Bendigo Transition Strategy (IRP1-TS5)
Introduction
There has been strong interest from Bendigo, a regional city in Victoria, to develop a water sensitive city vision, transition strategy and implementation plan. Its main driver is population growth, which is projected to almost double to 200,000 people by 2051. It is a water-stressed city but has a robust, collaborative and innovative leadership group that wants to bring the whole community on the journey toward a smart, resilient and water sensitive city.
Bendigo is undertaking a full process to test how members of the community can be involved in the visioning and transition planning process. This will draw from the community visioning work done in Elwood, a local suburb in Victoria.
Further details on the process in Bendigo will be provided when activities are finalised.
Industry Workshops
A full day workshop was held in Bendigo on 27 October 2017 and included participants across Bendigo’s water, environment, planning and development sectors. This workshop focused on applying the Water Sensitive Cities Index tool to benchmark Bendigo’s current water sensitive performance and diagnose key areas of strength and weakness in relation to the water sensitive city goals of good governance, community capital, equity of essential services, productivity and resource efficiency, adaptive infrastructure, ecological health and quality urban space.
A large proportion of the participants that had attended the first workshop returned for this workshop held on 13 December 2017 in Bendigo. There were 40 industry participants, and four facilitators from the CRCWSC. The first session reviewed the work undertaken to date, including feedback from the first report and reflections from the first community workshop. It then developed a collective water story for Bendigo by looking to the past and exploring how certain events and trends have shaped how water is managed today. The next sessions focused on beginning to develop a shared 50-year vision for Bendigo as a future water sensitive city.
A large proportion of the participants that had attended the second workshop returned for this workshop held on 15 February 2018 in Bendigo. There were 27 industry participants and 4 facilitators from the CRCWSC. The morning session was about presenting and refining the water story and vision. The next activity focused on refining and adding detail to the vision elements in small groups. The afternoon session was largely dedicated to exploring the barriers and opportunities for Bendigo’s WSC transition.
This workshop was held in Bendigo on 20 March, there were 24 participants and 5 facilitators from the CRCWSC in attendance. At this workshop we advanced the strategies for Bendigo's transition by identifying priority areas of focus and brainstorming enabling actions to achieve Bendigo's vision for a water sensitive future. The workshop closed with an exploration of participant hopes for the future of this body of work and who / what is needed to maintain momentum towards Bendigo's water sensitive future?
This workshop was held in Bendigo on 18 April 2018, there were 25 participants, 5 CRCWSC facilitators and 2 observers in attendance. This final workshop focused on advancing Bendigo's WSC vision and transition strategy towards implementation. Participants reviewed, refined and prioritised transition actions based on impact and feasibility.
Community Workshops
The first community workshop was held on the evening of 7 December 2017 at the offices of the City of Greater Bendigo on Lyttleton Terrace. There were 29 participants from the Bendigo community, and 5 facilitators from the CRCWSC. This workshop served to introduce the project to a largely new set of participants, as well as begin the narrative building and envisioning process.
This workshop was held at the Bendigo Library in Bendigo. There were 26 community participants and 4 facilitators from the CRCWSC. The first part of the workshop was dedicated to presenting and exploring the water story and vision that had been prepared following the previous community and industry workshops. The next part of the workshop focused on how to turn the vision into a reality, be exploring tangible solutions that could be implemented in Bendigo.
This workshop was held on 14 March 2018 in Bendigo. There were 26 community participants and 4 facilitators from the CRCWSC in attendance. During this workshop we explored actions as steps on the pathway to Bendigo's water sensitive vision. We then considered the communities role in driving change, strategies for engaging diverse communities and explored participant hopes for the future of this body of work.
Reports
For further information, refer to the following reports: