New University of Melbourne fund supports local partnerships and community collaboration

L-R: Professor Jamie Evans, Professor Jodie McVernon, Dr Tui Crumpen, Dr Joe Greet, Associate Professor Karen Block, Emma Veltman, Padmini Sebastian, Dr Tania Miletic, Dana Young, Dr Laura Bedford, Dr Chris Williams, Associate Professor Donna Lyon and Dr Elise Grosser. Image: David Darlington
L-R: Professor Jamie Evans, Professor Jodie McVernon, Dr Tui Crumpen, Dr Joe Greet, Associate Professor Karen Block, Emma Veltman, Padmini Sebastian, Dr Tania Miletic, Dana Young, Dr Laura Bedford, Dr Chris Williams, Associate Professor Donna Lyon and Dr Elise Grosser. Image: David Darlington

The University of Melbourne has awarded $128,905 to ten projects through its inaugural Civic and Community Impact Fund (CCIF), strengthening community-led research to address local challenges.

Recipients from four faculties and one research institute were celebrated at a showcase, reflecting the University’s commitment to translating academic expertise into tangible impact.

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) Professor Sara Wills, who chaired the selection panel, emphasised the transformational potential of community-led partnerships.

“The Civic and Community Impact Fund enables the University of Melbourne to work alongside communities to respond to local priorities and create real, lasting change,” Professor Wills said.

“Meaningful impact comes when we listen, collaborate and share knowledge respectfully, recognising that progress is most powerful when it is built together.”

Projects are aimed at addressing a range of unique community-led challenges, including fostering resilience to flood risks in the Goulburn Valley, skills building for migrant women and archival collection of community knowledge.

Among the funded projects, Dr Chris Williams from the Faculty of Science will create an African cultural garden in the City of Wyndham, providing valuable opportunities for culturally appropriate food.

"We're about showing people there are all sorts of ways you can get around Melbourne's unpredictable climate and grow food plants like okra and cassava that people might miss from home," Dr Williams said.

Established in August 2025, the CCIF is an annual initiative aimed at providing seed support for projects that strengthen civic partnerships and address place-based inequities.

The 2025 CCIF recipients include:

  1. Laura Bedford (Arts) - Co-producing community safety: strengths-based, future-focused, knowledge building with African Australian communities
  2. Tania Miletic (Arts) - From here to home: empowering youth, strengthening community, building inclusive peace
  3. Jens O. Zinn (Arts) - Building resilience to flood risks in the Goulburn Valley
  4. Chelsea Hyde (Education) - Guiding good practice in educational assessment in regional Victoria
  5. Tui Crumpen (Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences) - Community knowledge collector for archival preservation and heritage documentation
  6. Emma Veltman (Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences) - Empowering survivors: building a trauma-informed workforce through left write hook
  7. Dana Young (Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences) - Standing together against racism in sport: A social venture train-the-trainer program
  8. Joe Greet (Science) - Narrap ranger care for Birrarung's billabongs - community video
  9. Chris Williams (Science) - Creating an African cultural garden in the city of Wyndham
  10. Karen Block (Melbourne Social Equity Institute) - Understanding the skills, qualifications and aspirations of migrant and refugee women in Shepparton