Date: 28 June 2018
Time: 9.30am-2.00pm
Venue: Bacchus Marsh Public Hall, Bacchus Marsh

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 August 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 30 participants attended the workshop:

• 20 participants were external stakeholders who represented a diverse array of groups including: councils, community groups, VicRoads, Parks Victoria, Development Victoria, and DELWP.
• 10 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

Daniel Besley (Project Manager, Healthy Waterways Strategy, Melbourne Water) opened the workshop with a call for 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. Daniel also heartily thanked the workshop participants for their commitment to and work on developing a Healthy Waterways Strategy that can be co-owned and co-delivered, since the project began in August 2017.

Facilitator Geraldine Plas invited participants to connect or reconnect with each other, and share a memorable moment or recent achievements in the collaboration. We heard that collaborators were particularly proud of:

• The recent planting of 3,500 trees with Holcim Lafarge
• Engaging with schools on waterway health
• The Rivers of the West campaign
• The recent International Waterkeeper Alliance Conference held in the United States, which Werribee Riverkeeper John Forrester attended and reported on
  (Download John’s presentation)

Part 2: Draft strategy

Daniel 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
• 56% of a representative sample of residents from the Werribee catchment support the vision developed for the catchment by the collaborators.

(Download the presentation ‘Draft Strategy Overview’.)

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’.)

Part 3: Healthy Waterways and development

Nimai Hawkins (Development Manager, Riverwalk, Development Victoria) gave an update on the development of the Riverwalk housing estate (adjacent to Werribee River), including how 2,200 new dwellings are proposed for it.

Participants expressed particular interest in the concept design for the Werribee River interface and drainage solution for the estate.

(Download presentation ‘Werribee Riverwalk development’.)

Part 4: Looking to the future – How do we implement the strategy together?

In May 2018, we held a regional collaboration lab to develop initial proposals for:

• An on-going platform of collaboration
• Governing the implementation of the Strategy
• Tracking the effectiveness of the Strategy

Werribee Riverkeeper John Forrester, who was among the 32 attendees, shared his experience of it and the lab outcomes. He highlighted several factors needed for the strategy to be implemented successfully in the Werribee catchment, such as:

• The importance of telling a story that resonates with various audiences
• Citizen science
• Community leadership
• Involving key organisations that are not currently participating in the collaboration

(Download the presentation ‘Outcomes of the Collaborative Implementation Lab (John Forrester)’.)

Building on the lab outcomes, Daniel 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 ‘Collaborative Implementation Proposal’.)

Participants worked in small groups to provide feedback on the proposal.

When reporting on their group discussions, the participants expressed general support for the proposal, noting:

• Two potential topics for the waterways labs:
  • Researching and communicating the public health benefits of waterways
  • Developing a communications strategy for the Healthy Waterways Strategy
• The importance of giving meaningful and attractive names to the collaborative implementation groups
• A proposed additional function of ‘communication’ for the regional committee

They also identified the following key success factors for the strategy implementation:

• The need to engage across several groups within councils and other organisations including planning, engineering, infrastructure and senior
  management
• Investigating previous waterways committees and identifying their success factors (noting that the Westernport CIC is the only remaining Catchment Implementation Committees over the five CICs set up in the 90s)
• Alignment with (and no double up on) existing forums such as the CMA/landcare Catchment Action Roundtables
• Getting powerful non-participants on board
• Increasing focus on the social and economic benefits of healthy waterways in the way we communicate, and rebranding them as ‘Healthy Communities and Waterways’

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. These included:

• Documenting where healthy waterways groups exist, projects are already happening and useful resources can be found
• Sharing case studies that explore 'how to collaborate'
• Creating an economic appetite for Healthy Waterways, through for example tenders, rebates or accreditations
• Communicating in a way that leverages cross-sector opportunities (business, public health and wellbeing)
• Using the strategy to start a discussion with key stakeholders (including management, executive, elected representatives, planners) who do not usually participate in these workshops
• Making funding available for a ‘Look after your rivers’ campaign to be delivered by existing groups.

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:

• 60% of respondents were very committed to working together on implementing the Strategy
• 40% were committed.

Part 5: Next steps

To close the workshop, Daniel 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 6: 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 commented on the design of the workshop and their experience of collaboration.

The response rate was 66% (20 out of the 30 participants):

• Two-thirds of respondents stated that the series of collaboration workshops had given them new ways of thinking about waterways
• 75% believed this workshop identified useful next steps
• Respondents particularly appreciated the commitment to implementation (25%), sharing new ideas around waterways health (20%) and discussions with a diversity of stakeholders (20%).

(Download Evaluation of Sensing Sheets.)

Question: What did you particularly enjoy about this workshop?

Question: What is one collaboration that feels significant?