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'Field Notes' is a weekly column through which Regen Melbourne's Lead Convenors provide on-the-ground updates and insights from their work and focus areas.
If we want the Swimmable Birrarung to be realised, we need a shared, collaborative vision and some damn good stories. Charity Mosienyane shares two recent reflections around communications and community.
Who is the Birrarung, and how do we tell her story?
Stories are important. As screenwriting legend Robert McKee says, "Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today."
So how do we tell the Birrarung's story? Through her own voice and point of view.
Here is a paraphrased version of what Carolyn Tate from Yarra Riverkeeper Association shared:
"For decades, humanity has carelessly discharged stormwater and other pollutants into my very essence without consideration of how it affects me. Nonetheless, I have managed to ebb and flow and continue to give life to a third of Victoria's wildlife and drinking water to 70% of Melburnians. I may not look and feel the way I want to, but I am still alive and I desperately need your help."
This reframed language allows us to draw on our humanity, and to relate and engage with the Birrarung in a different way.
Community is at the heart of transformation
Over the past year of convening, various partners have expressed a desire to increase community collaboration in service of a healthy, thriving Birrarung.
In response to last year's Yarra Strategic Plan report, theYarra Riverkeeper Association identified a lack of community voice and recommended increased community participation.
I was recently on a call with Liz Weaver from theTamarack Institute in Canada. Some actions they took included:
Inviting community to provide solutions, then uplifting those solutions
Equally sharing the convening role between community, government and NGOs
Putting the citizen voice first in town hall meetings
I have a profound respect for the community groups that have consistently shown up and worked tirelessly to transform the Birrarung.
I would say we begin at the river. It is at the banks of the river where we can find common ground. Please read theYarra River 50 year community vision to remind us of what we could all be working towards.
Please reach out atcharity@regen.melbourne if you would like to continue this discussion.
