Projects

The Bega Circular Valley 2030 program will be a conduit to the region’s environmental, economic and social success

The ‘Bega Circular Valley 2030’ (BCV 2030) program is a transformational high-impact regional development initiative of national significance with the pioneering vision to establish Bega Valley Shire (BVS) as the most circular regional economy by 2030 that will inspire other regions to follow.

We have been working with the local community and Bega Valley Shire (BVS) council to ensure local knowledge informs the program and the many inspiring initiatives industry, council and communities have currently underway are embraced, empowered and nurtured by embedding smart circular economy principles and skills across the various actors, and mobilising new innovative circularity solutions.

Specifically, over the next 3 years, the program will identify, accelerate and implement 9 enabling projects which will support the delivery of 15 flagship and 29 supporting circular projects to stimulate a regional circular marketplace and a vibrant ecosystem of diverse stakeholders, SMEs, technology innovators, researchers, academics, indigenous leaders, social ventures, NGOs and government as well as funders, impact investors and philanthropists.

BCV 2030 is anchored in the community by a newly created ‘backbone’ organisation in the form of a membership-based Co-operative which will co-convene the program and optimise community participation.

Powered by global circularity expertise, implementation rigour and technology, the program has been designed with leading practice impact evaluation frameworks in mind, to measure the success (at both program and project level) and enabling a targeted focus of key circularity initiatives to improve the impact and share the learnings for the benefit of other regions across Australia.

Circularity presents a real economic resilience opportunity.

KPMG

We collectively believe the Bega Valley Circular Economy program can unlock significant value for the community and will propel our region forward while progressing ongoing agendas around sustainability and biodiversity, climate resilience, economic growth and social inclusion.

  • We have established the Regional Circularity Co-operative Limited which will facilitate funding to the organisation and to dedicated projects
  • We are already on our way to building our Centre for Circularity, which will be a highly visible complex for incoming travellers as well as a demonstration of the region’s commitment to support the Valley to transition to circularity. The building will be designed and constructed using circular economy principles and be an example of circular construction
  • Finally, we have great interest from stakeholders to continue the cross-sectoral engagement and develop high impact projects together

We have therefore identified a pipeline of initiative opportunities to confirm the involved stakeholders, project scope and expected regional impact and outcomes. It is expected that these discussions will be facilitated via the newly established co-operative structure.

Regional sectors engaged with the circularity project will include;

  • Agriculture
  • Forestry
  • Marine and Aquaculture
  • Indigenous Local Land Councils
  • Health, Aged Care and Community Services
  • Technology and Education
  • Tourism, Culture and the Arts
  • Supply Chain and Support Services

“UOW and UOW Bega Campus are strong supporters of the Bega Valley Circular Program concept and proposal, and view these developments as being a catalyst for educational, social and economic growth and development for the region and in turn the nation.”

Samantha Avitaia
UoW Bega Campus Manager

“The community-centric approach of the Bega Valley Circularity Program strongly aligns with our values of supporting industry and local communities. This is made more pertinent by the scalability of the program to other geographic regions to strengthen economic growth in harmony with consideration for reduced environmental impact.”

Rick Willmott and Hon Niall Blair

“As the owner of a local software engineering business, I view the Bega Circular Valley proposal as the most significant transformative initiative to have emerged since I first moved to the region in 2008. Encompassing new agricultural practices, extensive innovation, environmental preservation, economic development and a greater embrace of digital technology, the Bega Circular Valley will lead to the creation of vital high skill jobs for our community and deliver a resilient local economy on which many families can build a secure future.”

Liam O’Duibhir
Technology Entrepreneur