The Docklands could be the next location for a swimmable city
Ever felt like a refreshing dip in the Yarra River (Birrarung) on your lunch break? Perhaps getting some laps in to start your weekend? You’re not alone; this initiative wants to transform the major Melbourne waterway into a swimmable spot for the city.
Swimmable Birrarung is a largescale infrastructure project led by a growing network of advocates with a vision to regenerate the Birrarung Yarra River to the extent that it is healthy, thriving and swimmable again, from source to sea.
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To achieve this ambitious goal of a healthy, thriving, swimmable Birrarung Yarra River, the group is calling for a coherent and systemic response from diverse actors and stakeholders. This includes government, business, civil society and community.
Swimmable Birrarung says the time is now for Melbourne to join a global wave of cities transforming their urban waterways into places to swim, connect and thrive.
Regeneration Projects, a key member of the Swimmable Birrarung movement, plays an international role as convenor of a new Swimmable Cities Alliance, with founder Matt Sykes heading to Rotterdam to represent Melbourne at the inaugural Swimmable Cities Summit.
Swimmable Birrarung says making the Birrarung swimmable again is about so much more than just swimming.
“More than 70 per cent of our drinking water comes from this river catchment. As the Woi-wurrung language name for the Yarra Strategic Plan says, Burndap Birrarung burndap umarkoo: “good for Yarra is good for all”. We need to reorient our city to recognise our main waterway as a living entity, as a place inextricably linked to our health and biodiversity.”
After almost three years of convening key organisations in the Swimmable Birrarung initiative, which builds on decades, and millennia, of work in service to a thriving waterway the group are working as a coalition of actors, supporting the holistic regeneration of the Birrarung. Together they have surfaced seven key steps towards swimmability.
“Making a river swimmable is no small task (just ask Paris). And the Birrarung in particular is wrapped up in a complicated tangle of local laws, corporate and government bureaucracy, and a lack of public awareness and engagement.
“But for decades, organisations like Yarra Riverkeeper Association, Melbourne Water and so many more have been working tirelessly towards a better future for the Birrarung. All that we set out to do builds on the legacy of the Wilip-gin Birrarung murron (the Yarra River Protection act 2017) and the Burndap Birrarung burndap umarkoo (Yarra Strategic Plan).
“Our role at Regen Melbourne is to help organise these actors (and attract new actors) around a common goal (Swimmable Birrarung), then channel that collective energy into a cohesive movement with a clearly defined mission.”
Regeneration Projects has also launched a new podcast series, and a concept for a trail of swimming experiences between Dights Falls and Nairm/Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne, made in partnership with the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and RMIT University.
Find out more here.
