Queen Victoria Market Purpose Precinct
The Purpose Precinct at Queen Victoria Market (QVM) is a ‘social and circular’ beating heart within Melbourne’s CBD designed by STREAT and partner social enterprise Good Cycles to help grow Victorian social enterprises and their impact.
The Precinct has four key objectives:
Sector growth – Grow the social enterprise sector’s visibility and vitality
Priority jobs – Create a host of jobs for priority job seekers
Circular innovation – Develop new green products and services for the circular economy
Activated people and places – Activate people and places to be changemakers for a safe and just future
In late 2022, the Precinct secured $4 million of start-up funding from the Victorian government with support from the Social Enterprise Network of Victoria (SENVIC) who are auspicing the government funding and using its network to raise the profile of social enterprises and engage practitioners to become part of the Precinct.
The Precinct is strongly aligned with the Victorian Government’s Social Enterprise Strategy (2021-2025) and the City of Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market Renewal strategy.
With QVM being the state’s leading food destination receiving over 10 million visitors a year, STREAT will play a key role in helping build the presence of food social enterprises at the site through the building of shared Moving Feast infrastructure like a preserving kitchen and retail pantry. The goal is to have products and services from over 100 social enterprises onsite within two years, representing the breadth and deliciousness of Victoria’s food system.
Projects at the Purpose Precinct
Trialling how we work
We will use the Purpose Precinct to trial new processes and structures for how Moving Feast works, including ways of expanding participation with diverse actors. This will get us ready for running more projects here and elsewhere.
This project is coming soon.
Food business incubation
Moving Feast partners will co-lead incubation activities to support new and smaller social enterprises to build their businesses. The focus will be on food businesses, and food and organic (FOGO) waste.
This project is coming soon.
Dedicated showcase pantry
Moving Feast are establishing a dedicated pantry space to showcase Victorian food products, and enable partners to access a new customer base at the Market. This project is being led by STREAT.
Food tourism maps
We are building food tourism maps for regional Victoria, to encourage folks to get out and explore the incredible things our regional food social enterprises have to offer.
Showcasing social enterprise across Victoria
25+ social enterprises representing all of Victoria are currently featured in the Precinct. Check out the Purpose Precinct website for more information and to purchase products online. Also check out our Purpose Precinct pocket guide.
