Reimagining Melbourne's flowing heart: The swimmable Birrarung project

Melbourne’s Yarra River (Birrarung) could soon be swimmable again. The Swimmable Birrarung initiative is Regen Melbourne’s exciting plan to revive the river and reshape the city for generations to come. Here’s how the non-profit is turning its bold dream into a reality.

Picture a future where children dive into the Yarra River in the heart of Melbourne, where families picnic on its revitalised banks and where the river itself thrives as a living, breathing ecosystem. This is the bold vision of the Swimmable Birrarung initiative. Led by Regen Melbourne who are supported by a trust managed by Equity Trustees, the project seeks to regenerate the Birrarung (Yarra River) so it is healthy and thriving.

“The very existence of Melbourne is because of its river,” says Charity Mosienyane, Lead Convenor of the Swimmable Birrarung initiative. “If the Birrarung is healthy, we are healthy. Imagine what it would mean for our city if we could swim in it again.”

According to First Nations custodians, the Birrarung is Melbourne’s lifeblood, flowing 242 kilometres from the Yarra Ranges to Port Phillip Bay. It provides 70% of Greater Melbourne’s drinking water, supports a third of Victoria’s biodiversity and has sustained the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong peoples for tens of thousands of years. Yet today, pollution, climate change and urban pressures threaten its health.

Regen Melbourne, the five-year-old not-for-profit organisation born out of the Black Summer bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic, is working to reimagine how the city can flourish within ecological limits and bring new life back to the river.

“Through the Swimmable Birrarung, we’re showing what regeneration looks like in practice,” Charity says. “It’s about redesigning our city so people and nature can thrive together.”

For Charity, the ambition of making the Birrarung swimmable goes far beyond recreation. “When we talk about a swimmable river, it’s not simply about jumping in the water. It’s about systemic change: stormwater treatment, wetlands to filter pollution, reforestation, and stronger biodiversity protections. It’s about climate resilience, public health and cultural renewal.”

The initiative is built on the belief that Melbourne can be a regenerative, equitable city with a living, reimagined waterway, just like the Seine in Paris or the Hudson in New York.

Momentum grew earlier this year when Melbourne City Council unanimously backed a motion to explore making the river swimmable before 2050. Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece put it simply: “If Paris, Copenhagen and Berlin can navigate these troubled waters, then surely we can do so here in Melbourne and make our beautiful river swimmable again.”

Equity Trustees recognised the significance of this vision early. Since 2021, through its Equity & Empowerment program, it has funded Regen Melbourne’s work, helping the organisation grow its pioneering initiatives. “Equity Trustees’ support has been fundamental,” Charity says. “They believed in the possibility of transformation and backed us to take the first steps.”

So, how can other organisations and individuals get involved and help to support the initiative? Charity invites businesses, philanthropists, researchers and creatives to partner on projects that restore the Birrarung. She also recommends that potential supporters join a community revegetation event or take part in citizen science monitoring to improve the health of the river.

“This work is about the future of our children, our place and our water,” says Charity. “We’re talking about regenerating what makes Melbourne, Melbourne

“Swimmable Birrarung is more than infrastructure: it’s an invitation to rethink our relationship with the river and create a city where nature and people thrive together. The river’s story is Melbourne’s story and it’s up to us to write its next chapter.”

To learn more or get involved, visit regen.melbourne/swimmable-birrarung     

The Equity Trustees Equity & Empowerment Strategy is one of five granting pillars within our Empowering Change program. This program exists because of generous and visionary philanthropists. Various trusts with similar objectives collectively fund to support organisations that are working in new ways with longer term outcomes and visions. The Equity & Empowerment Program is currently focused on First Nations Australians, women and girls as well as climate. To read more about this pillar, visit https://www.eqt.com.au/our-services/community/grant-funding/equity-and-empowerment

Photo caption: Swimming in the Birrarung in the heart of Melbourne, AI generated. Photo credit: Regen Melbourne.

"The river’s story is Melbourne’s story and it’s up to us to write its next chapter.”