The Victorian Eco-Innovation Laboratory and Sustainability Victoria are holding the first Sustainable Cities Round Table tonight at the University of Melbourne. Sustainable Cities is a  topic of real currency at this time, because of the concentration of people in cities globally and the implications of climate change.

Melbourne is a hub of activities and projects driven by the need to understand the issues and the potentiality of sustainable cities and to shape development of new urban systems. Melbourne architectural offices are designing sustainable cities in China and the Middle East; ICLEI and many local councils are transforming the environmental footprint of local communities; there are new research programs in universities - the Global Cities Institute at RMIT University, the Victorian Eco-Innovation Laboratory (VEIL) at the University of Melbourne; our university programs in architecture, landscape and urban design have a strong focus on sustainability and buildings and city planning; government departments and agencies are actively engaging with programs to support sustainable urban development; industry has innovative new products in critical areas of water, energy, transport.

Two of VEIL’s new blogsites, (www.SustainableMelbourne.com and www.SustainableCitiesNet.com) are designed as a focus to showcase all this local activity and build networks, research, and action, in Melbourne and internationally. These sites are planned to be a catalyst for others in Australia and our region, with training for people and organisations who can manage them.

For about a year an informal steering committee in Victoria has been pursuing the idea of signing up to the UN Marrakech process taking "Sustainable Cities" as our regional focus. This now looks to be a real possibility for the near future.

This Round Table will discuss with key stakeholders in urban sustainability issues, who, because of their current work, may be interested in joining a Sustainable City movement/centre/network in
Melbourne for the Asia-Pacific region; people who will be able to help shape any development under the Marrakech process; people who we think would be interested in some higher profile for Sustainable Cities in Victoria and Australia.

Stay tuned to hear the outcomes of the proceedings. The presentations on the evening are to be filmed and then published on Sustainable Melbourne

.