The Sustainable Cities project exists both as a virtual and face-to-face project that identifies the fragmented resources existing within cities to connect and communicate them to accelerate the city's sustainable transformation. 

What is the Sustainable Cities project?

The Sustainable Cities project has recently emerged as part of the Victorian Eco-Innovation Laboratory (VEIL) based at the Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society (ACSIS), University of Melbourne. The project consists of two websites (to soon grow in number); SustainableMelbourne.com and SustainableCitiesNet.com.

The topic of sustainable cities is very broad and encompasses areas from sustainable architecture to water management, sustainable communities, eco-villages and more. Each of these topics are listed on either of the two sites (as either local or international examples), with links provided to direct people to more detailed information sources. We also encourage people to post information on-site if it is not already listed or to comment on published posts.

SustainableMelbourne.com represents a virtual Melbourne-only based blogsite established to showcase and link Melbourne-based environmental initiatives, models, resources, research and events. Sustainable Melbourne is intended as an introduction to the wealth of action and resources that exist locally, providing an entry point for people wanting to become more involved or who wish to expand their current environmental initiatives with new ideas.

The Sustainable Cities Round Table represents a face-to-face aspect to Sustainable Melbourne, an event that is held every six weeks in Melbourne to showcase local environmental initiatives while providing a networking opportunity for people involved in such issues in government, industry, academia and community. If you want to know what’s happening about environmental issues in Melbourne, visit SustainableMelbourne.com or attend the Sustainable Cities Round Table.

The second website, SustainableCitiesNet.com, represents an international portal of “Sustainable Cities”. Building on the concept of distributed, networked systems, the template of Sustainable Melbourne will be replicated to create other 'SustainableX.com' city sites, which will all be linked by the Sustainable Cities Net portal. This international website is established to share and celebrate urban environmental initiatives between cities and to provide additional support for the uptake of urban sustainability.

One such international Sustainable Cities website already exists: SustainableRotterdam.com. The tag-line for our project, "the city is re-inventing itself", which expresses the idea of dynamic change from within the city as a living entity, comes from this site.

How can people become involved?

Sustainable Melbourne and Sustainable Cities Net offer an excellent platform for corporate managers, scientists, academics, government officials, business analysts, consultants and individuals interested in sustainability as they provide:

• An opportunity to place or seek information on urban environmental models and initiatives on an international sustainability network
• A virtual showcase of existing and desired urban sustainability research
• An opportunity to meet movers and shakers in urban sustainability at the Sustainable Cities Round Table, Melbourne

For more information about the Sustainable Cities project, contact Ferne Edwards:
E: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
T: (03) 8344 3004 

Or please visit http://www.sustainablemelbourne.com/  

Article by Ferne Edwards
Sustainable Cities Research Officer,
Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab,
Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society