specifically we are looking for existing collaborations of organisations who are exploring an ambitious goal together; collaborations where there might be value in an expanded coalition and the involvement of broader research and storytelling.
We are also very conscious not to replicate the incredible efforts of existing systems change initiatives. We are very consciously seeking to add tangible value to impactful collaborative efforts and not to get in the way or distract from inspiring work!
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Our projects tangibly contribute to Greater Melbourne reducing its planetary boundary overshoot, lifting our social foundations and healing and reconnecting to country and each other.
Over time we are seeking a diverse portfolio of projects which are acting on all the planetary boundaries and social foundations in the Melbourne Doughnut.
The projects should also provide practical, tangible pathways to action for our alliance members. It should feel and be inclusive to contributions and activities from the full breadth of the alliance (e.g. community organisations, small businesses, non-profit organisations, social enterprises, larger businesses, government etc).
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Our projects emerge with humility and curiosity about what has come before. Through the RM Lab we surface insights, expertise and wisdom before embarking on new activities together.
We challenge the notion of how we understand expertise, celebrating the resource of traditional forms of research in the regeneration of Melbourne, while inviting in lived experience, other voices, and different knowledge systems to inform how we work and what we work on.
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Our projects are intuitive, playful and inspiring. To regenerate our city requires urgent action, and the work is not always fun. However, we unashamedly pursue work that brings joy and life to the city. Without joy, connection and love, the work becomes degenerative to all involved.
Through the relationships we build and the activities we create together, we build active hope and, yes, joy. The journey ahead is a challenging one, but we all must find the things that make us smile and do those.
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Our projects respect Melbourne as a living system and draw on the strength of our stories, culture and passions.
We connect to the languages, cultures and stories of our city, beginning with the rich wisdom and custodianship of First Nations communities.
