Sustainable Living Festival

The iconic Sustainable Living Festival runs for four weeks in February and promotes solutions to global warming by promoting sustainable living practices.

The National Sustainability Festival is bigger, bolder, and more urgent than ever—a high-voltage showcase of ideas and action driving sustainability across Australia.

The National Sustainability Festival is not just an event but a movement of change-makers. Its mission is simple: accelerate the uptake of sustainability and address the global climate and biodiversity emergencies.

As climate change continues to threaten the security and well-being of people and the planet, the action we take this decade is set to define the fate of our future. To achieve a safe climate we will need to decarbonise as fast as humanly possible. This is the decade to rapidly shift to a zero-emissions Australia. So, join the festival program to learn more about how we can create the pathway for decade zero.

With over 100,000 visits every year, the event is the largest sustainability festival in Australia — and not just in numbers but also in impact. By showcasing cutting-edge solutions to ecological and social challenges, the Festival fosters and provides tools for the change we want to see and the difference we want to make in the world.

Here is just a taste of the events held during the festival:

Costa’s Picnic Extravaganza!

Garden Party – Music, Nature, and Joy. Pack a picnic of your favourite local foods, bring a blanket, and relax in the lush gardens while exploring the wonders of sustainability.

Get ready for a garden party like no other! Join Costa the Garden Gnome and friends at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, for a day of music, creativity, and sustainability. Bring your rug and connect with nature and community in a vibrant, picnic-style celebration. Enjoy family funk band Formidable Vegetable, and dive into naturehood with ABC TV’s Dirtgirl, featuring lively songs and plenty of laughs. Dress up in your favourite nature, Gnome or animal costume and join the picnic parade nature walkabout.

Bring your favourite local treats, lay out a cozy blanket, and unwind in the vibrant gardens as you discover the beauty of sustainable living.

Perfect for the whole family….this is one picnic adventure not to miss.

Times: Sun 16 Feb 2025 at 10:30am – 1:30pm
Location: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne
Ticketing & Pricing: Free Event

Nuclear & the climate crisis

The proposed nuclear plan for Australia: good faith or bad idea? A panel of experts explore the obvious and less obvious implications of the contentious proposal.

In this feature online webinar, we will hear from leading experts with decades of experience in energy and public policy, as well as local community members from the proposed sites of the nuclear power plants.

Join the event and learn if nuclear power can contribute to combating climate change and the impacts on front-line communities and workers.

Guest Speaker: Dr Jim Green
Dr Jim Green is the National Nuclear-Free Campaigner with Friends of the Earth Australia, a member of the Nuclear Consulting Group, and former editor of the “Nuclear Monitor” newsletter published by the World Information Service on Energy and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. He has an Honours degree in Public Health and a Doctorate in Science and Technology Studies for his thesis on the debates over replacing Australia’s nuclear research reactor.

Times: Thu 20 Feb 2025 at 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Location: Online Event
Ticketing & Pricing: Free Event

‘Reading Landscape with David Holmgren’ Film Screening

Join Permaculture Out West (POW) for a screening of Reading Landscape & discussion

Join POW for the first film night for 2025. Bring along snacks to share and we’ll discuss the film afterwards.

Times: Fri 7 Feb 2025 at 7pm – 10pm
Ticketing & Pricing: Free Event

Sean Dooley: Breakfast with the birds

Celebrate World Wetlands Day with birds, breakfast, and expert insights.

The very popular ‘Breakfast with the Birds‘ is on once again this year. Join the North Central CMA and bird experts to celebrate World Wetlands Day at the internationally significant Lake Tutchewop. Come to hear about this special site and learn more about its birdlife, what it means to be Ramsar listed and how we deliver and manage water for the environment while you enjoy a light breakfast as the sun rises over the wetland.

Guest presenter on the day: Sean Dooley
Sean Dooley is an Australian writer, comedian, conservationist and birdwatcher. He is the current editor of Australian Birdlife magazine, Author of The Big Twitch and former holder of the Australian Big Year twitching record. Sean Dooley is the Birdman. Come along to learn about his passion for birds, get his expert insights and have the opportunity to ask your curly bird questions.

Times: Sun 9 Feb 2025 at 6am – 10am
Location: Lake Tutchewop, Lake William Road, Mystic Park, Victoria
Ticketing & Pricing: Free Event

Tim Flannery: Our Community, Our Environment

Be informed and inspired to care for our environment now and in the future. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the change!

Our environment is the heart of rural communities. As a community, we cherish the beauty of our natural wonders for a variety of different reasons. Some visit the natural world to relax, de-stress, and unwind. Others work in it and rely on it, and many just admire it!

The Our Community, Our Environment Conference brings leading experts together to discuss the latest climate science and explore practical solutions to climate change. By sharing knowledge and experiences, we can empower our community to make a difference.

Together, we can:

• Deepen our understanding of Southwest Victoria’s climate: Gain insights from renowned scientists on climate challenges facing our region.
• Connect with like-minded individuals: Network with active community members who share a passion for our environment.
  Contribute to a community-led action plan: Work together to develop practical strategies to protect our environment now and for the future.
• By attending, you’ll become part of a community-driven movement to protect our environment.

Times: Sat 1 Feb 2025 at 9:30am – 3:30pm
Location: Portland Golf Club, 755 Madeira Packet Road, Portland, Victoria
Ticketing & Pricing: Full Price $54.26

Natural Building Workshop

Alternatives for building an affordable home

Suppose you’re interested in developing practical knowledge and skills in ecological building techniques or exploring alternatives for building an affordable home based on permaculture and biotecture (Earthship) design principles. In that case, our two-day Natural Building Workshop is for you.

At this practical hands-on workshop, you will learn how to:

• evaluate earth components
• mix, stomp and fashion cob
• mix and apply natural renders
• construct and finish cob walls
• prepare and lay an earth floor
• add innovations and flourishes
• work productively as a team with a shared purpose

Join us for a weekend at Victoria’s first Earthship in beautiful Kinglake, Victoria, and experience the festival atmosphere of joyful, creative and collaborative home building.

Sleep in the solar passive ecologically designed fire-resilient Earthship, share delicious home-cooked meals and enjoy the warmth of good company around the fire pit under the Milky Way.

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
While you’re in Kingslake, you are also free to take the opportunity to explore the mountain hinterlands, wet sclerophyll rainforest, majestic waterfalls, extensive water catchments, abundant wild animals and birdlife, surreal sunsets and spectacular views of the city skyline.

Times: Sat 1 Feb 2025 – Sun 2 Feb 2025 at 10am – 4:30pm
Location: Kinship Kinglake, 19 Ward Street, Kinglake, Victoria
Ticketing & Pricing: Full Price $125

Cooking for a Cause with Merivale Chefs

Zero Waste Cooking class with Jowett Yu, Sarah Chan, and OzHarvest!

Join Merivale Chefs Jowett Yu and Sarah Chan to learn zero-waste cooking skills while transforming rescued ingredients into gourmet meals to support vulnerable communities.

From learning how to chop an onion properly to cooking root to stem – you’ll be inspired by this hands-on cooking session full of practical tips and tricks for you to apply at home.

After creating delicious and nutritious meals, participants help pack the food ready for OzHarvest to deliver to local charities. The good news is there’s no washing up, and you get to taste your culinary delights!

Times: Thu 13 Feb 2025 at 9am – 12pm
Location: OzHarvest, 3/49 Bertie St, Port Melbourne, Victoria
Ticketing & Pricing: Full Price $205 (tax-deductible donation)

Jellyfish Swinging

The black inner tube jellyfish artwork is an immersive sound and textured installation for all ages to enjoy.

Experience the mesmerising Jellyfish Swinging installation

Come and encounter this immersive, vibrant black jellyfish swarm.

A group of individual sculptures swaying gracefully to the rhythm of the wind and soundscape. Each individual Jellyfish is an assemblage of found punctured bike tubes hanging from black discarded electric fan grids, offering possibilities in the material we discard daily.

This event will take place on the outdoor stage of the famous St Kilda-Veg Out community garden.

Times: Sat 1 Feb 2025 at 10am – 3pm
Location: Veg Out, Cnr Shakespeare Grove & Chaucer Streets, St Kilda
Ticketing & Pricing: Free Event

Permaculture Tour at Melliodora

One of the best ways to learn about permaculture is to take part in a tour of the Melliodora homestead and gardens.

Situated in the Victorian central highlands, Melliodora is one of the best examples of cool-temperate climate permaculture in the country.

The one-hectare property has been transformed from the blackberry-covered wasteland in 1985 into a model of small-scale intensive permaculture. David Holmgren and his partner Su Dennett will show you how their passive solar house, mixed food gardens, orchards, dams and livestock, as well as creek revegetation, have been developed and maintained. The Melliodora garden farming model is most relevant to large town blocks and small rural allotments, but you don’t have to have a large block to gain a huge amount from the tour.

Discover ways to apply the underlying principles and strategies to your own situation.

The Whole Day Tour includes morning + afternoon teas. Participants are encouraged to enjoy BYO lunch under the 100-year-old pear tree or visit one of the local cafés in Hepburn or Daylesford during the lunch break.

The Garden Only Tour includes afternoon tea.

Times: Sun 2 Feb 2025 at 10am – 4:30pm
Location: Melliodora, 16 Fourteenth St, Hepburn, Victoria
Ticketing & Pricing: Full Price $85

Picnic Parade with Dirtgirl & Costa the Garden Gnome

Picnic Parade with eco-warrior Dirtgirl & Costa the Garden Gnome

Dirtgirl & Costa the Garden Gnome are on a mission…a picnic mission! They are looking for some little helpers to help them dig up some picnic mission magic!

This grubby adventure kicks off from the Royal Botanic Gardens Observatory Lawn for a pre-picnic nature walkabout, sharing the love of nature and joy of gardening with Dirtgirl and Costa the Garden Gnome.
Next, it levels up with the Great Family Picnic Parade, taking the fun all the way to Costa’s Garden Extravaganza!

Join the gang and supercharge the mission by dressing up in your favourite garden, flower, gnome or animal costume. Perfect for the whole family….this is one picnic mission not to miss.

Then, join Costa’s Garden Extravaganza with a huge lineup of family nature-inspired performances.

Times: Sun 16 Feb 2025 at 10:30am – 12pm
Location: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, 100 Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne, Victoria
Ticketing & Pricing: Free Event

Rehydrate Earth with Damon Gameau

European scientists discuss the burgeoning field of the New Water Paradigm and an incredibly hopeful pathway toward climate healing and restoration.

Award-winning director Damon Gameau leads this session featuring world-leading hydrologists Michal Kravčík and Anastasia Makarieva, who discuss the New Water Paradigm and its application to climate science.

The New Water Paradigm is an incredibly hopeful story that is just beginning to break through into climate thinking, offering a pathway to climate mitigation, including breaking from the drought and extreme weather cycle we are witnessing. The Paradigm takes the science beyond just CO2 as the cause of our predicament and proposes levers we need to turn things around.

Michal Kravčík is the author and lead researcher of the paper, Water for the Recovery of Climate. He is known for his work restoring watersheds across Slovakia following the devastating Central European floods of 2002. Michal is the founder of the People and Water NGO, a holder of the Goldman Environmental Prize and a member of ASHOKA: Innovators for the Public, an international network of innovators who work for public welfare. Michal is the most prominent representative of the People and Water NGO, awarded the EU-USA Prize for Democracy and Civil Society Development.

Anastassia Makarieva is a professor in the Theoretical Physics Division of the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute and the Lead author of the Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land, which provides groundbreaking research into how healthy forests can draw moisture from the ocean far inland.

Times: Sat 22 Feb 2025 at 4pm – 5:30pm
Location: Online Event
Ticketing & Pricing: Free Event

Head over to Federation Square, Alexandra Gardens, Birrarung Marr and many other locations during the festival. Events all over Melbourne aim to educate all citizens and visitors about the environment.

There is so much going on during the festival that it’s impossible to mention all of the events here. Please refer to the event program here for a complete list of events, dates, times, venues and locations.

There’s never been a pivotal time to join Australia’s biggest showcases of sustainability and climate action.