News Updates
More than 160 people have registered to attend the Committee or Melbourne’s commercial buildings retrofit workshop series in conjunction with the City of Melbourne. The Workshops provide practical advice and case studies to explain how retrofitting can result in cost savings for building owners and a healthier environment for office workers.
In Melbourne’s CBD, there are around 1800 commercial buildings with office space coming in all shapes, sizes and ages. Some estimates assign up to 40 per cent of total energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions to buildings.
The Retrofit Workshop series is an initiative of the Committee for Melbourne’s Climate Change Taskforce. For further information and event details, please visit our Calendar.
A Committee for Melbourne proposal to better connect international students to Australian culture and our Melbourne lifestyle has been included in the Victorian Government’s new Thinking Global: Victoria’s Action Plan for International Education, launched recently by Premier John Brumby.
The Culture Card is an initiative of the Committee’s Higher Education Taskforce which is seeking ways to enhance the international student experience and liveability of Melbourne for people choosing to study here.
The Taskforce found that an important part of the “student experience” is for students to get to know and understand the history and culture of their host city. Under the Culture Card program, international students will be welcomed to a number of attractions and events in Victoria to build their understanding of our culture, and deepen their connection with our State.
Over 40 Future Focus Group Alumni gathered at the Committee for Melbourne on Tuesday last week, for the second Future Focus Group Alumni cocktail event.
Click here to view images from the event
Our CEO, Ms Sally Capp, welcomed guests to Milton House and encouraged Alumni to become actively involved in the Committee’s activities through its Taskforce initiatives, which currently focus on making a positive difference in climate change, higher education and shaping Melbourne.
Chairman of the Alumni Association Advisory Group and a 1998-1999 Alumnus, Mr Peter Lock, outlined the aims of the Alumni Association and its Advisory Board. He then introduced two members of current project groups.
Ms Laura Cain from the ‘Growing Up’ project group summarised the achievements of the group, including the completion of a green roof design competition and securing funding and in-kind support in excess of $500,000 to construct a rooftop garden. Completion date for this green roof is the end of November 2009.
Mr Craig Harris from the ‘Connect-ED’ project group followed and informed guests about the Welcome Booth his group set up at the Melbourne International Airport in conjunction with the Office of Knowledge Capital in February 2009. Almost 50 volunteers greeted newly arriving students and handed out over 3,500 welcome packs. The initiative is set to continue into the future with government funding.
The next Alumni event will be held around April/May 2010.
Constructed in 1901 as an early purpose-built private hospital, Milton House displays some of Melbourne’s earliest examples of Art Nouveau decoration.
The Run for A Safe Climate is gearing up for its launch by Governor of Victoria Professor David de Kretser on Thursday 29 November, 2009, at Fed Square.
The event will see 25 emergency services personnel run from Cooktown to Melbourne to draw attention to the dangers of climate change and to raise funds for the development of a safe climate plan for Australia.
Former Committee for Melbourne Business Director Ms Danielle Johnston is leading the initiative along with major sponsor National Australia Bank.
The running group comprised of police, firefighters, paramedics, SES and military personnel will run 6000kms along Australia’s east coast. The runners will be supported by a team in vehicles which have been supplied by automotive partner and Committee for Melbourne member Mercedes Benz.
The Run for a Safe Climate will see runners pass through capital cities, regional centres and rural towns, engaging with all levels of these communities. Runners will stop at key natural and agricultural assets under threat, such as the Daintree Rainforest, Great Barrier Reef and Murray Darling ‘food bowl’, while also bearing witness to some climate change solutions, including solar power, geothermal, wind energy and biochar projects.
Ms Johnston would love to see Melbourne’s leaders get behind this event by sponsoring a runner or simply by attending, with family and friends, one of the many events along the way.
The run starts in Cooktown on Monday 2 November, 2009, and will travel the coast down to Cairns, stopping at important landmarks and towns including Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra. It will follow the Murray River west to Adelaide and the Coorong. The final leg to Melbourne will stop at the towns most affected by last summer’s devastating fires and will finish on Sunday 29 November, 2009, with a family fun-run along the last two kilometres to finish at St Kilda beach. Committee for Melbourne’s CEO Ms Sally Capp will be attending the St. Kilda finish-line event, along with former Collingwood footballer Mr Shane Wakelin.
Acting Sergeant Matt Astill of the Victoria Police Force Response Unit said,“The Run for a Safe Climate is an Australian wake up call. We are alerting the nation to the rapid changes needed to reduce emissions and help save our environment”.
The run has been timed to coincide with the eve of the Copenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2009 and will aim to highlight the impacts of - and solutions to - global warming in a way that is relevant to all Australians.
For more information about the Run, please contact Danielle on 9698 5700 or Danielle@climatepositive.org
Free in the CBD, a project team within the Committee for Melbourne's Future Focus Group business leadership program, is examining the impacts on Melbourne providing free tram travel in the 'City Saver' zone. Their initial modelling indicates that implementing free tram travel within the ‘City Saver’ zone would eliminate approximately 1,500 short inner city car trips per day. This would result in a significant reduction in Central Business District (CBD) carbon emissions and congestion.
The Free in the CBD (FITC) Future Focus Group project is using the State Government’s Melbourne Integrated Transport Model. An assessment of the generalised cost of travel indicates a potential net benefit of $20 million per annum to the Victorian economy of providing free tram travel in the CBD to gernerate analysis.
“Free in the CBD is a great example of proactively identifying and assessing an initiative that supports our objectives of liveability for all residents, domestic and overseas visitors and students,” Ms Capp said.
In addition to reduced vehicle usage, the FITC project team is also considering the potential implications for education, tourism, retail activity, the environment and public safety within the CBD, together with the broader acceptance and use of public transport.
The near term goal for FITC is to provide a detailed business case by the end of 2009, summarising the initiative to key stakeholders, including the State Government.
Like many cities, Melbourne faces a number of public transport challenges, including how to best make use of existing infrastructure and reduce inner city traffic congestion.
As part of the study, FITC has identified a number of cities around the world that offer free transport services, including some major Australian cities, beyond the level of those currently provided in Melbourne via the City Circle tram and tourist buses.
Collectively, these cities have experienced a range of positive outcomes which contribute to improved liveability, such as reduced car trips, increased tourism and retail spending, and greater CBD investment.
From an Australian perspective, Perth currently operates a Free Transit Zone which is estimated to eliminate up to 4,500 short inner city car trips per day.
Melbourne’s liveability is intrinsically linked with its commercial and cultural vitality. In 1991 Melbourne was voted the most liveable city in the world, however by 2009 had slipped to the 18th position as rated by the Mercer Liveability Index.
For more infomation, please contact FITC project member Mr Campbell York on (03) 9566 9118.
Committee for Melbourne members will have another opportunity to attend our highly successful retrofit workshop series next month when the Committee will team up with the City of Melbourne to deliver the program to CBD building owners, facilities managers and tenants.
An initiative of our Climate Change Taskforce Retrofit Action Group, this free series provides practical information and case studies on what is retrofitting, how to get started and measuring results.
The program will compliment the City of Melbourne’s 1200 Buildings which aims to retrofit 1200 buildings by 2020. The Committee for Melbourne is a member of the 1200 Buildings Steering group.
Please go to our 'Calendar' in 'Events' for Session details
The Program for this upcoming Retrofit Workshop is:
Session One: An Overview and Why Retrofit
Why retrofit your building, an overview with Mr Nick Alsop, Project Manager Built Environment, Sustainability Victoria
Valuing retrofits, asset management and property valuation with Mr Peter Power, Director Corporate Value Advisory, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Setting baselines and benchmarks with Mr Graeme Hedley, Product Manager, Alerton
Case Study 1: 500 Collins Street with Mr Paul Martin, Director, Kador Group
Case Study 2: Railway Goods Shed, Docklands with Ms Pru Sanderson, CEO, VicUrban
Session Two: Getting Started
Getting Started with Mr Nick Adams, Senior Engineer, ARUP
Financing and legal issues for retrofitting with Mr Patrick Dale, Director Product Development Carbon Solutions Group, NAB
Marketing your building retrofit with Mr Mike O’Keefe, Principal, OMG Advertising
Case Study 3: 530 Collins Street with Mr Bruce Precious, Sustainability Manager, The GPT Group
Case Study 4: 40 Albert Road with Mr Mark Lister, Group ManagerCorporate Affairs, Szencorp
Session Three: Engaging Staff and Measuring outcomes
Measuring Outcomes and Maintaining Results with Mr Peter Mathieson, Executive Buildings Group Victoria, Aurecon
Engaging staff, the key to success with Mr Kelly Wickham, Project Manager for Strategic Initiatives, Sustainability Vcitoria
Case Study 5: Industry House, 486 Albert Street with Ms Kate Nicolazzo, General Manager, Centre of Innovation and Sustainable Enterprise, VECCI
Case Study 6: 500 Bourke Street with Mr Trevor Moore, Head of Environment and Sustainability, NAB
Where to from here? Final wrap up with Mr Geoff Lawler, Director Sustainability and Regulatory Services, City of Melbourne
The Shaping Melbourne Taskforce met on Tuesday 1 September, 2009, to identify key themes for further development.
Co-Chairs, Mr Tom Fricke, Mr, Roger Poole and Ms Pru Sanderson have been meeting weekly since the last Taskforce meeting. The Co-Chairs are working through the materials produced by Taskforce members and the results from discussions at our last meeting to plan future Taskforce activities.
The Co-Chairs and Secretariat will be in touch with Taskforce members in early October to discuss to discuss the next steps in this relevant and important issue.
For more information please contact our Policy Officer, Ms Amelia Jalland, at ajalland@melbourne.org.au
Dr Judith Slocombe
The September 2009 meeting of the Future Focus Group marked the final project stage for our current program. Hosted by Future Focus Group participant and Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI)’s Queen Elizabeth II Fellow, Dr Ben Kile, it was the last chance for project team members to work together at a monthly meeting before the Project Review Panel on Wednesday 11 November, 2009.
Teams will be expected to present a summary of what they have achieved, how the project will continue into the future and what they have learnt from the program. To find out more about the teams and what they do, please refer to our website.
Future Focus Group members were also given a very informative tour of the Division of Molecular Medicine in Parkville.
Following Dr Kile’s brief presentation about his job and the challenges it involves, WEHI’s Head of Business Development, Dr Julian Clark, welcomed the emerging leaders at dinner and introduced our key speaker - The Alannah and Madeline Foundation’s CEO, Dr Judith Slocombe.
Future Focus Group Manager Mr David Gould hopes that Dr Slocombe’s speech will inspire the emerging leaders to understand that anything is possible.
“Dr Slocombe’s talk was the perfect way to end the working meetings. I hope that everyone who heard her speak today can walk out with a new perspective in the way that one handles work, leadership and life in general,” Mr Gould said.
A woman who has achieved so much in her lifetime, Dr Slocombe gave an inspiring speech about the many roles she has had, including veterinarian, entrepreneur, business owner, senior executive within a large corporation and in the non-for-profit sector, as well as non-executive roles with a variety of organisations.
Dr Slocombe also discussed her passion to give back to the community through her leadership of The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, an organisation that aims to give all innocent children who have been hurt by violence a safe and happy childhood.
The Transformation exhibition, the fifth in the Moving Galleries ‘Moving Melbourne through art’ series, now features the musings of 23 poets and inspiring creations of 26 artists online, as well as the series of posters mounted on the walls of 40 of our metropolitan trains.
Moving Galleries’ Project Manager, Ms Jessie Doring says website viewers will now be able to “have you say” on the artwork and poetry in the current exhibition as well as give your feedback on the Moving Galleries project.
“We would love your participation, so please sign up and let Moving Galleries and the community know what you think of the exhibition and Moving Galleries,” Ms Doring said.
"How does Moving Galleries move you? Does it put a smile on your face? What would you like to see improved? ” she said.
A Committee for Melbourne initiative, Moving Galleries hopes the audience will experience some form of transformation, big or small, by engaging with this exhibition.
Transformation was chosen as the theme for this exhibition in order to showcase some of Victoria’s transient site-specific arts projects created in such diverse locations as Melbourne’s laneways, parklands, shops, a racecourse, even a supermarket. A call also went out to the poets of Melbourne to explore the theme.
Moving Galleries travelling exhibition of art and poetry, was launched at Flinders Street station in June 2009 and will travel the Melbourne’s metropolitan rail networks until late November 2009.
Two initiatives from the Committee for Melbourne – the airport Welcome Booth and the Culture Card – received funding in the State Government’s Thinking Global Action Plan for International Education launched by Premier John Brumby and Minister Allen this morning (Monday 21 September).
Our CEO Ms Sally Capp said it was important to connect international students to the Melbourne community from the moment they arrived and throughout their stay in Victoria.
“We need to address issues of student safety and vulnerability which to some extent relate to the un-connectedness of international students who are away from their family support networks,” Ms Capp said.
“International students both want, and need, to develop their networks and understanding of their host communities and cities,” she said.
“These are wonderful outcomes for the Committee as they reflect our commitment to ensure Melbourne’s liveability and economic prosperity and to remain as one of the best University Cities in the world,” she said.
International education is the most important service industry export in Victoria with a value of almost $5 billion in the 2008 calendar year.
The Welcome Booth, an initiative of our Future Focus Group leadership program, has been operating on a trial basis at Melbourne Airport for the peak induction weeks in February and July this year.
“It is fantastic that the Government’s support will ensure this initiative is a permanent part of our student welcome in Melbourne,” Ms Capp said.
The Culture Card is a new initiative to start in 2010 and will help students understand and connect to our culture and life in Victoria.
The Culture Card will introduce students to activities and destinations in Victoria, such as football games, arts performances and outdoor experiences. Students would be welcomed to these events, and the activities would be specifically tailored to meet their needs and interests.
Ms Capp also welcomed the other initiatives in the Government’s Thinking Global package that would help to raise Victoria’s standing as a competitor to other international study destinations, such as the investment in a scholarship program to attract outstanding students to our State.