Sustainable Canberra Community Candidate Forum

Join us to super-charge sustainability in our community when we share our proposal for a place where environmental community groups can co-locate, hold workshops, events and sustainable living demonstrations. We’re calling this place a Sustainable Living Hub. Be inspired by our showcase of community-led environmental action in Canberra. Hear from candidates about how they will support a sustainable Canberra community.

The event is free..

The Sustainable Living Hub proposal is co-led by the ACT Conservation Council and the Canberra Environment Centre. It is supported by Canberra’s environmental NGO sector, including by See Change, Electrify Canberra, Pedal Power and Zero Waste Revolution. Collectively we reach thousands of Canberrans.

About the Sustainable Living Hub Proposal 

Canberra’s climate change targets and government actions are world-leading. We have 100% renewable electricity, energy efficiency standards for rental properties, we were Australia’s first jurisdiction to announce the phase out of gas and we have the highest rate of take-up for purchase of new electric vehicles.

Building a net-zero emissions future in Canberra will need all Canberrans to be involved. The next 10 – 20 years will be crucial to climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives. Canberra’s environmental NGO sector have more than 50 years’ experience of environmental education and in building social license for environmental change. That’s why Canberra’s environmental NGOs are looking to the ACT government to provide centrally located land for a Sustainable Living Hub.

A Sustainable Living Hub space will allow Canberra’s environmental NGOs to co-locate, facilitating stronger collaboration and more efficient use of resources. A centrally located hub will enable practical sustainable living education to be accessed by all Canberrans. The type of activities that we envisage here include: community workshop and event space, office space, space for small environmental groups to store essentials (e.g. seed storage for seed savers), repair café space, recyclery or other community-activation based circular economy initiatives, hard to recycle drop-off space, community toolbox, community garden and an orchard.

We envisage a sustainable living zone that is similar to Melbourne’s CERES’ site alongside the Yarra River in East Brunswick. We envisage building construction to be a partnership between environmental NGOs, the ACT government and other partners. We are looking for a site that is at least 15,000m2 in the heart of Canberra, accessible by public transport, with parking available and be accessible to Canberra’s university communities. Ideally, the site will be flat, suitable for growing food and without conflicting land uses. We would like to have the following sites of unused Territory Land considered by the ACT government as examples:

• Acton waterfront: adjacent to the proposed Acton Waterfront Park (National Museum side)
• Turner: adjacent to ANU North Oval, McCaughey St, Masson St and Sullivans Creek.     
• Turner: adjacent to Turner pump track and beginner Mountain Bike skills track, bounded by Masson St and Watson St.
• East Lake: adjacent to the wetlands, identified for future development.

We ask that all candidates and political parties support:

1. Allocation of at least 15,000m2 of unused Territory Land, to a partnership of the Canberra Environment Centre and the ACT Conservation Council. This land is for the purpose of enabling co-location of environmental NGOs and establishing a Sustainable Living Hub for all community groups that is accessible for all Canberrans.

2. Sufficient funding to enable purpose-built construction in partnership with NGOs and other partners to showcases sustainable living, including energy efficiency and sustainable design.