Fishermans Bend raingardens concept wins City of Melbourne Innovation Challenge
A raingarden concept that draws on local recycled materials has won the City of Melbourne’s Fishermans Bend Innovation Challenge – and is set to become a reality through a trial in the Precinct.
Focusing on circular-economy principles, Master of Engineering (Environmental) student Amira Moshinsky and fellow University of Melbourne students designed the winning concept – impressing judges and the voting public alike.
The students who designed the original concept comprised the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology’s (FEIT) Amira Moshinsky, Jisoo Jeon, Nathan Dowe, Liam Murray and Michael Jin, and the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning’s (ABP) Brian Wong.
Ms Moshinsky developed the concept further, collaborating with three Faculties: FEIT, ABP and Science (School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences). She was supported by Professor Alexander Felson, Elisabeth Murdoch Chair of Landscape Architecture (ABP), and Associate Professor Peter Cebon, Head of the Innovation Practice Program (FEIT).
Raingardens are designed garden beds that use plants and other materials to filter stormwater and moderate storm flows. The winning raingarden concept aims to also reduce our carbon footprint by repurposing locally-produced construction waste at Fishermans Bend that would otherwise go to landfill.
Crushed concrete, crushed bricks, waste glass and timber mulch will replace more costly and less sustainable conventional raingarden materials such as freshly quarried sand and gravel, and drought-resistant plants will be deployed for their aesthetic and filtering qualities.
The Fishermans Bend Innovation Challenge offered an opportunity to explore the creative use of emerging technology and data to help build resilience. The $70,000 prize money will allow Ms Moshinsky and several fellow students to work with the City of Melbourne’s Emerging Technology Testbed team to bring the pilot to life.
“Fishermans Bend is a low-lying area and particularly prone to flooding,” Ms Moshinsky said.
“The raingardens will improve climate resilience, with a sustainable and cost-effective, garden-based drainage design. This will close the loop on local waste, while contributing to the unique character of Fishermans Bend. I hope these raingardens will inspire more circular economy innovation.”
The project originated in 2021 when the engineering consultant AECOM challenged a team from the Creating Innovative Engineering subject to apply circular economy principles at the Fishermen’s Bend Campus. Dr Cebon said the students’ commitment and enthusiasm helped to achieve such an impressive concept.
“Engineering will contribute to the design of the raingardens and associated software; landscape architecture will help us understand how to make the concept work on the campus and how to design the experiments to test the designs; and horticulture will guide plant selection,” Associate Professor Cebon said.
He added that the City of Melbourne support will crystalise a larger effort. It will enable three students to build prototypes in the Faculty’s Opportunity Laboratory, with additional funding from the Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund and Development Victoria. A further five students will design software that will use embedded sensors to engage the public, educate primary, secondary and tertiary students, and guide operations and research. If this phase is successful, the City of Port Phillip is ready to join the next phase, along with other stakeholders.
Watch Amira explain the ‘Recycled Material Raingardens’ project in this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67llt5Tnvg0.