Council is inviting Expressions of Interest from creative and proficient consultancies to participate in a limited design competition to enhance the public amenities and open space along the foreshore in Middle Park. Interested consultancies must respond to the project requirements as outlined in the brief.

Further information and a copy of the Expression of Interest brief may be obtained from Stav Athanasopoulos on 9209 6316, via SATHANAS @portphillip.vic.gov.au, or by visiting the St Kilda Town Hall.

Submissions will be received in envelopes clearly marked ‘Expression of Interest for Sustainable Design Services (Contract No. 1136)’ and are to be lodged in the tender box at the St Kilda Town Hall, corner Brighton Road and Carlisle Street, St Kilda by 3pm on Friday 13th June 2008.

Lodgement of submissions does not guarantee inclusion on the tender list as Council reserves the right not to accept any Expression of Interest, or part thereof.

Submissions received after the closing time or by email or facsimile will not be considered.

The Mini MSF titled “Eating, moving, living: Pathways to sustainable urban planning, transport and food production™” was held on Saturday 5th April 2008 at the Port Phillip EcoCentre. The Melbourne Social Forum are pleased to report that the 2008 mini Melbourne Social Forum was a success.

* If you attended, please send your feedback to info @melbournesocialforum.org

Between 80 to 100 people attended to hear our speakers present on food, urban planning and public transport issues. The band, The Conch stole the show at lunch time and had everyone grooving and tapping along with their unique sound and political lyrics. The authentic Mexican vegetarian lunch time feast was enjoyed by all and the engage media film festival screened some interesting documentaries and ran until people were ready for home.

The speaking sessions on food, transport and urban planning were well attended and there was some excellent exchange between the speakers and audience.

The event was filmed by crew from Plug-in TV and we hope to have some content on the internet soon for you to download and watch.

The MSF would like to thank our speakers, the City of Port Phillip and the Port Phillip EcoCentre for their support in holding the event.

The State Government has asked for public comment on Sir Rod Eddington’s Investing in Transport Report. Yarra City Council is holding a Community Information Session to discuss the recommendations in the report, the consultation process, issues affecting Yarra and key transport issues affecting the east-west corridor.

When: 6.45pm (for 7.00pm start) - 9.00pm, Monday 12 May, 2008
Where: Main Hall, Collingwood Town Hall, 140 Hoddle Street, Collingwood
RSVP: Wednesday 7 May, 2008 by calling 9205 5025

The meeting will include information about Sir Rod Eddington’s 20 recommendations, a presentation on transport patterns and needs in the eastern corridor and a round table discussion of the issues.

Council strongly encourages members of the Yarra community to make their own submission on the report to the Department of Infrastructure by mid-July.

For more information on the report and consultation process visit www.doi.vic.gov.au and follow the ‘East-West Link Needs Assessment’ link.

I have been selling 100% biodegradable and compostable catering ware for just under a year, (I thought i should get the commercial interest out of the way straight away) and the market awareness of the product is steadily growing to the point where some festivals will only allow the food vendors on sight if they use this type of product instead of plastic. This is of course great news for a future filled with sustainable events except for one major hurdle. It has become apparent that the composting of the biodegradable catering ware and food scraps is not as easy as first thought. I have documentation from the zero waste program which is aligned with Flinders Uni in S.A proving the catering ware is biodegradable and SITA have been testing it and hopefully are in the process of writing a report, but no body including SITA will take the stuff for a number of reasons. 1. SITA is at or near capacity. 2. Fear of contamination of the compost for on-selling purposes. 3. Seemingly a lack of alternatives to SITA that operate on a much smaller scale. This last reason is probably the biggest hurdle as the amount of compostable fully sorted waste generated from the last Sustainable Living Festival was apparently only one skip full. Surely there is a future for this type of event waste if we are to have a sustainable future. Can any one help?

Yours in frustration.

Sean Flynn

Going Green Solutions

As part of our research at the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab, VEIL , we are currently designing an online, urban food production map of Melbourne. We are asking people involved in the local food / sustainabilty sector to contribute feedback to the design of this project.

We hope that the VEIL food map will:
• Record the quantity & variety of urban food production present within Melbourne;
• Allow Melbournians to contribute data to this site;
• Form a database for people to use to design new products & services towards greater sustainability within Melbourne;
• Provide evidence that urban food production currently exists within Melbourne in order to foster greater policy support of this industry.

The type of produce to be recorded on this website is food that is primary produce, ie. fresh & not value-added/ processed . These food examples must be larger than household production. Examples of urban food production models include: community gardens, commercial production and market gardens, shared private gardens (such as extended family/ group of households), & food produced on public space (such as street edge gardening, nature strips & street trees).

To test the site and contribute feedback visit http://www.veilmap.sustainablemelbourne.com/.

To move around the map:
• Either double-click the cursor to zoom in or use the scale on the top left-hand corner to zoom in or out;
• Hold the cursor down to drag the image from side-to-side;
• Swap from ‘map’ to ‘satellite’ to ‘both’ views by clicking on the boxes on the top right-hand side.

To submit or edit data:
• First, check if the site has already been added. If it hasn’t, submit data on http://www.veilmap.sustainablemelbourne.com/record_entry.php
• If you would like to edit data on the site please email the details to me at fedwards @unimelb.edu.au.

Please email all feedback to Ferne Edwards at fedwards @unimelb.edu.au.

Find below the latest newsletter from eVillage Melbourne. To see more details visit the website at http://evillagemelbourne.com.au/.

Hello to all eVillage Melbourne members,

Future Melbourne draft plan
The final stages of the Future Melbourne project are fast approaching, as the City of Melbourne puts the finishing touches to the Future Melbourne draft plan. This document will reflect the contributions of eVillage members and the wider Melbourne community. And these contributions will become even more evident shortly, with the official opening of the Future Melbourne draft plan wiki.

From Saturday, 17 May to Saturday, 14 June, you will be able to log into, read and edit the Future Melbourne draft plan wiki via www.futuremelbourne.com.au. This is an exciting development for the City of Melbourne and the Future Melbourne project and we’re sure you’ll enjoy this final opportunity to help shape Melbourne’s future.

Archived options and talking points
The Future Melbourne’s ‘Considering the options’ phase is now over, and the project is moving into final phases. We have archived all options-related posts, so you can still see and read what was said but you won’t be able to reply to any posts. As all discussion and ideas under each ‘talking point’ have now been absorbed into comprehensive goals and directions within the Future Melbourne draft plan, the talking points have now served their purpose and will be ‘retired’.

Key themes for discussion and action
Out of all the discussion about the future of Melbourne on the eVillage, 17 issues and themes have emerged as the most important and pressing for our members. Here are some of these.
- Spending on major events brings people to our doorstep. These people come back, and they are ambassadors for our city when they go home.
- Melbourne should continue to develop its standing as an education-focused and design-oriented city.
- Melbourne should place a far greater emphasis on green spaces and appropriate development.
- Violence on the streets must be reduced, and better liquor licensing laws are needed to help manage the problem.
- Businesses and residents have competing interests.
- The city needs to shift its transport planning from motor traffic to bicycles and feet.
- The city should develop programs that better integrate its constituents into ‘one’ community (business, residents, students, employees and so on.)

You can view and comment on these and more at Discussion HQ.

Thank you for your continuing contributions and interest, your efforts are making a difference to the future of our city.
The eVillage Melbourne Team.

Would you like to be trained to provide talks to community groups on promoting climate justice and preventing runaway climate change?

Friends of the Earth (FoE) receives requests from a range of community groups to provide talks on climate change. These are important opportunities to increase awareness about climate justice and climate change issues, and to promote FoE’s valuable work in this area.

We are inviting applications from people who would like to provide talks to community groups about these issues on FoE’s behalf, on a voluntary basis (though travel expenses incurred through making presentations would be reimbursed). Successful applicants will be trained to prepare for their role, focusing on skill development in public speaking, presentation
techniques, understanding climate justice and climate change issues, and responding to questions from the audience. Approximately 5 hours of training will be provided.

Successful applicants would do approximately one talk per month, and we are hoping for a commitment of at least six months. Handout material and a PowerPoint presentation (for those situations in which it is needed) will be provided by FoE for presenters to use.

To be eligible, you must be either a current or former FoE member, and/or have donated time (e.g. through volunteering on a specific task or campaign) or money to FoE. You would need to understand FoE’s general principles and philosophies concerning our social justice and environmental work, and have at least a moderate understanding of climate change and climate justice issues. You don’t need to be a great public speaker, but be someone who likes to communicate with people and be willing to improve your presentation skills.

If you are interested please contact Arius, arius.tolstoshev @foe.org.au asap.

I found this job posting on the Australian Policy Online newsletter and thought it might interest the Sustainable Melbourne audience.

Research assistant/research fellow, public transport and social research
Monash University, Clayton
We are seeking a Research Assistant/Fellow to support public transport planning research in the fields of social disadvantage in transport, market futures in transport and transport and urban planning. The applicant will be experienced in quantitative research methods, survey results analysis, general research support and have high written and oral communication skills. At least an honours degree in a related field is required and research experience is desirable. Experience in public transport planning or social research and GIS software would be an advantage.

Salary range: $Aust47,472 - $64,427 / $67,818 - $80,535 pa Level A/Level B plus superannuation
Duration: Fifteen-month appointment. Continuation beyond this based on performance.
Enquiries: Professor Graham Currie, tel. 9905 5574 or email graham.currie@eng.monash.edu.au
Applications: By mail addressed to Ms Brenda O’Keefe, Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University, Building 60, Clayton, Vic 3800 or email brenda.okeefe @eng.monash.edu.au by 25/04/2008
Location: Clayton campus

See the message below from Jim Rettew.

To address all the sustainability issues, and for the 20 million people not invited to the 2020 Summit, the online created a wiki (a user-generated website) so people across Australia could post, discuss, and vote on the best ideas for the country. It’s like a virtual 2020 Summit for the whole country. It’s totally a grassroots effort. It’s free, can be anonymous, and as I mentioned, isn’t being sponsored by any political party, corporation, union, or special interests. It’s just people who want to encourage an online national brainstorming session.

The site is at http://ozideas.wetpaint.com/?t=anon. There are pages for over 20 different issues and even an online petition to get the best ideas heard at the actual Summit.

So far, we’ve had over 180 ideas submitted, 2000 unique visitors and 15,000 pages views.

Please find below an abstract of an article, “Greening by example”, written by Katherine Kizilos in The Age. The article refers to the Centre for Sustainability Leadership, http://www.csl.org.au/, which is currently advertising for scholarship applications.

“Monday, 24 March 2008
Brown’s idea “If we can’t get people in positions of influence to care, why not get people who care to be better equipped to influence?” was the basis for her new career path as founder of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership.
Looked at one way, Larissa Brown’s brilliant career has been possible because she made a chain of rational choices.

The centre came about because of the difficulties Brown faced learning how to implement change herself. “I always knew that I wanted to work to make the world more sustainable but I didn’t know how I was going to do that,” she says.

To read the full story visit http://www.theage.com.au/news/environment/greening-by-example/2008/03/23/1206206929869.html