02.03.2022Future Focus Group projects update and partnership opportunities

Melbourne International Student Week – only nine weeks away!

Preparations for the inaugural Melbourne International Student Week (MISW) – supported by the Victorian Government through Study Melbourne – are powering ahead. The organising team is keen to hear from Committee for Melbourne members and other Communiqué readers interested in bringing the event to life as they count down to launch.

The flagship event will take place at Federation Square on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 May (a bit earlier in May than initially planned) and multiple events are being planned for university campuses and beyond across Melbourne between Monday 9 and Friday 13 May. Two years in the making, MISW promises to celebrate the return of international students to Victoria.

You are all invited to lean in and think laterally about how you might assist in making the event a success. Please get in touch via info@misw.org.au to learn more.

If you would like to host an independent event under the MISW banner between Monday, 16 and Friday, 20 May, please head to the MISW website to find out more and to complete an Expression of Interest form.

Plant the Seed Melbourne – a number of events planned for the next six months

The Plant the Seed Melbourne community is starting to blossom!

From the newly launched website – planttheseedmelbourne.org.au – to a growing Facebook following – facebook.com/planttheseedmelbourne – the Plant the Seed Melbourne community network is starting to connect Melburnians to resources and ideas for growing and eating local food in and around our city.

Plant the Seed Melbourne’s Urban Farming 101 event at Federation Square is now planned for September as part of a rescheduled Melbourne Wellbeing Village event. In the meantime, the project team is sowing the seeds for some exciting pop ups around popular Melbourne events in the coming months. Upcoming events will be shared on the Plant the Seed Melbourne website and Facebook.

Are you an urban grower, or have a product or service that would help Melburnians grow their own? Members of the FFG project team would love to collaborate with you. Get in touch at hello@planttheseedmelbourne.org.au.

Melbourne Wellbeing Village FFG Project – now planned for September

The inaugural Melbourne Wellbeing Village event was to be held next month at River Terrace in Federation Square. With the scale of the event exceeding initial expectations and the challenge of unanticipated resource constraints caused by the ongoing pandemic, the difficult decision has been reached to explore a later timeslot for the event. The Project Team is currently in discussions with Federation Square on September event, with a firm commitment from Federation Square on providing the venue and resourcing to support a successful outcome.

While the Project Team and partners were excited to deliver this event in April, the longer planning timeframe will enable a more robust event with quality content, better audience reach and event attendance. The driver of the Melbourne Wellbeing Village – to co-locate activities and resources focused on holistic health and wellbeing in support of Melbourne’s Road to Recovery – will still be equally as critical later this year.

The Project Team is grateful to Committee for Melbourne members sponsoring the event, for their ongoing commitment and support as the challenges with timing are managed. If you are interested in exploring involvement in light of the revised timing, please contact Brenton Grasby at brenton.grasby@melbournewellnessvillage.org.  

The Secret Garden Melbourne

The Secret Garden Melbourne is an ambitious greening project that aims to engage the community and transform a ‘grey’ city space into a thriving garden that surprises and delights Melburnians – and supports the recovery of our great city.

The project’s first phase, the ‘Ideas Competition’ – www.thesecretgardenmelbourne.com – was launched over the summer and asked emerging and student designers to consider the north bank of the Yarra River – Birrarung Marr and present an innovative concept for a Secret Garden. Over 150 registrations were received and three finalists selected. The finalists have been invited to showcase their concepts at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS) later this month, where they will each build their ideas on a four square metre plot. The winner of the competition will go on to co-design a Secret Garden with renowned Landscape Architect, Jack Merlo, with the eventual build of the space planned for late this year.

The Secret Garden Melbourne is seeking financial sponsorship from partners to deliver the finalist showcase at the MIFGS on Wednesday, 30 March. There are some valuable acknowledgment opportunities available in return for the support. For more information, please contact the team at the.secretgardenmelbourne@gmail.com.