Sometimes, you need to go upstream to find the true causes of environmental issues. We’re about to meet three grassroots leaders who educate Melbournians on what makes healthy urban waterways.

April Seymore is incredibly passionate about the Planet! She’s a responsible dog walker and the Executive Officer of Port Phillip Eco Centre.

Liam Higgins represents a new generation of environmental leaders! He’s the Co-Founder & COO at VOLI, an app that makes doing good easy.

Anthony Despotellis literally has his finger on the pulse of the Birrarung’s health! He’s the Litter Project Officer at Yarra Riverkeeper Association.

Stormwater runoff (from streets, parklands & industrial areas) pollutes the Yarra River, but if we can prevent litter, slow down runoff and filter stormwater, change is possible.

Alrighty then, it’s time for another opportunity to transform climate anxiety into action!

Note: Two Bays Podcast series #2 is brought to you by Regeneration Projects, the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and RMIT University.

Time to dial up the community vibes! Join us on the Two Bays Podcast, where we dive into skills, knowledge and practices to improve Melbourne’s liveability and sense of connectedness and belonging.

In this episode, our special guests talk about how they and their organisations’ are chipping in and how you can too!

We will meet a quiet advocate for the Birrarung who draws on her experiences as a former Mayor to inspire others to fall in love with our River. Then there’s the surfboard-making engineer who’s bringing fun back into urban swimming conversations, as well as an internationally recognised researcher with some provocative perspectives on future tourism.

Make that cuppa, find a cosey corner and nestle into this heart-warming conversation!

Note: Two Bays Podcast series #2 is brought to you by Regeneration Projects, the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and RMIT University.

It’s time to go global folks! In this episode, we’re guiding Two Bays listeners on a virtual tour through Copenhagen, London and Vienna to get our finger on the pulse on the very latest from the urban swimming movement.

Melbourne may sit on a remote island ‘Down Under’ but that doesn’t stop Regeneration Projects from collaborating with international pioneers, people like:

• Ana Mumladze Detering, Convenor of the Pan European Urban Bathing Network, and Co-Founder of the Danube Canal Swimming Association, Vienna
• Chris Romer-Lee, Co-Founder of Studio Octopi (an architecture firm specialising in urban swimming projects), Co-Founder of Thames Baths & Co-Founder Future Lidos, and
• Johann Durand, Blue Flag International Director at Foundation for Environmental Education (fellow actor in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration)

For the latest on the Paris Olympics build up and some very exciting NEWS for the Swimmable Cities movement, don’t miss this episode.

Note: Two Bays Podcast series #2 is brought to you by Regeneration Projects, the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and RMIT University.

Why have one swimming spot in the lower Yarra, when you could have a whole corridor of swimming experiences?! That’s the vision for a Birrarung / Yarra River Swimming Trail between Deep Rock, Dights Falls and the Bay.

In this episode, you’re going to meet three talent professionals who know how to transform urban design visions into clear, deliverable masterplans.

• Skye Haldane is the Principal of Strategic Design at the City of Melbourne and Project Lead for the Greenline Project
• Thomas Flugge is a Senior Landscape Architect at McGregor Coxall
• Dr Chris Speed is a Professor of Design for Regenerative Futures at RMIT University

Together, our guests represent some of the freshest and brightest minds shaping Melbourne’s built environment. No challenge is too great! Don’t miss out on this deep dive into the power of design in making swimmable cities a reality.

Note: Two Bays Podcast series #2 is brought to you by Regeneration Projects, the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and RMIT University.

Recognising the rights of Nature is an idea that many people find really challenging, but today’s special guest is a Pro at explaining why giving rights to the Yarra River is just common sense.

Dr Erin O’Donnell tirelessly works with waterways worldwide, from communities in Aotearoa New Zealand to the United States. This is all part of her role as a Senior Lecturer and ARC Research Fellow at Melbourne Law School.

Protecting urban waterways from stormwater pollution, old sewage systems and vegetation clearing is a hard task, especially when you think about the rising pressures of climate change. But embracing Indigenous and Western knowledge could just give us the edge we need, and the Yarra River Protection / Wilip-gin Birrarung murron Act 2017 has already started this journey.

Are you ready for another step towards a swimmable Birrarung?!

Note: Two Bays Podcast series #2 is brought to you by Regeneration Projects, the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and RMIT University.

Join us on the Two Bays Podcast, where we dive into water and wellbeing!

In this episode, we meet another two amazing ambassadors for Melbourne’s beloved Birrarung / Yarra River, who hold a wealth of community leadership experience.

Amanda Donohoe fearlessly plunges into the Birrarung all year round! She’s a member of the Yarra Yabbies swimming group and also the CEO of Servants Community Housing, Hawthorn.

Andrew Kelly is well known to community stakeholders along the Yarra River! He’s a former Yarra Riverkeeper, and the convenor of The Waterway Network.

Despite the Yarra River being a civic space, its lower reaches (between Dights Falls in Abbotsford and Port Phillip Bay) aren’t truly accessible. But perhaps the community vision of the Yarra Strategic Plan 2023-2032 is already starting to change that.

Listen now to find out more!

Note: This Two Bays Podcast series is brought to you by Regeneration Projects, the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and RMIT University.

In the first episode of our "10 Steps towards a Swimmable Birrarung" series, we meet two pioneers of Melbourne's urban bathing culture, who developed some incredible wellbeing skills during COVID-19.

Meg Elkins started swimming in the Yarra River during Lockdown! She’s a member of the Yarra Yabbies swimming group, she’s also a Behavioural and Cultural Economist at RMIT University.

James Mugavin built a sauna in his parent’s backyard as a Lockdown project! He’s a sauna enthusiast and Founder & CEO of Loyly architecture studio.

Listen in to discover some hidden silver linings to COVID-19 and how the Birrarung / Yarra River is becoming the heart of urban bathing culture in Melbourne.

Oh, and hear our guests' perspectives on the vision of a ‘swimmable’ Birrarung between Dights Falls (Abbotsford) and Port Phillip Bay!

Note: This Two Bays Podcast series is brought to you by Regeneration Projects, the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and RMIT University.

Before we dive into our NEW "10 Steps towards a swimmable Birrarung" series, let’s set the scene by exploring the story of Melbourne's iconic Yarra River, known as the Birrarung to the Kulin First Peoples.

Are you ready to discover how a growing social movement aims to renegotiate and reconcile our relationship with the Birrarung, by drawing inspiration from Indigenous wisdom – Burndap Birrarung, burndap markoo (What's good for the Birrarung, is good for All)?

As a small local business committed to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, Regeneration Projects invites you to join us and our series partners – the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and RMIT University - in supporting the peace-making process between people and Nature.

Tune in and learn how you can turn over a new leaf in your relationship with the Birrarung and your local waterways!