04.11.2021Future Focus Group – Emerging projects and a looming nomination deadline

Despite the significant challenges resulting from continued Melbourne lockdowns, participants in the FFG 2021 – 2022 Program have continued to work on some exciting projects. These are:

Melbourne Wellness Village, an inaugural three-week event scheduled to take place next April at River Terrace in Fed Square. Centred around World Health Day, the festival-style event will co-locate activities and resources focused on holistic health and wellbeing and will feature:

  • Recreation, sport and fitness events
  • Mental health support information and resources
  • Youth focused events and skill building workshops
  • Cycling tours for all ages and demographics (including the annual Ride-to-Work Day)
  • City tours for families, youth and retirees
  • Outdoor art and art therapy
  • Pop-up hospitality
  • A community space at Northbank

Secret Garden Melbourne, an installation of a multi-purpose green space on underutilised privately held ‘grey’ land, for the explicit use of city dwellers, workers and visitors to Melbourne’s CBD. Aimed at surprising and delighting visitors, the project comprises three key stages – Ideas, Design and Build – and will increase the city’s green assets and provide environmental and social benefits to the community. The winner of an exciting Ideas Competition for emerging and student designers, will secure the opportunity to co-design the space with a renowned architect, resulting in the design of a new green asset for the CBD, a Secret Garden for Melbourne. This project will capture the imagination and creativity of Melbourne’s design community, to reimagine otherwise unused space, while also creating a vision for a sanctuary that will bring both social and economic value to our city.

Plant the Seed Melbourne, a community network and series of events to promote, create and celebrate urban farming in Melbourne’s CBD and surrounding urban areas. The project aims to connect Melburnians with exciting urban agriculture projects across the city and build awareness and knowledge of:

  • Growing food in an urban environment
  • Sourcing and eating locally grown, urban-farmed food within Melbourne’s CBD
  • Opportunities to become involved in local urban farming projects.

A map will also be created to show Melbourne’s urban farming and local eating locations.

The Committee and our members look forward to seeing these project come to life.

The interview process of nominees for the FFG 2022 – 2023 Program which starts next February and runs for 15 months, has commenced. An overview of the Program can be accessed here.

There is still time to make a nomination, with completed nomination packages due by Friday, 12 November. Please contact Matt Gaffney, General Manager, Future Focus Group, on mgaffney@melbourne.org.au if you are thinking of nominating an emerging leader from your organisation, to participate in the FFG 2022 – 2023 Program.

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