To councils, existing and potential partners, students and teachers,

We welcome you all to continue the journey with us as we explore best practice approaches to Place Making in Australian streets, towns and cities near you. We are thrilled to invite you to join, and follow, our work through our numerous action research projects.

Our 2018 pilot projects have set a high bar for our 2019 aspirations to rise to. We are excited by the breadth of projects in the pipeline and the continued refinement of our course material and evaluative research.

The Place Agency calendar is filling quickly and there will no doubt be a project or event near you. PlaceWeek in Melbourne will play host to The Living Pavilion in May. If you are in Western Australia keep an eye out for the Schools as Place Workshops (28th-31st May, AIEA Conference). To stay informed follow us on Twitter or Facebook.  

Are you a Community Champion? Get involved by registering a project in your area. Through our Sandbox Studio, studio leaders will guide students and community stakeholders through the placemaking modules; supporting your community to discover the untapped potential and create a place based response for your community.

1. Our Course Modules enable students to critically address place issues through strong theoretical frameworks. We are currently finalising the modules and we will soon launch a page where you can overview the modules and sign up for an online version of the project. If there is enough interest we will launch a online delivery. You can register your interest from 20th of April, so watch this space.
2. State-based Summits: These are 1-2 day industry events targeted at industry partners and placemaking practitioners to promote and enhance the voice of placemaking. https://studios.placeagency.org.au/summits/
3. Project-based Studios: Students work in partnership with local community groups, councils and/or developers to apply place practice to deliver real positive impact for the communities they engage with.

 

This semester, we have new studios starting across the different universities:

• Installations and Happenings – New Student Precinct, Parkville.  A project exploring the potential of small-scale events and artistic installations to reimagine public spaces. University of Melbourne, with Dr Tanja Beer as the studio leader. This studio will present their results as part of The Living Pavilion.
• Place Plan for Oaklands Crossing Community Connections, City of Marion. A two-phase project to activate the community through placemaking initiatives for local businesses. University of Adelaide with James Hayter from Oxigen as the studio leader.
• Bayswater Industrial Area Regeneration, Bayswater. A series of Living labs to regenerate and revitalise a declining inner urban industrial area through placemaking.  This is a continuation of a previous studio (Future Bayswater). Curtin University with Dr Courtney Babb as the studio leader.
• More to come…

If you are in Melbourne keep an eye out for: 

The Living Pavilion, 1st-17th May

The project is envisioned as a recyclable, biodegradable, edible and biodiverse event space that celebrates Indigenous knowledge systems, ecological science and sustainable design through participatory arts practice. 

Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/the-living-pavilion-18666894945

Project Leader: https://unimelb.placeagency.org.au/placeagency_team/tanja-beer/

Place Week, 13th – 17th May

This is a self curated series of events celebrating place and placemaking practice. More to come….

 

We are looking for to another year of empowering agency in place, and we can’t wait to do it with you!

Look out for future blogs to find projects in your neighbourhood, summits in your region, and stories from around the country.

#peopleplusplaceequalspotential