City of Gastronomy progress report 1 November 2019 – 30 June 2020 (8 months)

Governance and strategy

• Through an Expressions of Interest process formed the new Creative City of Gastronomy Advisory Committee and had selected members endorsed by Council – currently meeting via Zoom monthly

• Set up Sub-Committee (Rodney Carter, Amy Brown, Jen Alden, Rose Vincent, Anna Knight) to guide development of new Implementation Framework and Action Plan, to guide work for the next 4 years of designation

• Finalised City of Gastronomy Implementation Framework and Action Plan, supported by Advisory Committee and broader region of gastronomy group (made up of representatives of all 9 LGAs)

Consultation and engagement

• Held launch event for 120+ people at PepperGreen Farm – attended by Mayors and CEOs of all nine municipalities, as well as CEO of VicHealth, CEO of Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, representatives from Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, local MPs and a broad cross-section of organisation in Greater Bendigo, as well as representatives from UCCN cities Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat

• Holding monthly meetings of broader regional group of Councils and RDV (tourism and economic development managers and officers, as well as Hepburn CEO) held to discuss cooperation projects and opportunities, share information

• Updated City of Gastronomy website and began blog section about initiatives in the region – attracting 8,270 visits to date.

• Regular City and region of Gastronomy newsletter sent out, beginning May 2020

• Regular engagement with Hepburn Shire Council (CEO, Mayor, Manager and Coordinator of Economic Development and Artisan Agriculture Facilitation Specialist), RDV, Daylesford Macedon Tourism, Alla Wolf-Tasker and William Angliss Institute to progress Institute of Gastronomy plans in the region

• Formed Victorian (VCCN) with Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat, with input from State Government (Creative Victoria) and together developed Terms of Reference for the group – meeting quarterly

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Document Set ID: 4427754 Version: 2, Version Date: 06/08/2020 • Articles featured in Bendigo Advertiser, McIvor Times newspapers, GB Magazine, Malaysian Airlines magazine, Taste magazine, The Australian, ‘100 places to visit in ’

• Produced 4 videos covering different aspects of UNESCO designation and created Gastronomy Playlist on City of Greater Bendigo’s YouTube channel

• International gastronomy expert Dag Hartman hosted for one week – regional producers showcased, and stakeholders engaged – action plan meeting held with 6 Councillors

• Facilitated networking event with new Advisory Committee members and Dag Hartman

• Advocated to State Government for inclusion in new Creative State 2020+ Strategy

• Met with Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and Regional Development Victoria regarding designation and associated opportunities for the region/state

• Met with new director of Rural Health at La Trobe University to explore ideas for research and collaboration

• Met with Dunedin to discuss opportunities for collaboration, particularly in 2022 at the Bendigo Gastronomy Writers Festival

• Met with Castlemaine State Festival director to discuss possibilities for collaboration and extended food and wine stream in the festival’s program in 2021

• Helped facilitate a connection between Dja Dja Wurrung leader Rodney Carter in Bendigo and Sami leader Jerker Bexelius at the South Sami Cultural Centre in

Projects

• Commissioned and completed Street Ryan report into scale and value of artisan food in the gastronomy region and held meetings with all 9 LGAs to gather and share this information to support advocacy for the sector

• Commissioned and completed study into the Swedish National Centre for Artisan Food – Eldrimner – and how the model could be replicated in the Bendigo region to improve education and training in the tourism, hospitality and food sector

• In partnership with Tourism and Major Events and Agribusiness Officer, began work on new online map and trail builder, featuring food and beverage businesses across the region (phase one – Bendigo Regional Tourism LGAs, phase two – all LGAs in Gastronomy region)

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• Organised full day of programming for Day 4 of the Bendigo Invention + Innovation Festival (BIIF) – “Growing Innovation: Bendigo Gastronomy”, featuring Stephanie Alexander, Tony Hunter and others (recently postponed)

• Worked with Tourism and Major Events, Food & Wine Victoria and Jobs Precincts and Regions to deliver regional program and showcase for international food event ‘Global Table 2020’ – currently postponed

• Involvement in the ‘Breads of the Creative Cities’ project, led by Tucson in collaboration with City of Adelaide and others

• Style Guide and Protocols document developed for use of Bendigo City & Region logo – agreed upon with Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation

• Released Expression of Interest to industry to pitch ideas for major gastronomy events to be produced in partnership with City of Greater Bendigo – postponed due to COVID-19

• Began talks regarding a new Gastronomy podcast for the city – postponed due to COVID-19

Collaboration across CoGB

• Contributed to CoGB Food System Strategy and sit on working group for implementation

• Supported Economic Development team and Environmental Health team to get food and hospitality information to the public during the start of the coronavirus pandemic

• Worked with Visitor Information Centres in Bendigo and Heathcote to showcase local products under the City and region of gastronomy banner

• Included double-page spread about City of Gastronomy in Bendigo Official Visitors Guide

• Began work with new agribusiness support officer and new creative industries officer, who will both contribute to furthering City of Gastronomy projects

• Liaised with Healthy Heart of Victoria Project Officer (Kitchen Garden Project) to facilitate schools visit by Stephanie Alexander and CEO of the SAKGF (now postponed)

• Worked with Tourism and Marketing team on a Winter tourism campaign centred on gastronomy and the four pillars of our gastronomy story, engaged creatives to

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Document Set ID: 4427754 Version: 2, Version Date: 06/08/2020 develop branding for campaign and began compiling program, inviting all Councils in the region to be involved free of charge – postponed due to COVID-19

• Brought farming/sustainability/homesteading expert Jade Miles to Bendigo NEXT tourism conference to talk about developing a sustainable food and tourism region and included a strong gastronomy theme in conference overall

• New format Bendigo Writers Festival – Big Bookmark – to strongly feature gastronomy component, with 2020 theme ‘cultivate’ recognising the UNESCO designation – postponed due to COVID-19

UNESCO Creative Cities Network Obligations

• Evaluated Membership Monitoring Reports (produced every 4 years) for three gastronomy cities in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network – Denia (), Ensenada () and Tucson (USA)

• Attended regular meetings with UNESCO Creative Cities to share best practice ideas and opportunities – and participated in 4 meetings of the gastronomy cluster regarding COVID-19 response

• Had official UNESCO City of Gastronomy logo designed and approved by UCCN

• Commissioned and completed 30-second video for , to be incorporated into a larger showcase of all Cities of Gastronomy in the network

• Compiled and sent information to the cities of Shunde and Yangzhou in for inclusion in cultural displays

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