Partnerships
We’ve always felt aligned to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #17 – Partnerships for the Goals.
We build bridges between Business, First Nations & Ecosystems
This allows us to work systemically on urgent issues from climate change to reconciliation and mental health. When we breakdown the silos between humans and the natural world, between diverse cultures or even different generations, sectors and industries we open new opportunities for meaningful change.
Business & Ecosystem partnerships
Our skills are in connecting the dots between leaders, organisations and the places they do they business. First Nations Elders and western regen leaders have taught us that improving our relationships to local lands, waterways and skies are everyone’s responsibility. This also aligns to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration which is a ‘global rallying cry to heal our planet’.
In collaboration with progressive leaders, we’re working to establish new partnership models between Melbourne’s business community and the Yarra Riverkeeper Association. B Corps, 1% for the Planet members, Doughnut Economics advocates, Cultural and government institutions are coming together to improve the health of our city’s lifeblood.
Traditionally conservation has worked in silos and is driven by a competition culture, but a collaborative forum (the ‘Ranger Roundtable’) that connects leaders from the Ranger sector and global development, health and conservation organisations is changing the game. In this partnership between the International Ranger Federation, The Thin Green Line Foundation and the Universal Ranger Support Alliance, our responsibilities include event management and facilitation, partnership brokering and strategic industry development.
Spinning out of the Great Victorian Bathing Trail strategy and building on years of foundation work by industry pioneers, an alliance of hot springs, mineral springs and sea bath operators and developers have united. Regen Projects’ responsibility was to design and now implement an Industry Development Plan across four strategic pillars: Marketing & Community Engagement, Advocacy & Industry Partnerships, Industry Standards and (wholistic) Industry Growth.
Website coming soon
Business x First Nations
Since being introduced to Sustainability at the University of Melbourne in 2008, our CEO Matt has been on a journey of listening and working in partnership with First Nations Elders from around Australia. He has a unique ability to see the world through different perspectives and bring them together to address systemic issues.
The Fire Circle is a space which unites Elders from First Nations and other wisdom traditions with business leaders from around the world. It is a collaoration between Yolngu Elder Djapirri Mununggirritj, Lorna Davis, Shruthi Vijayakumar, Nora Silva and Matt Sykes. Monthly events and seasonal short courses connect Nature, business and spirituality in ways that allow leaders to more effectively, and meaningfully, contribute to positive change.
The Kummargii Yulendji Rising Knowledge Project is a cross-cultural initiative designed to share Boonwurrung expertise of caring for Country in new and innovative ways. It is a collaboration between Boonwurrung Yalukut Willum Elder N’arweet Dr Carolyn Briggs AM, Troy Innocent (64 Ways of Being) and Matt Sykes. Clients and partners include state government organisations, local councils, corporates, research institutions and not-for-profit enterprises.
When Matt met Palawa Elder Uncle Clyde Mansell in 2013, the wukalina Walk was a dream for a 4-day on Country experience that would reveal the cultural landscape of the larapuna / Bay of Fires. Now fully operational, Matt has supported the pioneering project through government advocacy, strategic planning and product development. They continue to work together to elevate the voices of Tasmanian First Peoples.
Doughnut Economics & Melbourne
One of the exciting ways that regeneration is taking form at a city and regional scale is through Doughnut Economics. Led internationally by Kate Raworth and the Doughnut Economics Action Lab, it’s a conceptual model which seeks to balance ‘Social foundations’ (like food, education and energy) with the planet’s ‘Ecological ceiling’ (think climate change, biodiversity loss and land conversion). The goal is to create a measurable way for communities to achieve a ‘safe and just space’ for all life to thrive.
As part of our portfolio, Matt works as the ‘Project Lead’ for Regen Melbourne which a platform and network made up of more than 60 partner organisations and 900 individuals across Metropolitan Melbourne, all working together to nurture a regenerative future for our home city. His role includes the support of beacon projects which symbolise this positive vision of change. Matt also contributed as a co-facilitator during the Autumn workshops of 2021 that resulted in the report ‘Towards a regenerative Melbourne’, which serves as a strategic guide for the network’s evolution.
As part of the Mornington Peninsula’s ‘IMAGINE 2040’ community visioning process of Autumn 2021, we hosted an intergenerational workshop on the Melbourne Doughnut. A diverse group of 35 local people came together – including First Nations people, students and educators, volunteers and social entrepreneurs, policy-makers and change-makers, economists and naturalists, artists and musicians, academics and trades people, business owners and activists.
To continue the conversation, we now host seasonal walks in different locations around the Peninsula.