Community building in Southbank

As we are nearing Neighbour Day with a theme of community, and with opportunities to provide vital input to our council’s next Neighbourhood Plan for Southbank, this month’s focus for our group will be Southbank’s community – both right now and how we can build it up more in the long run.

Firstly, we are delighted to welcome two new champions to our leadership team! Kelly and Fredricia will be our new composting and events management champions, respectively. We would still welcome a composting co-champion for any of you who are still interested in volunteering and steering the delivery of Southbank’s first community composting hub.

As we are forging ahead with the composting hub, which we expect to roll out in April, connecting with similar groups and organisations, while keeping Southbank’s community garden healthy and thriving, we are delighted to start delivering even more educational events that build a sense of community again in Southbank. That is one of our superpowers, anyway, building an active and supportive community that can connect and have fun while taking climate action at the same time.

Our next event will be aligned with Australia’s Neighbour Day, the national annual celebration of community, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, taking place on the last weekend of March. This year’s Neighbour Day has a theme of coming out of isolation and building the communities you want to live in. There is nothing more challenging that humanity had to face in its history, than the catastrophic effects of climate change. Not to mention a once-in-a-generation long, global pandemic. We need community now more than ever so we can overcome these challenges head on and even enjoy ourselves in the process. One small action, one small decision, one small interaction at a time.

As part of Neighbourhood Day, we will be hosting one of the most social, community building activities we’ve had lately, a sustainable wine tasting event with ReWine. It will be on Saturday, March 26, with more details on time, duration, etc. coming up on our Facebook page soon. Many of you told us how you would’ve loved to join the first event we hosted with ReWine and to let you know if we’re reorganising one. The ones of you who joined on the day told us how much you enjoyed it and the wonderful sense of community this event built, getting to chat with neighbours with a glass in hand, while learning how we can significantly reduce our wine’s carbon footprint by at least 80 per cent (just by opting to buy wine in a reusable wine bottle), one purchasing decision at a time. Not to mention, how convenient it can be to choose a more sustainable wine solution, with a delivery service to Southbank now.

Apart from the sustainable wine tasting social element on the day, we are likely to also have our new City of Melbourne community development partner for Southbank, giving Southbankers an opportunity to give meaningful input on their favourite and least favourite parts of living in postcode 3006. This input will inform Southbank’s next neighbourhood strategic plan that will guide our council’s investment and development of our neighbourhood in the next few years, based on the needs and opportunities identified through this consultation process. There will also be an opportunity to sign up for community development workshops, where you’ll get to share your local knowledge, meet more neighbours, and learn about community building.

Participate Southbank

In the meantime, you can add your input that will inform and influence Southbank’s very own Neighbourhood Plan by following this link: participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/participate-southbank. It is important to voice our needs and aspirations for Southbank, in forums where what we say is taken into account in decisions that help deliver the solutions and spaces we all need. Submissions are open from now until April 30 and participants can even enter a draw to win a $60 voucher for a local restaurant.

Next SSG meetups

Our next meetups will be Saturdays, March 12 and 26, 10am to 12pm, at Boyd’s front yard. As always, we invite everyone to join regardless of gardening or climate action interest or experience. Please email us or go on our Facebook page for the Eventbrite registration link of upcoming meetups and educational events or to volunteer for an event, watering, or an ongoing role.

About the group

A solutions-focused group of Southbankers working to bring positive change in sustainability practices and education to our neighbourhood, while building a wonderful community. Free to join. 2019 Environment Melbourne Award and KVB 2020 Sustainable Cities Environment Award winner. Reach us at [email protected] or facebook.com/SouthbankSustainabilityGroup •