The untapped power on our doorsteps: Launching our inaugural Regen Streets report
Our streets are bursting with the possibility to radically transform how we live and adapt in the face of the many systemic challenges we face. In a new report one year in the making, Regen Streets Lead Convenor Nina Sharpe explores how we can better harness the potential right outside our doorsteps.
One of the Wildly Ambitious Projects we’ve set up as part of the Regen Melbourne portfolio is to catalyse a wave of regenerative streets across Greater Melbourne – Regen Streets.
The street is such an interesting unit for change. Streets are shared spaces where we shift from the private sphere to the public one. Much of daily life is spent on the street, and the conditions of a street impact everyone, no matter how you use them.
In short, the streets contain so much potential to shift our thinking and adapt our environment for the changing times that lie ahead. But what does this look like? And how do we bring about the changes we need?
We explore these topics (and more) in our latest report, ‘Catalysing a wave of regenerative streets in Great Melbourne’, which captures the findings of Regen Streets’ exploration so far. It also shares some provocations around the challenges and opportunities that exist and opens the next phase of the work to be done – moving the ambition beyond sensemaking into strategic action.
What we do know is that regenerating our streets is a shared vision for a diverse set of stakeholders across Greater Melbourne. But right now, our systems hold us firmly in the status quo and prevent us from achieving the desired outcomes.
There will not be an immediate, single solution to create the wave of regenerative streets we need across Greater Melbourne. Instead, we must continue to learn about what types of activities and relationships need to shift in order to lead to more transformative impact. We must organise ourselves differently and create systemic responses to systemic barriers.
We hope you find the report useful in better understanding the power and potential of our streets.
We don’t exist without our passionate collaborative partners, so we’d love to hear your thoughts. Please reach out to nina@regen.melbourne if you have any feedback you’d like to share.
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