An Urbanicity Conference Alert for: Thriving Neighbourhoods 2012

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12 – 14 November 2012
Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre

LESS THAN 2 WEEKS TO GO !

Meet and network with people from other professional, industry and community groups, and find out how they perceive – and influence – your role in the overall effort of creating sustainable, liveable and productive communities.

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CONFERENCE NEWS


‘Most Liveable City’: Melbourne and Vancouver to share their secret ingredients at TN Dinner

Mayor Wayne Wright: Director,
Metro Vancouver Board

Australian and Canadian cities have traditionally dominated the world’s most liveable city rankings based on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index. Melbourne, Vancouver, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Toronto and Calgary have consistently perched on the top 10 positions in the last five years.

Indeed, Vancouver had topped the list for almost a decade until 2010, when it fell to third place and Melbourne displaced it at the top spot.


Melbourne has occupied the top spot for two years in a row, and the question in many punters’ mind is: Will Melbourne match Vancouver’s record, or would Vancouver wrest back the position?

This question will be discussed by luminaries from both cities during a kitchen-table chat at the TN Conference Dinner.

Wayne Wright, a member of the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors and Mayor of the City of New Westminster in Metro Vancouver, will share his city’s winning vision and strategies that have helped achieve “the highest quality of life including cultural vitality, economic prosperity, social justice and compassion, in a beautiful and nurtured environment”. Full story

View Conference program here


Which sustainability tool? – TN explores


Sustainability tools assist decision-makers and communities by providing a common language for assessing and evaluating economic, environmental and social issues. But as the number of tools proliferates, the Tower of Babel threatens as people become confused about how and when to use the tools.

Antony Sprigg:
CEO, AGIC

Thriving Neighbourhoods will canvass a wide range of tools, frameworks and indicators available to government, industry, professionals and the public to improve sustainability and liveability. This will help delegates to select the tool best fit-for-purpose from an increasingly bewildering range of options.

Antony Sprigg, CEO of AGIC which is hosting a session on complementary tools, says that most voluntary sustainability performance tools and rating systems aim to create a common language between all stakeholders, and provide meaningful and applied terminology, objectives and targets. “The idea is that different professionals, lay people, policymakers, industry and consumers can appreciate the risks and opportunities, thus facilitating more informed and integrated decision making.” Full story


Policy tools for Local Governments to integrate economic, environment and social goals

The Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA) and the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) are hosting a workshop designed for local governments and their stakeholders to address the challenges of integrated approaches to policy development and program planning. Specifically, it will look into policy tools that help integrate economic, environment and social goals.

Maree McPherson:
CEO, VLGA

The starting point for the workshop is a Discussion Paper based on a scoping research that looked into local councils’ understanding and practice of policy integration, and what tools are currently in use.

For a copy of the Discussion Paper, click here. ()

Maree McPherson, CEO of VLGA, says that urban planning and design are now being used to promote healthy lifestyles, sustainable living and social inclusion. However, there is still tendency among many local councils to compartmentalise their economic, environmental, social, and health policies and programs. Full story

 


AIA to delve into what makes a ‘thriving neighbourhood’

Jon Clements: Victorian Chapter President, AIA

The Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) is hosting a session that will explore the critical elements underpinning thriving communities. It will look into the challenges faced by governments, planning and design professionals, developers, and communities in creating sustainable, productive and healthy precincts: be they in greenfield or renewal areas, in the inner city or city fringe areas, in metropolitan or regional areas.

Jon Clements, Victorian Chapter President of AIA, says the session will look at both the creation of new thriving communities, and transforming under-utilised places that would otherwise slide into urban wastelands.

“The need to provide adequate housing to a rapidly growing population is driving governments, developers and communities everywhere to revitalise under-uitlised spaces, including abandoned industrial areas and neighbourhoods in decay due to economic restructuring,” Mr Clements adds. Full story


 

International movers and shakers at TN

Thriving Neighbourhoods’ keynote speakers include prominent international thinkers and influencers who will discuss some of the most dramatic challenges confronting communities around the world:

Richard Florida is one of the world’s leading public intellectuals on economic competitiveness, demographic trends, and cultural and technological innovation.

In his bestseller, The Rise of the Creative Class, he argues that the most successful cities have thriving communities of creative people who generate ideas that underpin productivity.

Dr Florida is a professor of business and creativity at the University of Toronto and New York University, and senior editor of The Atlantic.

He’s joining TN via live video link, including a 30-minute open forum.


Pooran Desai is co-founder of BioRegional, a social enterprise working with developers and local governments to demonstrate the business case for a sustainable future, by creating the world’s greenest neighbourhoods using the One Planet Living framework.

Developers using the framework include Codding Enterprises, Lend Lease, China Merchants Property Developers, China Vanke and Masdar City.

With his partner Sue Riddlestone, he was named World Economic Forum European Social Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2011.


Fumi Masuda is involved in reconstruction activities in places affected by the 2011 tsunami in Japan and will brief Thriving Neighbourhoods on the progress of the massive national effort.

Some places are being reconstructed with a brief of having to adapt to half the energy supply that they had pre-tsunami.

Fumi is a renowned professor of industrial design and sustainability at Tokyo Zokei University, and is also director of the Tokyo-based EcoDesign

Conference Host
Major Sponsors

Conference Partner Supporting Sponsor Speaker sponsor – Pooran Desai Speaker sponsor – Fumi Masuda
 

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