We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the unceded lands of Victoria. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of these lands and their Elders, and we acknowledge their careful management of these lands over tens of thousands of years. The First Peoples of this region have produced food on these lands for millennia, taking only what was needed and caring for Country. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and practices in food production and land management for a resilient and sustainable food system for the region.
What is the toolkit for?
This toolkit aims to support people in taking action to strengthen the resilience of local and regional food systems to shocks and stresses. It provides guidance, templates and other resources to help with this work.
The toolkit links to other external resources for planning resilient food systems, and it aims to build on, rather than replicate these resources.
Who is the toolkit for?
This toolkit is aimed at communities and organisations across the state of Victoria, Australia, who are working to strengthen the resilience of food systems. This includes people in local and state government, civil society and other sectors. It will also be useful for people outside the region. However, the guidance is tailored to the context in Victoria.
The toolkit has been designed to be accessible to people from a broad range of backgrounds who may have limited prior knowledge of how to plan resilient food systems. It aims to avoid technical language wherever possible.
How was the toolkit developed?
This toolkit was developed by the Foodprint Melbourne research team at the University of Melbourne as part of the Victorian food resilience planning project.
It has been co-designed with food system stakeholders from across the state of Victoria. Co-design workshops were held from June – November 2024. Participants were from local and state government, civil society and industry and came from a broad range of sectors. Workshop attendees collectively brainstormed tools and resources required to plan resilient food systems in Victoria.
This toolkit has also been informed by stakeholder interviews and desktop research carried out as part of the Victorian food resilience planning project. The findings of this research are described in the 2024 report Planning a resilient food system for Victoria. This toolkit builds on research conducted during earlier phases of the Foodprint Melbourne research project.
How can this toolkit be used?
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Photographs remain copyright of the photographers and may not be reused. Unless specified other images and infographics are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
More information about how to use this toolkit.
Acknowledgements
Graphic design Studio Elevenses
Photography Foodprint Melbourne, Healthy Loddon Campaspe, Laura Wills
Research assistance Rebecca Allsop
Co-design Our thanks to the many stakeholders and partners across Victoria who contributed to the design of this toolkit by participating in co-design workshops and interviews
Our thanks to our partner the Open Food Network for their assistance with this research
How to cite this toolkit
Carey, R., Murphy, M. and Behen, T. (2025) Victorian food resilience planning toolkit. The University of Melbourne. https://doi.org/10.26188/29565620
Who can I contact about the toolkit?
Dr Rachel Carey
Senior Lecturer (Food Systems)
School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences (SAFES)
University of Melbourne
Email: rachel.carey@unimelb.edu.au
Project funder
Development of this toolkit was funded by Greater Melbourne Foundation
Project partners
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