Waterfront: Taking the Plunge

In 2020, we have an unprecedented opportunity to dive head-first into creating a swimmable Yarra. With the the future of the Yarra under the spotlight in the State Government’s Yarra Strategic Plan and the City of Melbourne’s Yarra River Birrarung Strategy, it’s time to dream big – and a swimmable river is a healthy river.

Dip your toes in the new riverside pool at Arbory Afloat on World Water Day and learn what it takes to bring swimming back to our urban waterways and how cities across the world, from Copenhagen to New York, have achieved it.

Moderated by Felicity Watson, President of Yarra Pools and Executive Manager – Advocacy, National Trust. Guest speakers include:

• Monique Woodward: director of WOWOWA and co-creative director of the 2019 National Architecture Conference
• Matt Sykes: Ecotourism specialist, with a landscape architecture background, who received a tourism fellowship to research bathing cultures around the world.

Presented by Open House Melbourne, Yarra Pools and Arbory Afloat for Waterfront – part of Melbourne Design Week 2020, an initiative of the Victorian Government in collaboration with the NGV. 

Image: Yarra River pool concept, courtesy of WOWOWA and Yarra Pools