Melbourne Business & Biodiversity Circle
Our Purpose
Working together on the Planetary Crisis, by catalysing business-led biodiversity action and tackling the global nature investment gap.
Emerging as a response to the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the Melbourne Business & Biodiversity Circle (MB&BC) is a collaborative space where professionals working at the intersection of our economy and Nature can come together to share their knowledge, visions and anxieties in a positive, aspirational space.
Through a program of seasonal gatherings, collective impact projects and place-based nature investment initiatives, we’re supporting our region to become Nature Positive by 2030 and transforming biodiversity into one of Melbourne’s cultural and commercial super powers.
Express Your Interest in 2024 Membership – helen@regenprojects.earth
Our Challenge
Melbourne’s biodiversity matters to our region’s liveability and to our economy! From agriculture to tourism and international education, the Triple Planetary Crisis (Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change and Pollution) risks the short and long-term foundations of Victoria and Australia’s economy. (See Australian Conservation Foundation, 2022)
Our Solution
By sharing knowledge and building relationships through seasonal gatherings, coordinating multi-sector projects and co-creating place-based nature reinvestment initiatives, we can work towards becoming Nature Positive and transform biodiversity into one of Melbourne’s cultural and commercial superpowers.
Catalysed by COP15
After having the opportunity to attend COP15 in Montreal on behalf of The Thin Green Line Foundation, advocating for the world’s Rangers to be recognised in the GBF, Regeneration Projects’ Founder Matt Sykes was inspired to carry the experience home. We’re now proud to incubate the MB&BC and to be joining forces with like-minded professionals in our home region.
Our 2024 Action Plan
The Melbourne Business & Biodiversity Circle’s 2024 Action Plan sets out our purpose and objectives for the year ahead. It was developed in collaboration with professionals from diverse backgrounds and industries who work at the intersection of Nature and our Economy. Our primary action areas will be:
1. Seasonal Gatherings
2. Collective Impact Initiatives
3. Annual Summit (linked to COP16)
4. Annual Survey & Report
To discover how your organisations can get involved in the array of opportunities and activities, please click the link below.
2024 Membership
Grow your business and our biodiversity! We’ve designed a membership system that welcomes businesses and organisations of different scales, so that we can co-create the conditions for Melbourne’s biodiversity sector to thrive. Some of the benefits of include:
1. Starting your organisation’s Nature journey!
2. Being part of a network of purpose-aligned leaders.
3. Sharing and getting access to the latest information.
4. Positioning your brand at the forefront of business-led biodiversity action and strengthening your climate and circular economy strategies.
5. Unlocking new opportunities and collaborations.
Express Your Interest – helen@regenprojects.earth
2024 Members
Now taking Expressions of Interest! Businesses and organisations of all sizes, sectors and industries are welcome. Please contact helen@regenprojects.earth
Orange-bellied Parrot members
Baw Baw Frog members
Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby members
2023 & 2024 Events
The MB&BC events of 2023 are a clear demonstration of the power of business to move quickly in responding to changes in market expectations and opportunities. While government organisations take time to update their biodiversity strategic actions plans post-COP15, we’ve already started to create the conditions for change.
#1
Business, Biodiversity & the Birrarung at MPavilion (March 10)
Multi-sector leaders came together in a circle and explored Melbourne’s unique role in the Global Biodiversity Framework.
#2
International Biodiversity Day at Patagonia (May 22)
Inspired by the UN Environment Programme‘s to move from ‘Agreement to Action’, we facilitated a fireside-style discussion that invited every person to bring forward one new idea (or question) that could be added to a Melbourne toolkit to present to the #COP16 UN Biodiversity Convention in 2024.
#3
Online: International Trends, Lessons & Partnerships (August 22)
It was an enlightening experience, where we learned from real examples of practitioners in Australia and Aotearoa, New Zealand, unlocking the powers of international collaboration, partnerships, and knowledge-sharing.
#4
Workshop: Towards a multi-sector Impact Alliance at Intrepid Travel’s HQ (September 26)
We mapped existing actors in the Two Bays bio-region, highlighting Melbourne’s unique position in the global nature finance landscape and the pressing $US700b per annum nature finance gap and delved into the strategic foundations of an Alliance, from principles to governance and membership.
#5
End of Year Picnic at the Royal Botanic Gardens (December 6)
We gathered on Kulin Country to connect, reflect and celebrate our achievements in 2023. We shared an overview of the 2024 Action Plan which we developed together in MB+BC#4 as well as heard from Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria CEO David Harland and special guest Sam Rowland from the Sustainable Business Network of Aotearoa / New Zealand.
#6
Feeding Melbourne’s Economy: How food and farming underpins our Metropolitan region’s unique business culture (February 22)
Come discover how investing in a healthy and sustainable food system could unlock $4.5 trillion in new business opportunities annually.
#7
Safe Climate, Swimmable Cities: A Melbourne & Toronto knowledge exchange (March 21)
In this interactive gathering, you’ll hear case studies and lessons from Toronto in their efforts to make their waterways clean enough to swim, drink and fish; discover how academics and architects are making headway in Melbourne, as well as understand how this connects to global biodiversity and water policy and initiatives like the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Join the Circle!
Future generations will look back and remember what we did at this pivotal time on Earth. Together, we can make a difference on biodiversity loss, and transform the Planetary Crisis into opportunities for innovation.
Express Your Interest now – helen@regenprojects.earth
