Dr Gillian Sparkes, Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Victoria, was part of the Melbourne Planning Summit at ZINC Federation Square last Thursday with government and industry discussing the challenges and opportunities of Melbourne’s future as a liveable and sustainable city in 2050 as we grow to 8 million people. The morning kicked off with a keynote from Infrastructure Victoria's Michel Masson followed by Sara Harbidge, Terry Larkins and Peter Dawkins discussing regional partnerships. The Commissioner joined Melbourne Water’s Chris Williams, City of Melbourne Councillor Nicholas Reece and CRC for Water Sensitive Cities CEO Professor Tony Wong for the panel session, ‘Planning a Liveable and Sustainable Greater Melbourne’ to discuss key findings and recommendations from the Victorian State of the Environment 2018 Report tabled in March 2019. Topics included the Commissioner's ‘top 3’ priorities; biodiversity, climate change impacts and waste and resource recovery. Also discussed was the State of Environment 2018 recommendations 18, 19 and 20 – investing in tools and frameworks for the future – digital spatial platforms, data analytics, citizen science integration and a shift to Sustainable Development Goals as the operating framework for State of the Environment 2023 Report. It was also great to hear interest from local government participants about the use of environmental-economic accounts.
To learn more about what the Commissioner shared with the Melbourne Planning Summit, download her presentation: