Matching - or bettering - the state average for Year 12 or equivalent completion levels and higher education participation rates.

Boosting per capita gross regional product by about $85,000.

These are among the markers of success for a 10-year economic development strategy for the Bendigo region.

The strategy also includes the goal of achieving a net zero carbon city by 2036 or sooner.

Bendigo council endorsed the 88-page document on Wednesday night, at its August meeting.

Implementation will fall to not only the city, but a committee of some of the region's most influential organisations.

They include Bendigo Bank, Bendigo Health, Coliban Water, Be.Bendigo, the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, the Bendigo Education Council, Bendigo Youth Council and the Loddon Campaspe Regional Partnership.

The implementation committee will lead work towards 14 initiatives.

Initiatives range from revitalising the Bendigo city centre, to capitalising on the opportunities afforded by the region's new gold rush, to working towards a healthier community.

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The implementation committee will seek to target services, programs and resources to communities most in need.

One of the stated goals of the strategy is to support all communities and people in the local government area to reach their full potential.

Building higher education and skills training and the pathways between them is among the initiatives.

The strategy would see Bendigo and its surrounds developed as low carbon and circular economy leaders.

The document's release was delayed by COVID-19, as those responsible checked the aims and goals were still relevant and feasible.

City of Greater Bendigo leaders said they found elements of the strategy to be all the more important, given the pressures created by the pandemic.

They said work towards the strategy's goals was already underway.

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Bendigo mayor Margaret O'Rourke highlighted the opportunities available to the local government area, and the need for change to seize them.

"Greater Bendigo is travelling well compared with many other regional centres, with sustained population growth, consistent job growth and rising GDP, as well as a growing visitor economy," Cr O'Rourke said.

"But a business as usual approach, which has served us well in many aspects of the city's growth and development over the last 30 or so years, will not deliver for the future. We need to change our approach to respond to new and rapidly changing circumstances.

"The strategy doesn't shirk the unprecedented global impact of COVID-19 on households, communities and businesses in Greater Bendigo and across the world. The need for this strategy is even greater now."