Welcome

The Cities of Knox and Maroondah and the Shire of Yarra Ranges (SYR) formed a project team led by the Centre for Regional Development at Swinburne University of Technology to collaboratively develop a suite of regional sustainability indicators. The indicators reflect a sustainability framework for the region which aligns the visions of the three municipalities. The indicators were developed by talking to and surveying people who live in the region. The indicators identified through this process measure the community's progress towards social, environmental and economic sustainability.

The term sustainability is most often defined as “ensuring that the actions of today do not limit the range of economic and environmental options open to future generations” (Bruntland, 1997). Communities and the people in them do not live in isolation and commmunity capital is the term used to describe the inter-relationship between the natural, social and built capital that each community shares in a unique way.

The indicator suite will be updated annually, or as data becomes available. The database has been made possible through the provision of data from Victoria Police, Melbourne Water, SP-Ausnet, Centrelink, Turning Point, Yarra Valley Water, South East Water, Australian Bureau of Statistics, National Institute of Economics and Industry Research, Department of Education and Training, Eastern Regional Libraries, Ecorecycle, the Department for Victorian Communities, The Department of Human Services, the Shire of Yarra Ranges, and cities of Maroondah and Knox.

A summary report is available for download.

Community assets were identified so that they can be preserved and protected for future generations. Assets include heritage listed sites, national parks, gardens and waterways to name a few.