Get ready, ‘cause here we come!

Staying true to summer’s elevated energy, we started the year very actively and energetically. Following a successful “Upcycle Christmas!” workshop with great participation and a few good group meet-ups, we are paving the way to make this year a success for the Southbank community and our environment. After such a long hibernation, we are all very keen to host more educational activities, where we get to interact with the Southbank community again. You’ll see a lot more activities from our group, especially on practical topics from sustainable ways of living to home gardening. Starting with bringing the community together for another garden planting day towards the end of the month. More details below … Coming up We know that the current look of the Southbank Boulevard green space upgrade is a pain point for many Southbankers, with lack of council communication causing further frustration. We passed it on that we need better communication on what’s coming and what the end result will be. There’s apparently many more trees about to be planted and we’ll hopefully be knowing more about it soon. We also learned that our council will be initiating some in-depth community consultation workshops to identify more localised needs, opportunities, and crowdsourced solutions. While that’s being organised, we encourage you to start putting down ideas of what Southbank could use the most, or solutions that would work well for our neighbourhood. Feel free to email us some of your ideas if you’d like us to pass them on (use email subject: “Southbank ideas”). A team of champions leading Southbank Sustainability Group (SSG) Knowing the growth potential and ripple effect our group’s solutions-focused decisions and activities seem to have, we thought it was high time to get more driven Southbankers involved in the leadership of the group to reach our full potential. We formed a team of champions who will be the driving force behind a lot of the environmental work and educational material you will be seeing soon in Southbank. We also know that any good work for our environmental footprint is good for everyone, so we are keen to grow our reach and positive effects even further. We are very excited to welcome the passionate new team of champions! A diverse mix of people, old and new members, with many great ideas. There will also be many opportunities for volunteers and community members to help or get involved with different projects. Email us if you are interested in volunteering. Community planting day The garden is once again buzzing with life (humans and bees) and it’s almost planting season again! We always love involving you in everything we do, so we want to invite Southbankers of all ages to come join us Saturday morning, February 20 and learn how to grow vegies from seeds, while getting the next round of seedlings ready for their permanent home in Southbank’s community garden. Participants will be taking home some newly planted seeds in egg cartons to take care until they grow into more resilient seedlings, then bring them back to replant in the garden – making this a community planting in the fullest sense! Participants will even get to keep a seedling or two for their home. If there’s a certain winter vegetable or herb you are keen to see in the community garden, please email us soon. It might just make the final list of plants that will be growing soon at Boyd. Email us or keep an eye on our Facebook page for the Eventbrite registration link to secure your seat to this free community event. Many events beyond this group February is Sustainable Living Month with many events and learning opportunities – both online and face-to-face. The festival covers a wide range of topics to suit any interest and we encourage everyone to participate. More on: slf.org.au Our next meetups will be on Saturdays February 20 and March 6, 10am at Boyd. About the group A solutions-focused group of Southbankers working to bring positive change in sustainability practices and education to our neighborhood, while building a wonderful community of like-minded people. Free to join. 2019 Environment Melbourne Award & KVB 2020 Sustainable Cities Environment Award winner •