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Building Community Wealth in Victoria

by | Feb 28, 2023 | Uncategorised

Every locality across Australia can generate a strong, prosperous, equitable and resilient local economy that places the control and benefits of their local economy into the hands of local people. To realise this vision, Ethical Fields is undertaking the Community Wealth Building Australia Tour. We are visiting cities, towns and regions across Australia to raise awareness about the transformative potential of community wealth building and learn from local communities already on the journey.

In November 2022, we met with the wonderful folk of Victoria. Here are some of the highlights.

Building an inclusive regenerative local economy in Mount Alexander

Mount Alexander

An inspiring group of local organisations and community in Mount Alexander are working together to transition to an inclusive local economic system that enables community-led regeneration and provides a documented runway for other communities starting this journey. It was great to visit the region, learn more about its unique wonder and strengths and meet up with some of the passionate people behind this initiative. Thanks for the warm welcome Warwick Smith (Castlemaine Institute), Sharon Fraser (Clarion Call), Anitra Nelson and Kyla Brettle. Ethical Fields is excited to be supporting this initiative.

Housing Blueprint for the Wimmera Southern Mallee

Wimmera Southern Mallee

The Wimmera Southern Mallee region need to build 3000 homes over the next ten years to support local economic and community needs. To optimise the local and social impact from this endeavour, the Wimmera Development Association and its members are exploring community wealth building options that will not just build homes, but will also build local ownership, wealth, equity and economic resilience. They are also exploring how community wealth building can better attract and support migrant and migrant-employer needs. It was great to finally meet yourself and the team in person Chris Sounness (Wimmera Development Association).

Environmental Markets Leadership Course

In 2022 Ethical Fields launched the Environmental Markets Leadership Program. The Environmental Markets Leadership Program is designed to inspire and support land managers and farmers to play a leading role in natural capital and environmental markets. A cornerstone of the program is the Environmental Markets Leadership Course, a practical, hands-on learning program to develop the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to identify, market and benefit from the natural capital, ecosystem services and environmental services they generate and provide to society. This course is the first of its kind in Australia and was co-designed and c-developed by Jane Hudson of JBass Learning. It was great to meet up with Jane in Victoria after 12 months of working together virtually and celebrate the launch of the program and the course. We plan to make the course publicly available in the coming months. If you’d like more information, please visit www.emlp.com.au or contact [email protected].

Growing Inclusive Employment for Residents of the City of Banyule

Good, fair and quality employment, job security and skills development FOR ALL is a key principle of community wealth building. The City of Banyule’s Inclusive Local Jobs Strategy provides a pathway for local people facing barriers in the workforce. The strategy has four focus areas that demonstrate the role local government can play in supporting vulnerable community groups: stimulate inclusive local employment opportunities, strengthen pathways to local labour force participation, grow business ownership and entrepreneurship, advance inclusive employment practices across the local government sector and private sector. It was great to meet Emma Joyce from the City of Banyule and learn more about the program and the impact it is having in their region.

Exploring circular wealth in the circular economy at Sustainability Victoria

Sustainability Victoria’s purpose is to accelerate Victoria’s transition to a circular, climate resilient clean economy. SV2030 is centred on an inclusive, just and equitable transition that has: shared knowledge, innovation, investment in vibrant new clean economy industries with significant new employment opportunities, a future where all our resources are produced, consumed, collected, recycled and retained at their highest value, purchased and reused, circulating in perpetuity throughout the supply chain, world-leading infrastructure, sustainable buildings, and communities and people with a deep understanding and literacy of sustainability in all sectors. It was great to meet Andrea Pape from SV, learn more about this strategy and explore how the community wealth building can provide the tools at the local and state level to make this vision a reality.