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The movement for a swimmable Birrarung is many things at once: an ecological mission, a design challenge, a business case, a cultural and community reclamation. So it makes sense that the rapidly growing support for the vision comes from lots of different corners. We speak to a handful of voices that are working boldly towards a shared swimmable future for Melbourne.
The momentum behind a swimmable Birrarung has never been so great. This is in large part thanks to decades of work from a diverse cross-section of Melbourne’s community, who – while having different entry points to the vision – each desire the same outcome. To get a sense of how broad (yet inherently interconnected) the support is for a swimmable Birrarung in 2026, we asked three of the many passionate businesses and organisations already invested in the transformation of their city’s beloved waterway, to share a reflection on the work and why it matters. Their responses articulate how three seemingly disparate visions overlap and ultimately coalesce in unexpected ways.
Andrew Mackinnon of Ponyfish Island, an iconic floating bar anchored under the Southbank Evan Walker pedestrian bridge on the Yarra/Birrarung, is a longtime supporter of a swimmable Birrarung. He speaks to the view that the regeneration of the river means a city that prioritises its non-human residents, honours Wurundjeri custodianship, and treats hospitality as a civic act.
Monique Woodward, co-founder of B Corp Architecture and Interiors firm WOWOWA, reflects on working on the community-led Yarra Pools project, which proposes to re-introduce recreation to the Birrarung, transforming an under-used section of the river’s northern bank into a thriving community facility.
And Derek Cook, founder of Up The Creek, which creates immersive experiences for people to connect to the river, talks about the relationship between a healthy river and human and non-human wellbeing.
Ponyfish Island – Andrew Mackinnon
Birrarung is our entire environment. Ponyfish Island doesn't sit beside the river. It sits on it. The water is our floor, our weather, our daily reminder that this city was always shaped by what flows around us. A swimmable Birrarung isn't a romantic idea for us; it's a measurable expression of whether Melbourne is genuinely regenerating, or just rebranding.
That's why we've moved past lip service. With Finding Infinity, we're working on floating wetlands at Ponyfish, putting living infrastructure into the river where tens of thousands of people already cross our deck each year. Through SOON Intelligence, we've mapped the strategic landscape around the river: where authority sits, where the leverage points are, and what's actually possible by 2030. And we've hung Leo Baker's submarine above the bar, a vessel that can't dive in a river you can't swim in. Art as quiet provocation; Wonder Lives Beneath, written upon its fuselage.
A swimmable Birrarung means a city that prioritises its non-human residents, honours Wurundjeri custodianship, and treats hospitality as a civic act. It's also, frankly, joyful. Melbourne deserves to be joyful in our river when unity beckons.
The water is our floor, our weather, our daily reminder that this city was always shaped by what flows around us
At Ponyfish we sit at a strange and beautiful crossroads: tourists, after-work drinkers, families, rowers, tradies, bankers, kids on school holidays. The river makes everyone equal in a way the city above it rarely does. That alone makes them a constituency for a swimmable Birrarung, because most of them already wish it were so.
Beyond the bar, the communities we touch are remarkably aligned. Regen Melbourne and others such as the Yarra River Keepers Association and Regen Projects, have done the hard work of convening the architects, scientists, councils, hospitality operators and curious citizens who genuinely believe this is possible by 2030, and inside that coalition the appetite is unmistakable. Finding Infinity has brought the design imagination. Yarra Pools have carried the flame for a decade. Our B Corp network and our regen-curious clients want a Melbourne with more nature in it, more honesty about Country, and more agency in the hands of locals. Artists like Leo Baker are using the river as material, not backdrop.
What unites all of them is a refusal to accept that the river is broken forever. A swimmable Birrarung gives these communities a shared, embodied, measurable future to organise around. And the day someone swims here, all of Melbourne will feel it.
WOWOWA –– Monique Woodward
Working within Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country, WOWOWA proudly supported the vision for a swimmable Birrarung, recognising its potential to drive the environmental regeneration of the entire waterway.
From 2016 to 2022, we served on the board alongside ARUP, Tract, and OMG, collaborating with a dedicated network of political strategists, engineers and environmental scientists, including Mitra Anderson-Oliver, Felicity Watson, Matt Sykes and Michael O’Neill.
I had lived opposite the Copenhagen Harbour Baths on exchange, and contributed vital design and spatial thinking to Yarra Pools project, while Andre Bonnice (now of Simulaa) brought the concept to life through stunning imagery and an NGV-sponsored fly-through animation. Furthering this advocacy, Scott Woodward and Andre led an RMIT Masters Design studio focused on the swimmable river concept, which captured widespread media attention.
Together with Open House Melbourne river cruises and podcasts, this advocacy was a true privilege. Ultimately, the collective engaged 35 key stakeholders, secured a Melbourne Water grant, and saw me present to the City of Melbourne Council Chambers, advocating for these sustainability principles to be integrated into the city's Greenline Project. For us, the pool project was always a catalyst for broader ecological change, from stormwater upgrades to the rewilding of the Birrarung's edges.
WOWOWA is honoured to have played a part in celebrating this iconic river. The zeitgeist has slowly changed over time. Beyond Yarra Pools we have worked with several other dreamers and entrepreneurs who have wanted to bring swimming to the Yarra – one day it will come true and Naarm will be a richer city for it.
Up The Creek –– Derek Cook
Up The Creek seeks to respond to the contemporary disconnect by creating immersive experiences rooted in progressive education and regenerative tourism. Our programs empower both students and adults to form meaningful connections with themselves, their communities and the more-than-human world. In collaboration with Victoria’s river systems, we learn with the flow –– journeying along Melbourne’s lifeblood, the Birrarung.
We run artist-led nature tours, outdoor school camps with students, community nature initiatives, and guided public nature trips among many other activities.
A swimmable Birrarung will change everything. Imagine jumping into the water on a hot day after a big day’s work. When I think about a swimmable Birrarung I think about a wholesome connection – a more-than-human connection – and a net sum gain. It will transform the city and improve the wellbeing of citizens and more than humans. Burndup Birrarung Burndup Umaru.
The idea of a swimmable Birrarung is curious to every group. There can be disbelief when it’s raised for those who have not heard of the initiative. As the conversation progresses, there is always overwhelming positivity for the swimmable Birrarung concept. You can see people smile as they join the dots in their mind.
Want to learn more about the Swimmable Birrarung project? Head here.
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