Helena Norberg-Hodge has dedicated her life to rebuilding connections. As founder of international not-for-profit Local Futures, she’s helped reimagine the status quo, advocating for ecological and social renewal, thriving local food systems and strengthened communities via a decentralised economy.

A Swimmable Birrarung by 2030 might be Wildly Ambitious, but look a little further afield and you’ll find plenty of cities that have developed strong urban swimming cultures, despite the (systemic) odds. 

Since forming in 2020, Regen Melbourne and a committed team of researchers, environmental advocates, Indigenous elders, engineers, entrepreneurs and environmentalists have been hatching a plan to make Melbourne’s Birrarung (Yarra) River swimmable. Now they’re ready to put all that research into action.