The National Sustainable Living Festival presents a huge sustainability and zero waste celebration like you’ve never seen before.
In the heart of our city at Royal Botanical Gardens Melbourne, join ABC's Gardening Australia's Costa Georgiadis for an afternoon celebrating sustainable living. The Great Local Picnic features a huge line up of special guest leading sustainability innovators including Helena Norberg-Hodge, David Holmgren, Sandro Demaio, Alice Zaslavsky, Professor Tim Entwisle, Mariam Issa, Kirsty Bishop-Fox, Nina Gbor, Jakobi and more for a big green day out.
Bring your picnic rug and basket with your delicious dishes made from your homegrown harvests, or pack a locally sourced spread and join the showcase of local food, innovative sustainability and community connection. This is a zero-waste event and there will be some compost buckets, but there will be no bins. So if you bring any waste to the event, we will kindly ask you to take your waste home with you
Come along with your family or a group of friends, or register as a community or work group and be part of an inspirational and entertaining day, as we reconnect and unite on our sustainability journeys.
There are some fantastic family activities starting with a pre-picnic event with Costa the Garden Gnome who is looking for some little helpers to help him dig up some picnic mission magic! You can find more about the Picnic Parade here
About our Speakers
Costa Georgiadis is a landscape architect, environmental educator and television presenter who has an all-consuming passion for plants and people. He is the much-loved host of one of the ABC’s most iconic and Logie award-winning programs, Gardening Australia.
Helena Norberg-Hodge is a linguist, author and film maker, Helena Norberg-Hodge is the founder and director of the international non-profit organisation, Local Futures, a pioneer of the new economy movement, and the convenor of World Localization Day.
Dr Sandro Demaio is a medical doctor and globally-renowned public health expert and advocate. He co-hosts the ABC television show Ask the Doctor – an innovative and exploratory factual medical series broadcasting across Australia and around the world.
Mariam Issa is the Co-Founder and President of RAW - a community garden in her backyard. RAW’s acronym ‘Resilient Aspiring Women’ holds an immensely powerful meaning for Mariam as it embodies not only her journey, but a transformational state of being for all.
Alice Zaslavsky is an award-winning author, broadcaster, ‘Vegelante’ and Australia’s friendliest voice in food. Alice is the Cookery Columnist for The Weekend Australian Magazine, host of Saturday Breakfast on ABC Radio Melbourne, and the resident foodie on ABC’s hit television program News Breakfast.
Jakobi is a proud Djap Wurrung and Gunditjmara man, and a Guide and Educator at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. His work includes creation and facilitation of tourism and education programs. He is passionate about climate change, conservation, and impacts of colonisation on the environment and First People's culture. Jakobi believes solutions for environmental and social progress towards justice for all, is grounded within First People's knowledge and leadership.
Kirsty Bishop-Fox is a sustainability educator and changemaker who inspires, and supports people in the shift towards a more sustainable future, so together we have a positive impact on our planet, people, and productivity. She’s the founder of Sustainability Pathways, Program Manager for Sustainable Living Festival, and co-founder and president of Zero Waste Victoria.
Brendan Condon works on the design and construction of sustainable carbon neutral communities, urban farming projects, and restoration of biodiversity and nature. Brendan and his teams work to create a better designed, more efficient, lower cost, circular economy society that is able to meet the challenges of the future, and to show that we already have the solutions at our fingertips to build a better world.
Nina Gbor is the founder of Eco Styles, an award-winning sustainability advocate, ethical fashion speaker, writer, educator and climate activist. Her work is derived from research and lived experiences in the global South and global North with focus on equity, social justice and development.
Professor Tim Entwisle is a botanist, scientific communicator and botanic gardens director. He is the Director and Chief Executive of Royal Botanic Gardens. Tim is a regular contributor to Australian radio and writes for science, nature and garden magazines. He recently published a memoir, Evergreen: the Botanical Life of a Plant Punk.
David Holmgren is best known as the co-originator of permaculture. He has developed three properties, consulted and supervised on urban and rural projects, written eight more books, and presented lectures, workshops and courses in Australia and around the world. His writings over those three decades span a diversity of subjects and issues, whilst always illuminating aspects of permaculture thinking and living.
Thuch Ajak is a co-founder of United African Farm, an initiative that brings the African community together to grow culturally appropriate crops and share their culture. He has worked in plant protection in Sudan, volunteered at CERES and worked at Joe’s market garden where his passion for farming was ignited. Thuch works as a Refugee resource hub manager and volunteers for the Living and learning centre, and is a broadcaster at Casey Community radio.