The Adaptation Game (TAG) project is in full swing with facilitator training held in early December. Ten people were trained to facilitate the localised Moonee Valley version of the game. We can’t wait to launch this serious but deeply engaging and inspiring game that will help us build community connection and resilience, early in 2026. Stay tuned for the launch which is earmarked for early March.
The MVS Committee, working group members and collective leads met in early December to realign our goals with the MVS Community Plan, discuss our five year goals and draft a 2026 calendar of events. We’ll be sharing more of our plans over the coming weeks.
We would love someone to help us with coordinating events over 2026 – if this is in your skill set and you have some time please email us at info@mvsustainability.org.au. We’d love to hear from you.
In September we celebrated our 6th birthday at Dwell alongside a Waste-Not-Hub event. We had a lovely afternoon that included a delicious MVS cake!
In early December we gathered along the banks of our marvellous Maribyrnong River at Canning Reserve in Avondale Heights to chat, nibble and play. Stories were shared, new friends made and we got to know each other through some fun games.
It was a real pleasure to have the Mayor of Moonee Valley, Cr Rose Iser come along too – thanks for taking the time and for your ongoing support!
We also acknowledged the contributions of our members, volunteers and wider community in helping secure some big advocacy wins this year. We’re deeply grateful for every person who has played a part in some way – small steps really do build momentum towards our vision of a climate-safe and pollution-free Moonee Valley for all!
To progress our agenda and meet MVS goals, we have been advocating for policy change and priority funding to decision-makers in government, business, industry, and community. Thanks to Logan for his tireless efforts in leading this campaign work for a climate safe Moonee Valley.
Our advocacy regarding targets to help cut climate pollution successfully saw Moonee Valley City Council adopt their MV2040 Vision and 4 year Council Plan with the inclusion of strong wording and targets to help cut climate pollution and make our city more sustainable. Its safe to say that the Council voted for less pollution, less waste, more trees, more solar in an historic moment of positive progress towards a brighter future for everyone in Moonee Valley.
In particular, Councillors supported strong wording and ambitious goals to guide action on:
🌞 Rooftop solar and renewable energy
🚎 Active, public and clean transport
♻️ Reducing waste, recycling & repurposing
The Moonee Valley City Council Community Vision Statement for 2040 now includes “Our city is climate-safe and pollution-free, we use renewable energy and clean transport, we recycle and repurpose and enjoy shaded streets and a healthy environment”.
This was a huge win and we can now look forward to creating a wonderful city together!
As a direct result of our campaign and written submission for ‘Clear and measurable targets in the Council Plan’, backed by you, our valued members and supporters, we helped secure some significant strategic outcomes:
✅ New goal that “Community members make more than half of their trips by active or low-emissions public transport by 2030”
✅ Saved the existing target to cut climate pollution (67-70% below 2018 levels by 2030)
✅ Saved the existing target to boost tree canopy cover to 25% by 2030
✅ Set a new rooftop solar uptake target of >40% by 2030 (up from current 22%) and reduce barriers in heritage areas
✅ Set a target (& develop strategy) to increase the area of permeable surfaces (which has been declining ~1% per year) by 2027/28.
A huge huge thanks especially to Phil Burn – Councillor, Moonee Valley for putting forward this ambitious yet achievable amendment, as well as to Cr Rose Iser – Moonee Valley, Deputy Mayor Cr Fran Cosgriff – Moonee Valley, Cr Paula Theocharides and of course to outgoing Mayor Councillor Ava, Moonee Valley City Council for their support 🙏
While we do understand achieving these outcomes is a shared responsibility and the view that much of it is beyond the scope of a cash constrained Council, we also know the majority of residents want action to cut climate pollution and create a cleaner and safer future for everyone!
The Active Transport Collective are committed to building safer cycling networks. They are keeping an eye on which Council projects will get the green light. The Moonee Ponds to Northcote route has been highlighted as a potential project. It wins on benefit for cost, cost per kilometer and other indicators. The Collective are campaigning to find out if this project will be included in Moonee Valley’s final integrated strategic plan. Stay tuned…..
> Email Peter at activetransport@mvsustainability.org.au to find out more or get involved.
What an absolute thrill to co-host Saul Griffith at the Richmond Town Hall on 17th October for the “Faster and Fairer Tour” presentation alongside our friends from Electrify Yarra.
The event was all about the renewable energy rollout and it was wonderful to have such great representation from Moonee Valley City Council. A huge shout out to Yarra City Council for the venue, for the support of Sustainability Victoria and to Yarra Energy Foundation and Rewiring Australia for the collaborative effort to make it happen.
Saul’s new book Plug In! is a great guide to electrifying our cars, heating, hot water and cooking, all with a side of solar and storage.
> Email Supriya at supriya@mvsustainability.org.au to find out more or get involved.
As part of the continuing Renewing Dwell project, Dwell has submitted an application to the State Government Stronger Communities grant program for $16.5K to replace existing gas hot water and cooking appliances. If successful, MVS will work in partnership with Dwell to auspice and provide project management for the installation.
We are also actively chasing funding opportunities in the 2026 State Budget to allow us to install ~20kW of rooftop solar and replace the old, leaky windows with air-tight double glazed ones.
> Email Logan at logan@mvsustainability.org.au to find out more or get involved.
The Waste Not Hub was in full force every second Saturday from September to December with clothes swaps, tupperware exchanges, food swaps, material collections and textile mending. September saw us celebrating our 6th birthday and we ended the year with upcycling for Christmas. This monthly event continues to gather strength and plans are underway to continue this event in 2026. See you there…
> Email Teresa at teresa@mvsustainability.org.au or Veronica at veronica@mvsustainability.org.au to find out more or get involved.
It was a busy lead up to the end of 2025 for the Healthy Environment Collective. The Activating Nature Strips Project was completed and supported a range of activities including the very popular nature strip tour, a ‘Reimagine Your Nature Strip’ workshop facilitated by Karen Sutherland, development of posters, a short video promoting nature strip planting and numerous resources including a nature strip guidelines explainer that are now available on the MVS website HERE. MVS thanks and acknowledges the support for this project by MVCC through its biannual community grants program.
A big thank you to Clare, Ruth and others that created and maintain the Nature Strips Action Group Moonee Valley Facebook group that now boasts over 130 followers! This is a group for people who would like to help each other transform Moonee Valley’s nature strips into havens for indigenous plants, butterflies, moths, birds and wildlife.
> Email Angela at angela@mvustainability.org.au or Valerie at valerie@mvustainability.org.au to find out more or get involved.
We would love to hear from you! There are many ways to get involved with your local community through MVS.
Until next time…
Yours Sustainably
