Green Collect and Baptcare have partnered to recently launch a new ‘ethical and earth-kind op shop’ (eekos) in Brunswick. EEKOS promotes sustainable purchasing through offering reused, recycled, local, fair-trade and environmentally friendly products, including:
* 100% recycled content copy paper and stationery
* fair-trade sport balls, sneakers, tea, coffee and chocolate
* bric a brac, pre-loved clothing, toys and books
* environmentally friendly cleaning products and body care *
Please see message below and attached from Boroondara City Council about their upcoming Sustainable Living Expo - 19 April.
Are you trying to live in a more sustainable way, but feel you need some expert advice about water saving, solar energy, composting and which sustainable products are right for your home?
Go along to the ‘Living for our Future’ Expo held at the Boroondara Farmers’ Market. Browse products and chat with experienced suppliers who are happy to help you achieve a more sustainable lifestyle, while sampling farm fresh supplies and yummy treats from the market. Featuring a free recycled art workshop for the kids, music, entertainment and free product show bags to the first 500 visitors.
The Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy (MSCP) is pleased to announce its first Evening School programme, centring on the topic of philosophy and the environment. The programme will look at climate change from four points of view - historical/ethical, scientific, economic and political - with each seminar series focusing on one of the four perspectives.
Each series will run for 12 consecutive weeks. “Images of Nature: An Introduction to an Environmental Ethics”, to be presented by Cameron Shingleton (MSCP) and “Global Warming: The Science and Its Implications”, to be presented by Philip Sutton (Greenleap Strategic Institute) using Climate ‘Code Red’ as the core text, will begin on 29 and 30 April.
Full details including enrolment forms and course outlines are available via the MSCP website or the following link: http://www.mscp.org.au/es08.html
As part of the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Mobility, 17 March, our sponsors, GAMUT - The Australasian Centre for the Governance And Management of Urban Transport led a discussion with four questions about sustainable transport issues for our cities. Please find a list of the audience’s responses below. Please note: That as these questions were handwritten some of the responses were too difficult to read.
DISCUSSION QUESTION 4. How can we govern transport better?
better land planning to strategically reserve land for best future transport use
give governance to people who know about issues rather than those who can market themselves
metropolitan agency which provides a forum for local governments to collaborate and coordinate land-use and transport integration
emphasis needs to be taken away from road funding and put back onto public transport networks
funding targeting
organizations competing against each other
look into best practice round the world to a better balanced system
implement this better balanced system that balances public and private transport needs
each transport provides (public or private) to be compelled to show, as a means of assessing performance, full integration with all other agencies providing transport
greater involvement of academics, researchers, organizations like GAMUT in the decision-making ie. they are part of the governance
implement, scheme of kilometre credits
ration personal kilometres
buy kms on an open regulated market (ie. 100 km per person per week)
reduce conflict between drivers & nondrivers
align goals of various departments like VicRoads & DOI
severly punish high consuming and emitting mode – via carbon tax, access restriction, etc.
investment in the appropriate infrastructure which may mean redesigning train stations
better governance of private operators
better bike lanes
same funding for cyclists as for divers including safety and marketing
restructure transport governance at all levels to best practice systems
review the current governance of roads and infrastructure and look at a state level of integrating VicRoads & DOI
one department to manage all transport opinions and public transport, roads, cycling, waking = rather than VicRoads and DOI currently pushing their own, imbalanced agendas
de-privatising public transport would also likely provide for a better integrated system
one cohesive “public” organization that covers and manages and handles the “future” of PT rather than DOI and VicRoads and minister
study of cities that are successful and efficient PT and follow or better
survey households to identify what PT is needed and where it should go
let the community help plan the system
freight delivers out of hours trams for freight (?)
more tax on oil
As part of the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Mobility, 17 March, our sponsors, GAMUT - The Australasian Centre for the Governance And Management of Urban Transport led a discussion with four questions about sustainable transport issues for our cities. Please find a list of the audience’s responses below. Please note: That as these questions were handwritten some of the responses were too difficult to read.
DISCUSSION QUESTION 3. How can creative designers help solve mobility and accessibility problems?
urban villages connected by sustainable transit corridors
Map activities for access & situation (?)
playing urban tag
study skateboarders
elect a large community to go without cars for a month & have them redesign their area
transfer all outer urban residential development to urban hub-cities-centres. These hubs to become social centres but the confluence of a transport network. Establish areas ASAP then de-regulate so more effective market solutions can evolve but with simple not negotiable urban design rules.
Creating a design brief for human powered/ electic assist ultra-light vehicles that can transport children, shopping, etc.
Making street scapes more aesthetic & enticing to use. Connecting walking paths with transport.
Complete communities – growth & redevelopment. Live/ work/ play locally.
Targeted education – Portland OR example of household specific info + cycle education from doorstep
infrastructure networks established for ped/ bike/ PT
rethink the relationship between people & places they want to access, & design for the experience without relying on existing infrastructure
to mandate that large transport projects be planned together by representatives from public transport (rail, tram, bus, ferry) and human-powered forms. Public community consultation to be broadened as part of the process.
We all need to speak the world around to change. Everyone is creative and tapping into they way they think and what is important in their world. There is no ‘solver’ of ‘problems’ there in only tempting people to turn their heads and be a part of a liveable future
Education: in the manner of ANZSOG education of the public service & therefore specifically educating government transport planners and designers.
Consider disabled people, deaf people and blind people in planning
Copenhagen bicycle lanes more widely adopted & re-designed atteractively to encourage even more use
Design in the absence of design
Stop designing & start coordinating
Function over form
Flexible environments
Design as leadership
Engage artists in planning process – work is a cross disciplinary fashion at the onset of a project to explore all options/ alternatives. We need radical, left-of-centre thinking here!
Develop a hierarchy of ‘give way’ similar to oceans. Large gives way to all small.
Design for people first. Then people on bikes second. Then up the scale.
Design mobility and accessability r/s/ schools and communities understanding rel/ people build form technology
Role of symbolism car – what it represents to us. Is it a symbol of freedom and an extension of our identity, something to aspire t or a serious threat to our sustainability?
Associate Professor Nick Low from GAMUT - The Australasian Centre for the Governance And Management of Urban Transport led a discussion about GAMUT’s work and the top issues concerning sustainable transport for our cities. Proud sponsors of the event, GAMUT is a collaborative research centre dedicated to promoting and supporting sustainable urban transport in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Based at the University of Melbourne, GAMUT works with a network of researchers to focus attention on the need for innovative institutional design for integrated transport systems. GAMUT is one of a global network of Centres of Excellence in Future Urban Transport created by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations, an independent research and educational institution. To find out more about GAMUT visit their website at http://www.gamutcentre.org/.
Dianne Moy, VEIL, & Kathleen Turner, Architect student, SKM/ University of Melbourne spoke about their visions of “Mobility & the Extended School System 2032” at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table, 17 March. Their topic illustrated the importance of a systems approach when considering urban sustainability, exploring the connection between transport, the environment and education. The Extended School System model is part of the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL) project, based at the Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society (ACSIS), the University of Melbourne. VEIL exists to change the landscape of expectations of a sustainable future and open-up the eco-innovation space in the Victorian economy by conducting interdisciplinary research and constructive speculation with creative engagement with university design programs to re-invent the future. To find out more about the VEIL project visit the website: http://www.ecoinnovationlab.com/. The Sustainable Cities Round Tables and SustainableMelbourne.com both represent VEIL projects.
Please find footage of Dianne and Kathleen’s presentations below.
Bruce Herbes, Wayfinding Consultant from VisualVoice, http://www.visualvoice.com.au/, illustrated the diversity of speakers at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table with his presentation on 3-dimensional pedestrian maps in Bendigo. Reminding us that cities are inhabited by pedestrians - not just cars - Bruce presented his presentation titled “Making the City Legible”. To find out more about VisualVoice visit http://www.visualvoice.com.au/.
Please find footage of Bruce’s presentation below.
Bill Bretherton from Human Powered Cycles, Brunswick, represented the social sustainability aspect of grassroots action through cycling with his presentation, “Asylum seekers, sustainability & cycling as transport”. Devoted to fixing up secondhand bikes rather than solely selling them new as most bike shops do, Human Powered Cycles represents an inspiring example of how to help others by repairing and maintaining bikes for asylum seekers and hence increase their ability to empower themselves in the community. To find out more about their work visit their website at http://www.humanpowered.com.au/.
Please find Bill’s powerpoint slides and footage of his presentation below.
Stephen Ingrouille, Principal, Going Solar, http://www.goingsolar.com.au/, also spoke at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Mobility with his presentation titled “Introducing innovative & cost-effective transit technologies”. Stephen is a regular contributor to SustainableMelbourne.com with excerpts from his informative and fascinating Transport Newsletter. His talk focussed on two very interesting and innovative sustainable transport options - ultralight rail and hovercraft. Stephen also made one of the most amusing comments of the evening with his statement that “if you’re swimming and a hovercraft went over you, you wouldn’t feel a thing!”
