The workshop was held at the Community Hub at the Dock in Melbourne’s Docklands and focussed on restoration practices. We brought together community organisations and advocates looking after local waterways and aimed to offer them support in the vital work they do.
We were lucky enough to have representatives from groups looking after waterways all around Melbourne come together for the evening to share their experiences. It’s always difficult to get people from all over Melbourne under one roof but we were incredibly excited by the turnout and the diversity of waterways represented on the night!
Our keynote speaker for the evening was Principal Ecologist for the Nature Glenelg Trust, Mark Bachmann. Mark brought extensive knowledge on ecosystem ecology in south-east Australia and a passion for wetland restoration. Having worked in the region since 1996, he provided amazing insight into the challenges advocates must overcome to ensure success and practical strategies for doing so. He also inspired everyone on the night with examples of successful restorations that he had helped bring about across Victoria.
Overall, it was an engaging and exciting workshop that we hope provided participants with useful tools and strategies to take back to their local community groups, as well as some inspiration to keep moving forward. We were also able to provide all our workshop participants with tangible resources to take away with them from the night. It is always wonderful to be able to empower communities and help them take action in protecting the places we all love.
This was the first in an ongoing series of workshops, and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with our network of amazing community advocates to assist them in their important work. Stay tuned for more details for our next event.