Date: 26 June 2018
Time: 9.30am-2.00pm
Venue: Riverside Kitchen and Events, Ascot Vale

Why this workshop?

It is well recognised that each of us has responsibility for ensuring healthy waterways, and if we work collaboratively, we will have greater impact.

This workshop focused on:

• Celebrating our work together since the start of the collaboration in April 2017
• Seeking early feedback on the draft Strategy
• Exploring how we continue to work together to achieve the targets and performance objectives we have set ourselves.

Who attended?

A total of 33 participants attended the workshop:

• 20 participants were external stakeholders who represented a diverse array of groups including: councils, community groups, water authorities, the Catchment Management Authority, VicRoads, Parks Victoria, and DELWP.
• 13 participants from Melbourne Water helped support the conversations and provide catchment knowledge. These included teams such as Integrated Planning, Regional Services, and Customer and Strategy.

Part 1: Setting the scene

Robert Considine (Manager, Water Services Planning at Melbourne Water) opened the workshop with a call for urgent collective action. He highlighted the pressure climate change and population growth will put on our waterways and Melbourne Water’s commitment to work tirelessly with others to avoid a decline in waterway health. Rob also heartily thanked the workshop participants for their commitment and work towards developing a Healthy Waterways Strategy (that can be co-owned and co-delivered) since April 2017.

Facilitator Anna Kilborn invited participants to reconnect with each other and share a memorable moment of the collaboration. We heard that collaborators particularly valued:

• The passion, ideas, various views, genuine listening and shared commitment of the group
• Getting to know the catchment better through field trips, various workshop locations and hearing about the science
• Engaging with diverse stakeholders, including Traditional Owners and VicRoads
• The ability to influence the process (for example, moving away from the concept of priority waterways)
• Building a true partnership and relationship that will keep us going.

Participants also shared significant achievements since the group last met in March, including:
• The release of the Chain of Ponds Plan for the Moonee Ponds Creek for public comment by the Cities of Moonee Valley and Moreland
• The Rivers of the West campaign
• The enactment of the Planning and Environment Amendment (Distinctive Areas and Landscapes) Billto protect the Macedon Ranges.

Part 2: Draft Strategy

Daniel Besley (Project Manager, Healthy Waterways Strategy, Melbourne Water) shared with us:

• The overview of the draft Strategy
• How the 1807 comments received on the preliminary targets and performance objectives had informed the draft
• 60% of a representative sample of residents from the Maribyrnong catchment support the vision developed for the catchment by the collaborators.

(Download the presentation ‘An overview of the draft Healthy Waterways Strategy (Daniel Besley)’.)

Participants were then invited to pair up and identify parts of the draft Strategy that are:

• On target
• Missing
• Required clarification or outstanding.

(Download the outcomes ‘Workshop participants’ feedback on the draft Strategy’.)

General comments included:

• Support for the higher vegetation targets and the revised presentation of targets
• Improving links with existing strategies (in particular councils’ strategies)
• Strengthening the science methodology
• Making the narrative more emotive to generate motivation.
  

Part 3: Looking to the future – How do we implement the strategy together?

In May 2018, we held a regional collaboration labto develop initial proposals for:
• An on-going platform of collaboration
• Governing the implementation of the Strategy
• Tracking the effectiveness of the Strategy

Tony Smith, who was among the 32 attendees, shared his experience of it and the lab outcomes, including examples of collaborations, and issues in the Maribyrnong catchment that require collaborative action.

(Download the presentation ‘Collaborative Implementation Lab Outcomes’. The last slide references this video about Maribyrnong River Cruises vessel.)

Building on the lab outcomes, Daniel Besley presented a proposal for collaborative implementation of the Strategy that built on the lab outcomes. The five key elements of the proposal are:
• A regional HWS committee
• Five catchment implementation forums
• ‘Pop-up’ regional co-design labs
• ‘Pop-up’ catchment project groups
• Activities to assist multi-scale connectivity

(Download the presentation ‘A proposal for collaborative implementation of the strategy (Daniel Besley)’.)

Participants were then invited to work in small groups to provide feedback on the proposal. When reporting on their group discussions, the participants expressed general support for the proposal. They raised high-level questions and spotted areas for further exploration, including:

Reflecting on the discussions held since the start of the catchment collaboration, the participants also suggested a series of small projects or “wins” that would deepen the trust, commitment, and shared understanding of the group.

(Download the list of these projects and the feedback received on the collaborative implementation proposal.)

Finally, using the Poll Everywhere voting system, participants were asked about their commitment to working together on the implementation of the strategy. The results showed a very high level of commitment:

• 53% of respondents were very committed to working together on implementing the Strategy
• 41% were committed to it.

Part 4: Next steps

To close the workshop, Dan Besley thanked the participants and described the next steps in the process, including:

• Consultation period for draft Strategy will close on Sunday 22 July
• Opportunity to ask a question on the draft Strategy via Your Say
• The hope to submit a final draft strategy to Ministers in September
• The plan to get together again in the Spring to continue to collaborate on the implementation of the Strategy.

Part 5: Evaluation from the sensing sheets

The project and each workshop are being evaluated to provide opportunity for ongoing learning. As a final action, participants completed a sensing sheet and provided comments on the design of the workshop and their experience of collaboration.

The response rate was 66% (22 out of 33 participants):

• More than 80% of respondents felt that the series of workshops provided new ways of thinking about waterways
• 90% of respondents thought this workshop identified useful next steps for implementing the Healthy Waterways Strategy

During this workshop, they particularly enjoyed working collaboratively on implementation and drawing on the strong relationships developed over the series of workshops.

(Download thefull evaluation of the sensing sheets.)

Question: What did you particularly enjoy about this workshop?

Question: What did you particularly enjoy about the process?

Participant's comment during workshop