The city also has multiple challenges:
Sustainability initiativesMelbourne, like other large cities, has multiple sustainability initiatives going on. Some of these are:
In 2014, a new deliberative democratic forum, The Future Melbourne Network, was launched to discuss options and solutions to major challenges facing Melbourne, in areas such as housing, transport, and including issues such as climate change. See also the external links to high-level projects below.
Events2015 December 11 festival21, all-day celebration of community, food and future. February 7 - 28 The Melbourne Sustainable Living Festival/Foundation, held annually every February. Initiatives by topicClimate actionError in widget YouTube: Unable to load template 'wiki:YouTube'
Zero Net Emissions, information from the City of Melbourne. The City has set an ambitious target for Melbourne to become a carbon neutral city by 2020. Cycling activismCritical Mass bicycle rides in Melbourne Wikipedia:
Food activismVeg Out community gardens, Melbourne
HerbShare, project in Melbourne to bring neighbours together to create a new food commons by mapping herbs and other food growing in front yards and public areas, on facebook Error in widget YouTube: Unable to load template 'wiki:YouTube'
Open spacesWikipedia: Parks and gardens of Melbourne: Melbourne is considered to be Australia's garden city, and Victoria as the Garden State. There is an abundance of parks and gardens close to the CBD (Central Business District) with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways, and tree lined avenues. Many regional towns have well tended botanic gardens, parks and tree lined avenues. SharingMaps: Melbourne Sharing City Sustainable transport activismSee also: Melbourne Sustainable Transport Reform Wikipedia:
Trees, woodland and forestMelbourne's Urban Forest, information from the City of Melbourne Error in widget YouTube: Unable to load template 'wiki:YouTube'
ContextMelbourne has a temperate climate with changeable weather and frequent winds. Suitable urban design for these conditions must include windbreaks and sheltered nooks, for example small parks which catch the sun in the colder months but offer protection from wind. Urban sprawl is very advanced, but public transport is relatively good, by Australian standards, especially within approximately 10 km of the city centre. Environmental issuesLike many urban areas, Melbourne faces environmental issues, many related to the city's large urban footprint and urban sprawl and the demand for infrastructure and services. One such issue is the impact of drought on water supply. Periodic droughts and consistently high summer temperatures deplete Melbourne's water supplies, and climate change may exacerbate the long-term impact of these factors. During the Millennium drought, the Bracks Government implemented water restrictions and a range of other options including water recycling, incentives for household water tanks, greywater systems, water consumption awareness initiatives, and other water-saving and reuse initiatives. But as water storages continued to fall further measures were required; in June 2007 the Bracks Government announced the construction of the $3.1 billion Wonthaggi desalination plant, and the so-called North-South Pipeline from the Goulburn Valley in Victoria's north to Melbourne. Neither project was used extensively before the drought broke during 2010, and therefore both have been criticised as 'white elephants'. In response to attribution of recent climate change, in 2002 the City of Melbourne set a target to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2020 and Moreland City Council established the Zero Moreland program. Not all metropolitan municipalities have followed suit, with the City of Glen Eira notably deciding in 2009 not to become carbon-neutral. Melbourne has one of the largest urban footprints in the world due to its low-density housing, resulting in a vast suburban sprawl, with a high level of car dependence and minimal public transport outside of inner areas. Much of the vegetation within the city is non-native species, most of European origin, including many invasive species and noxious weeds. Significant introduced urban pests include the common myna, feral pigeon, brown rat, European wasp, common starling and red fox. Many outlying suburbs, particularly towards the Yarra Valley and the hills to the northeast and east, have gone for extended periods without regenerative fires leading to a lack of saplings and undergrowth in urbanised native bushland. The Department of Sustainability and Environment partially addresses this problem by regularly burning off. Responsibility for regulating pollution falls under the jurisdiction of the EPA Victoria and several local councils. Air quality, by world standards, is classified as good. Summer and autumn are the worst times of year for atmospheric haze in the urban area. Another recent environmental issue in Melbourne was the Victorian government project of channel deepening Melbourne Ports by dredging Port Phillip Bay—the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project. It was subject to controversy and strict regulations among fears that beaches and marine wildlife could be affected by the disturbance of heavy metals and other industrial sediments. Other major pollution problems in Melbourne include levels of bacteria including E. coli in the Yarra River and its tributaries caused by septic systems, as well as litter. Up to 350,000 cigarette butts enter the storm water runoff every day. Several programs are being implemented to minimise beach and river pollution. In February 2010, The Transition Decade, an initiative to transition human society, economics and environment toward sustainability, was launched in Melbourne. W
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News and comment2019 Feb 11 Regenerating forgotten urban places: 3000acres [1] Melbourne becomes first city with all council infrastructure powered by renewables, Jan 16 [2] 2017 Stressed street trees: mapping the urban forests to save them – and us, Mar 27 [3] Melbourne's trams to be solar powered, Jan 19 [4] 2016 Climate change: Melbourne renewable energy project provides global blueprint, Jun 10 [5] Melbourne plan to make 25% of trips by bicycle 'ambitious but achievable', March 11 [6] Fruit and vegetable gardens turn Melbourne into edible city, Mar 6 [7] Resources
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Citizens data initiativeCity of Melbourne Open Data portal See alsoInterwikiWikipedia: Melbourne, Melbourne, Environment Greenlivingpedia: Melbourne (category) External links
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