CoFutures...

Looking to get your urbanism fix over the upcoming long(ish) weekend? Dive into the latest episode of the City People - Podcast!

Are you a creative and curious person with experience in community engagement practice? Do you have a passion for urban planning, cities and regions? We want to hear from you – come and join our team! Applications closing soon. 💬 💡 #hiring #communityengagement

As urban planning communicators our goal is to inspire more people to participate in shaping their neighbourhoods – to represent the diverse needs and ideas of everybody within a community. We often hear about digital accessibility of web content or physical accessibility of public spaces, but accessibility is equally important in planning communication if we want everyone’s voices to be heard. In our latest #CoFuturesCanvass we share five key considerations that we deploy on all of our projects to ensure that everyone feels welcome and inspired to participate in planning.

It’s not every day you get the privilege and creative freedom to conceptualise new ways to inspire public participation on such a big scale. It’s a dream brief. Over the past month, our wonderful collaboration with the Department of Transport and Planning and Open House Melbourne saw our teams concept, craft, create, and deliver a range of activations and installations across Melbourne to captivate and capture feedback on Eight Big Ideas for the future of Victoria. My brain is buzzing with so many lessons learnt and insights (more on that later), but for now some big thank yous to the talented creatives at CoFutures... and the incredible DTP project team Niamh, Maureen, Ngaria and Chloe, just to name a few, for bringing this all to life. Sharing some wonderful photos by Jake Churches, which beautifully capture the spirit of the weekend.

Excited is an understatement. We're eagerly counting down to Open House Melbourne this weekend and the launch of our creative activations that showcase Eight Big Ideas for the future of Victoria, in collaboration with Department of Transport and Planning.💡

Public toilets are the unsung heroes of our public spaces. Unlike other pieces of social infrastructure such as libraries, community hubs or kindergartens, there are no legislative requirements, benchmarks or guidelines to provide accessible public toilets outside of buildings. Public toilets are critical pieces of social infrastructure that contribute to people's enjoyment of parks, reserves, streets and neighbourhoods. They are also important beacons of safety, inclusion and participation in our built environments. That's why we are so passionate about planning for public toilets. What does this look like in practice? Check out our latest Draft Public Toilet Strategy that we've developed in collaboration with Indigo Shire Council and diverse voices from across the Shire. https://lnkd.in/gWG9gzhj

We’re super excited to launch #CoFuturesCanvass, our new thought-leadership series. With the recent announcement of housing targets and the upcoming development of a new Plan for Victoria one thing is for certain – the character of our neighbourhoods will continue to evolve and change. Our first Canvass discusses the positive potential of neighbourhood character planning... #neighbourhoodcharacter #engagement #planning

Nestled among the rolling hills and expansive pastures of western Victoria, Timboon is a hidden gem. Over the past 6 months we've been working with Corangamite Shire Council and local residents to develop a community-powered Precinct Plan which will support the future growth of the town, improve public spaces and catalyse investment. Translating and incorporating community values, aspirations and priorities into spatial plan requires empathy and creativity and we are wrapped to be collaborating with Includesign and Maddison Kitching for this special project. The Draft Plan is now on community consultation - you can learn more about the project here: https://lnkd.in/g9mnrp9h Aaron Moyne, Kristen Wilkes, Angelica Rojas-Gracia, PhD, Marco Cubillos, Maddison Kitching, Danai Fadgyas, Billy Indiarto

For the past six weeks we've been engaging with communities across Loddon Shire Council to hear their stories and experiences to inform the development of an Inclusive Communities Plan. Once complete, the Plan will include recommendations and actions to help Loddon Shire be a more inclusive place for everyone. It was paramount that our consultation materials were inclusive and accessible – so we designed a bespoke artwork that is both visually engaging and also represents best-practice accessible design.

For the past 18 months, we've been working with Knox City Council and our colleagues at Plan2Place Consulting and Ethos Urban to develop a Renewal Strategy to revitalise and transform the Bayswater Activity Centre. It's been wonderful engaging with the community over the past 4 weeks to hear their thoughts on '10 Big Moves' that will help to shape a more vibrant and activated Bayswater over the next 15 years. Our latest series of community pop-up events included face painting, music and gift vouchers to support local businesses in the area. We're looking forward to seeing all this great work come to life. Domenic Petrilli, Simon Chitre, Christian Demetriou, Billy Indiarto, Kellie Marks, Eric H., Nick Brisbane