Hey everyone, I'm here with my buddy Nina who looks after region streets for this month's field note. And we are actually going to have a conversation about how our two worlds overlap.
We get lots of questions about, well, how is pn different to region streets? And what are the different things that you're doing. So we just thought it would be a good time to surface that and use a really good example that we've been engaged with in community to bring that to life. So Nina, thank you for joining me.
My pleasure. Hi, everyone.
I'm pretty sure everyone knows the kind of work that you're doing. But maybe just as a recap, do you want to talk to us a bit about what region STS is and the kind of work that you're doing?
So the goal of regions STS is to catalyze a wave of regenerative streets across Greater Melbourne. And a regenerative street can mean many different things depending on who I'm talking to and what their interest is. So often, we will talk about greening the street we'll talk about shifting from car Centricity to multimodal transport, we might talk about public art in the street or circularity and Waste Solutions for the street. But of course, what it's really about is social cohesion. The streets are essentially our common areas. They're the space where we can come together outside our households and gather as a community. So how do we do that in the street, and that's where the clear overlap with participatory Melbourne is how we're working together, how we're connecting as a community, and how we're amplifying our voices.
That is so perfectly put. And yeah, it is, it's exactly that I think social cohesion comes from connecting with your community, feeling that place, connection, that feeling of belonging, but also doing things together. And so I think, you know, the framing of region streets is really surfacing how different communities are coming together to do great things like the examples we see in village zero. And I think what's really cool about this is it also gives us an opportunity by focusing on both of these projects, to both test kind of ideas or experiments on the street level, but also test some of the participatory approaches, and ways to really make these initiatives accessible to people across a community, which I think is really special. Well, in the
exploration of the current state of play with region's streets, I've been speaking to a number of community leaders from across Greater Melbourne who are doing some great work already. And asking them, what the barriers are to their work and what needs to change in order for their work to be more effective. A theme that comes up really strongly is that need to amplify the voice of the community, and for everybody to be truly heard. And for everybody to be able to understand the current state of play, and what needs to change and what role they can play in delivering on that change, whether that's in the streets or in other settings. And I
think what's really cool about that is the fact that you've honed in on some of these community leaders and been able to have conversations with them. And I can imagine that some of them wouldn't even call them that having been in some of your recent forums. Some people kind of talk about the fact that they're doing this work in their community, but they don't see themselves as leaders, which is a really interesting kind of thing to observe. One of the things we're looking at in participatory Melbourne is actually how do we inspire, they use different forms of leadership, maybe that doesn't necessarily need a specific leadership title. But they're really they are people who feel like they can inspire and bring a range of people on the journey to actually create change in our community.
I think with the type of change that we're proposing, for, for example, catalyzing a waiver of regenerative streets, it requires all of us to step up as leaders, whether that's within your community, whether that's within your role within government or as a local entrepreneurs, school principle, whatever position you hold within the community, it's important for us all to step up and lead and be heard. And I think perhaps, traditionally, the role of the community leader hasn't held the value or weight that it is intended to and it really needs to which is perhaps why we're seeing this community leaders who might think they're slightly unlikely but actually they're doing some incredible work. within their own settings, and
that is a really nice segue to one of those community leaders that we are going to be chatting to in a second, Nina and I've been doing a bit of work with Dylan O'Donnell who is the founder of irregular at a community festival that's really bringing together amazing ideas to regenerate North Melbourne.
Dylan has such a great story to tell, he has identified the need for better community engagement in Northwest Melbourne, and has invited local community members to contribute to their ideas on place based change, and essentially regenerating the streets in the area.
It's really exciting. And I'd love to hear your thoughts, having had a few chats with him now, what is it about this particular initiative, that is actually setting a good example for other communities to perhaps pick up and be able to leverage?
It's really about the community design piece. So people are spending a significant amount of effort and time in designing their ideas. And in thinking about what the status quo is in their space, and what could be what should the future look like, if we're designing our suburb or our space for a better future? What should that look like? And then to showcase that, and to advocate for these ideas to become a reality with council or with with government, or with local community members who might be willing to fund the ideas. It's really surfacing that community voice and encouraging imagination, and futures thinking, which is so needed.
And I think what's really cool about it is they've made it really accessible. You know, it's not expected that everyone that puts forward an idea can make it look really awesome, or have the creative or design skills to design an exhibition, for example. They've even thought about how do we wrap around our community to make sure everyone's ideas can come to the fore, which I think something really special and something I've not seen done before. So yeah, really excited. And I think people are ready to hear that kind of conversation we've had from Dylan. So let's jump over to that.
Thank you. My name is Dylan O'Donnell. So I'm the founder of fear regular Festival, and I'm with the north and west Melvin precinct Association.
Thank you for making the time, I'd really love to hear about what irregular is, and where this idea came from.
So irregular, itself is a way of describing it as a hyperlocal festival of ideas and actions for the community of people who live work and play in north and west Melbourne. The concept is all about people within the community submitting their ideas for local events, or public art or anything really, that's close to their heart, or their field of expertise. And submitting Madison idea to be exhibited over three days as part of Melbourne Design Week, and then ask visitors to the exhibition to vote on the ideas that resonate most with them. And then we tend to implementation. So it's all about community participation, tapping into the great skill sets, the passion, and so forth. It's within the community. And really connecting people in a forum that's all about participation is really
exciting. And it's actually really great that you're looking at the concept of a festival, but in a much more kind of grassroots community engagement perspective, still holding on to the same kind of celebration of place, but having it working for the place as well. Yep,
it was quite serendipitous that they have wrapped the time that the idea for irregular was forming was just prior to submissions to Melbourne Design Week, closing and their theme of design the world you want and three pillars of ecology, ethics and energy, really aligned with the concept that we were putting together. And so we've really taken that theme and asked our local community quite a number of who of working globally or, or nationally within their field of expertise, but really asking them to turn the lens towards the local community and saying what, what great ideas or what have you done in your area of expertise. And, you know, we're blessed being close to hospitals with a lot of medical and healthcare workers being close to university, with academics and education background, as well as you know, fantastic creative community and more architects per capita of population and in virtually any other suburb, right? I think so. You know, we've had a really great response from a really wide range of people. And like I said, people who've been doing world leading initiatives, and asking them to apply that to a local theme, taking that Melbourne Design Week theme.
I think that's really brilliant. And I think one of the things that we've been talking about it region is this global and local lens, and how do we recognize our role here in Melbourne? at the global scale, but also how can we recognize the things that are happening at a global scale and make it fit for purpose in our city, rather than just copying it and being like, Okay, well, if that's working there, we have to do the same here. It sounds like what you're talking about is, is a little bit different in that it's like, no, let's bring your insights in doing this kind of work in different places around the world. But really think about what does that need to look like here? And how do we actually make that happen? In our city in our community?
Yep. We're always thinking about issues, and challenges on a on a global level. So many of the solutions can be found at a very local level, I think, particularly when we think about mental health or, you know, the epidemic of loneliness in teenagers and so forth. An event like a regular with, yes, we've got bold aspirations for it, but it's really about helping people connect in, in their community at a, at a local level, whether you've got a passion about addressing climate change, or mental health, or you've just really love art or, you know, whatever it might be to be able to take that passion or field of expertise, or whatever and help to build relationships. So you may not have otherwise been able to, you know, without a forum like this, to connect with other like minded people within the community, is ultimately what this is all about.
I think that's really fantastic. One thing that Nina and I have been talking about a fair bit is this concept of community leaders, and people being able to step into these kinds of roles to almost facilitate and help organize some of these initiatives, because people clearly have ideas. And we've spoken about that people have these ambitions for their place. But sometimes they just don't know how to go about it. So I see people like yourself still, and as you know, one of those community leaders, talk to me a little bit about what it was like for you coming into this kind of process and thinking up a regular and really making it happen.
Yeah, well, I mean, first of all, I have no qualifications to do this, or background in, in doing this, it was literally just a seed of an idea that I had, which probably born a little bit out of the time last year leading up to the referendum where there was a lot of frustration at the way that that whole dialogue had gone on a national level, but here locally in north and west Melbourne, where we had such a high proportion of people voting, yes, you could walk down the street and apart from the Yes, signs, there was nothing else really to indicate that, you know, that was the case. And so it did get me thinking about how public spaces and and how have communities visually represented when you walk down at streets and so forth, how it could better reflect I suppose, the attitudes, the beliefs, the passion for the people within that within that community. And so if that that was sort of the seed of the idea and and just talking to different people, whether it was at the school gate drop off or or through different events and you know, knowing a that there are so many experts doing amazing things in different fields, but then they a lot of passion for the local community and great ideas around greening certain zones or you know, for public art or or to hold an event or or something but no one really had that forum to turn it into into a reality. I mentioned the word serendipitous before it, it felt like all of these things are sort of leading to, there having to be something for people to get together and really, you know, have a forum to connect. If others out there had similar type ideas and would get involved in bringing them to fruition, I presented the concept to the north and west Melbourne precinct Association. And they jumped on board as a way of helping this local businesses connect with the community and and ultimately bring people to the community. And then the Scanlon foundation got on board as well, as well as our community house in, in North Melbourne, they really saw the opportunity for irregular to, to create a forum for people who may not have a voice in, you know, in the broader community on a day to day basis to have a forum, which was all about being as open and inclusive as, as we could make it through the support of Scanlon foundation and our community, we've really broadened our reach and got the whole community involved.
I think that's brilliant. One question that I get a lot is, How do you do the bit that you've just spoken about? Yep. Because like I said earlier, there's a lot of people who have great ideas and see potential in their place or in their communities or in the people that are around them. But they struggle to take that first step and either know, or have the connections or networks to those people like you've spoken about. But sometimes it's also a confidence thing. So I'd love maybe if you could reflect in a little bit, what was it that gave you the confidence, the agency, the I suppose ability to actually take that step that so many people find challenging,
I had a very clear idea in my head as to how it could play out as a concept and who would need to be involved to bring it to a reality. I did give that a lot of thought before formally presenting it to anyone. But I did test the idea a lot with people before actually formally presenting it. So I put together a paper on what it would look like the format, who would be invited, I actually did some research into who were the local residents within North and West Melbourne, who we could get involved in and directly invite to it. And it's a really impressive list of people, like I said earlier from a really broad and diverse range of backgrounds and so forth. But once I got them on paper and go, Wow, we've actually got like this amazing pool of talent and expertise to draw from. And then a basic outline of how the concept would work. That's when I started to send it to people who I felt would first of all get hurt, but then also potentially want to be want to be involved. And I felt with someone like the north and west Melbourne precinct Association, who's well established and has a network of members in the community already that as a channel to communicate the concept to was the first port of call to apply for funding. I did do a lot of research into philanthropic organizations, community groups that had a line values, and I felt would be great partners. It happened that the first two we approached understood the concept and back to this straightaway. So that research paid off, but a little bit of good luck but a lot of planning and and so forth before it to really think about the right people to approach to bring it to fruition and or reality and then making it as clear as possible, I suppose on how its presented.
Yeah, I think that's really helpful. Understanding that it's not really rocket science. You know, it's just about taking time to understand some of those foundational connection points that will mean this can get off the ground. One thing that you also told me about that I'd love you to share is the actual design of the application process and making sure that it catered for all kinds of people, not just people who feel creative or were great writers. ketones. Yes.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's and that's still a barrier that we are I'm trying to break down every every day, I think, in when I look at the ideas that have been submitted to date, there are a lot more high proportion of those have come from what they described as creative industries and backgrounds. So, you know, we've, we've really tried to make it as easy as possible and make it clear that you don't have to have a creative background to come up with a great idea for the community, you might just be passionate about a topic or an activity or, you know, whatever it might be, and, and then if you have an idea around that, that which you should submit it, and that we would help with the exhibition parts. So helping design an exhibit, and put the words around it, and so forth, we're providing support to people who submit an idea to do that. We're not, we're not asking everyone to come up with an A one poster of their idea, and which would have made it very difficult for, you know, the majority of the community to, to have the confidence to submit an idea. And I think it has, it has meant that we are getting more ideas. And, and I think that that's going to be the natural evolution of this as a concept is, once people see that it's not just architects or graphic designers, or, you know, artists who have submitted ideas that when we have the next one, which is intended to be in two years time that people do feel like, you know, they've got something to contribute as well.
I think that's brilliant. And I think the long term view of this is really helpful. Because, you know, it does take people some time to recognize what's possible, get inspired by things that others are putting forward. But I think also experience, what it means to create something as a community like this, and people haven't been exposed to festivals, or, you know, these kinds of exhibits before perhaps because that's just not where their networks and circles and lived experience exists. And so I think making that real for them, and knowing that there's going to be time to actually build this in the community.
Yeah, another outcome of regular that we would like is really to create awareness within the community of the really rich history that then activism and so forth, has in north and west Melbourne, as well, there's going back to the 60s and 70s, there was a really strong group of local activists operating in the community, the likes of Ruth and Marie Crow, Lorna Hannon later, as well. And, and I should have mentioned from the outset, that the name of regular comes from a newsletter of that group of an activist switch, there's a whole digital library in Victoria University dedicated to Ruth and Marie Crow, and hundreds of newsletters that they produced, and it was all about ideas and actions that they were taking to influence decisions within local government, state government, I think it's important for that to be known, and for the community to actually, you know, have pride in the roots of activism that have been part of the community for so long. And, you know, it's that sort of spirit that we're trying to tap into here, as well. We've
made a bit of space for us to also hear about some of the ideas we'll be talking to Laura from the community in in a bit. And I think, even just giving people space to talk about the ideas, even if they don't get up and running. It gives people an opportunity to really share what is happening and what they're interested in, and maybe even just come together around those ideas that might not be you know, one person's idea that gets up but the combination of ideas coming together to create something greater is really exciting. So we will throw to Laura to share with us a bit of that idea that she's proposed and see what that looks like.
I'm Laura. I'm originally from Portugal. So I've been in Melbourne for more than a decade. And since moving to Melbourne to live with my husband, I've been in around North and West Melbourne. So that's kind of as a as a migrant, right. It's been my home for more than a decade and Currently, my daughter goes to the North Melbourne primary school. She's in the L Street Campus. So we we are architects, we have an architectural practice that is also based in North Melbourne. That's called common. So that's me, my partner, John Doyle, and another partner with partner, Ben Milburn. And I guess, on top of that, we're also all architects and academics. So we all work in and around North Melbourne at RMIT and Melbourne unis. The work that we do in this, I guess, and also with academia is on designing buildings, thinking about cities. And the work that we do in the office is so much work that the work that we're interested in doing at common is architecture focused on public work. So architecture that has an impact beyond the residential and the private. And this idea that architecture can have a role in shaping the way we use space, the way that we feel in that space, particularly in the city. And so that's kind of it in a nutshell. Really,
it. I love that. And I think it's really exciting to see all of the overlaps in your personal and professional life in a place. I think that's quite nice and quite unique. Like, I don't know, a lot of people who leave work, have their kids go to school all in one place. Very special. What is it about North Melbourne, West Melbourne, that that kind of community that you feel gives you and your family, everything that you need to look at
questions. And I think I know what it is, I think we saw both John and I lived in Japan, when that's where we met. And through our studies, of course, we were both studying architecture at the time being our masters there. But also our experience in living in, you know, one of the most urbanized areas in the world. We're really interested in this idea of living in the city and the city itself, and ideas of high density living having everything at your disposal, basically. So when when we moved to Australia, it's funny because Australia has that kind of condition of the suburbs versus the city. It's a very, very different lifestyle, I will want to live in a place where I have everything nearby and I can walk everywhere. And I felt like those Melbourne did that Kensington did that to a certain extent, but I was still quite dependent on the train to get to places. But I guess life just sort of somehow the pieces just got stuck together in such a way. And we've been such a way that we ended up in North Melbourne and also working with the University and having our office there. And somehow we just felt really comfortable with North Melbourne because there's both a really great connection to the city and you have everything right there. On the other hand, you have all the hospital precincts and the University Press precincts. And any no and if you want to go beach, you can also go beach, you know, it's not that far. So it feels like a really great neighborhood that is still low to medium density, and in many ways is you have that kind of critical mass of people coming together. But you don't have them in your face all the time.
I think that's a really nice reflection. What I'd like you to share a little bit about then is how do you see initiative like the regular festival, contributing to a community like yours?
Yeah, I think it's really good. I mean, Dylan's obviously really, really trying to pull this together. And a lot of a lot of the things that make a community strong, I think are sort of initiatives like like this one, where something starts as really quick, simple idea from the bottom up. And it kind of is allowed to flourish, when Dylan approached us to I guess, contribute as a practice. So as an architectural practice, we immediately said we could be involved with the design of the exhibition. I kind of felt like, we needed people in the community to put ideas forward, otherwise, we wouldn't have enough. And I was wasn't kind of painful. Because I felt like I didn't have the time to do it. But then I kind of I had had this idea I guess through my work at university and just stuff that I'm interested in I thought it would be nice thing to do, but I wasn't going to apply or to put the form in just just because I'm quite time poor. And at that briefing session, I think it was what what they called it at the time. Dylan sort of was pretty casual about it all and he just made it made it sound like it doesn't really it didn't really matter whether We knew how to implement it immediately or not, or whether the idea was too big for one person to deliver. He really was just interested in hearing from everyone and what their ideas were, which I thought was really encouraging. Because, you know, I have plenty of ideas, whether they're good or not, that's a different question, right? And whether I can make them happen or not. That's, again, a very different, different question. So I was hesitant when I put it in, because I didn't think I had the time to do it. But I figured, well, why not? If they like it, and they want to pursue the idea, that's fine. And I'm now happy to provide the idea and attempt to then sort of implemented but I will need the community or other people to help me just because again, it was something that I just knew that I wouldn't have the time to do it all by myself. And it was really encouraging. I think he's just really, honestly interested in what people think and what they, what their apps aspirations for the neighborhood are. And I think that's because people are really connected to the neighborhood. In many ways, if you really form lots of really great connections to just people nearby that you have nothing in common with, which is really, again, a really positive about North Mountain is that you do meet a lot of your neighbors.
It's definitely something that we've heard a lot in our work that there's a lot of people who really care about their place in their community and want to create change, but they are hesitant to put things forward. So I think one of the things that we were talking to Dylan about was exactly that, like, the approach of there is no pressure here, you don't need to be the expert to know how to make it. But if you can identify something that this community needs or that you feel, would improve your experience, as someone who lives in this place, let's put it forward. And as a community, we can work together to make it happen. And I think there's something really special about that, that kind of leans into this idea of as a community we create together as opposed to, if you have an idea, you as an individual need to figure it out. Or, you know, you need to go through all of these loopholes, just to see if your idea is worthy. This kind of flips that on its head and says, let's put all the ideas out. And then we can all decide together. And then we can figure out how together we can make it happen, rather than having the barriers up front. So you know, you've kind of spoken to that already, which is excellent. I'd love to hear your idea. Are you happy to share what you've put forward? Yeah, so
it's, I call it desire lines, but it might need to change the name at some point. So as an academic, so I'm a teacher, I teach economics, uni, I teach the design, and I teach architecture design. And one of them, one of the things that some of my students have to do is this series of maps, they have to do a set a set of maps for their site analysis. Also, I'm pretty interested in maps, I'm, I love maps, I love looking at maps, and I've done some drawing maps. And I think it's just a really great exercise to do as part of my profession. The themes and the pillars of the the Melbourne Design Week, you know, sort of ethics, sustainability law, I just thought, that's all great. But you know, oftentimes ideas about the city are implemented, or they come from a top down kind of attitude. And we know that because we work in space. And it's, it's, it's very, it's scary stuff in real estate, and politics and planning schemes. And so I kind of had the idea that it would be great if we could organize a workshop or a series of workshops with kids from the neighborhood, and ask them to map something. And so the idea is, is really to give voice to kids in the neighborhood. And the idea would be to ask them very simple questions, like, where's your? Where do you go after school? Where's your favorite place? And where's the nearest park? Or how do you get to school? Where's your school? Where's the place that I don't know that you feel really good or a place that makes you feel sort of a little bit yucky or a bit scary? And to start kind of putting that into a visual, a series of visuals that could then be displayed at the exhibition. So the idea was, on the one hand, this is a kind of a design tool that we use to we can use maps to identify and analyze things in space and say, Well, this is where all the bins are. But we can also use maps as I guess, Instrumental Instrumental tools or operative tools to design something that we don't know exists yet or that we we don't know what what it is. is like as as kind of discovery tools. So what I thought would be interesting would be to kind of, I guess, give, give the kids of north in West Melbourne, at the schools an opportunity to one participate in the, I guess, a design workshop or an architectural workshop. So they can see the value in, in doing these things, but also to work with professionals and other I don't know, Junior Junior architects or students or whatever, so that they can see, ah, this is something I could do in the future, but also to, I guess, illustrate the voices of the young people of the community that often I feel, are not really listened to and understood. And I think, you know, it's very interesting to hear the ideas that everyone around is pitching to deliver currently, and there's kind of common themes all across, like, people want more green spaces, they want less cars, they want more bicycles, they want better, more sustainable streets, they want things that it's amazing, we all want that. And I think it's good to see from the pictures that we've seen so far, that most people are, you know, have actually quite similar ideas. And that's not to say that they're not original, it's just to say that these are things that people really care about. And oftentimes, these things get dismissed at the top, because they're not going to bring any revenue, they're not going to give you any parking fines, you know, from building green, green space. And so I think irregular itself is already a mapping of the desires of the neighborhood in many ways. So people, adults pitching these ideas. And so the exhibition itself is a map in many ways. So I felt like it can't just listen to people who have the time and the opportunity, and have thought a lot about this. And they all adults, right. And you know, let's say it probably privileged in have a job, and they're, you know, like, have no issues in their life, that allow them to be comfortable enough and confident enough to come forward with an idea. Not everyone has that privilege. And then this kids who we don't listen to. And so I think, asking them what they want, what they feel, and where is this in space in the neighborhood? Where would you like it to be? And then just got credit collection, it could be one map, it could be a series of maps, it could be then a map and series of drawings, we're still figuring it out, and how the format what it's going to be. But that's kind of the idea, roughly, is great.
I love it. I love it. It's so good. What I really like about it is that, as you said, oftentimes we don't ask a broad range of people what they actually want to need, let alone do we do it in a way that they feel they can share their full voice. And when I I also love maps. And what I love about maps is exactly what you said, you don't need to have the words to explain it. Because by seeing for example, in this instance, you spoke about some of the places that maybe they don't feel safe, they might not just tell you that, but if as you're going through be like, Oh, I don't normally go down that street, you can ask why. And they can explain, you know what that means and what comes up for them. And so it's a really interactive way. And we know young people love that interactive side of things, because they use all parts of their brain. As adults, I feel like sometimes we like shut off certain parts of our brain, whereas it's a really open to the full experience thing. So yeah, and I think also giving them an opportunity to be involved in creating the place that they want to be living in as well and, you know, retaining that community and those people within that community as well. It connects them to play so much more. So I think there's also that regardless of what age you are,
hopefully sort of planted a seed for something else. I mean, what kind of, I guess feel, idealists in many way, we still think that we can we can change the world, even though we work with with within a system that we know is quite difficult and hard to penetrate. But yeah, I think I think more more of these events would be good to have because I do get the sense of everyone. Everyone is really keen to participate. And, you know, all of these ideas are lovely. It's just amazing to, in my mind to think of what the world would look like if people had a bit more power to actually or agency right to actually implement all these ideas that they have in their hands.
I think it's a really nice reflection around the role of power in all of this. And I think you've really rightfully articulated the power that comes from having an event that is really more than an event. It's bringing people and their ideas together and giving them the hope and the agency to say this is what we want and together we can create this place. And that is so much more powerful than one person feeling like I need to change everything themselves. So I hope so really nice message. I
hope so. I mean, as I said, I just, sometimes I don't know how the these events kind of can can unfold, because you do, you do have people who are really keen, and then you do have people who don't even know about it. And they, they didn't know what to do or how to do or they might not feel like they can participate. Or that, like, you know, or that it's intimidating to approach people. But I think Dylan's doing a great job at trying to advocate for everyone's voice, and everyone to participate. So hopefully, he can gather all kinds of voices in the community. Yeah,
yeah, let's hope and I'm very excited to see the exhibition, when the time comes, all the ideas sound brilliant, and I'm super keen to see these maps that you talk about that looks like me, too. What a great pursuit, I think, you know, it's gonna be a really, it's gonna be a really tangible way of showing what's possible in communities as well, which, you know, can then spill over into other areas, not just North Melbourne, but actually beyond and give people a model to use, which I really love. And, you know, it's something that we try to highlight all the time, what are the approaches that people are already using that work or that they're trialing that we could then share with other other groups that might want to try the same thing? I have so many things now to weave into our storytelling of this, thank you so much, was so wonderful to speak to you? To wrap us up, because I know we've been chatting for a little bit. I think what has really stood out to me, and I suppose what might help other people trying to explore these kinds of initiatives is a few key things. First of all, I think what I've really appreciated is that you've taken the time to really know your community, who's in your community, what they value and what's important to them. And what is unique about people in your place, I think, also recognizing the different kinds of people in that community that could see value in something like a regular. And that connection, really gives them a role in doing something for this place. So you spoke about funders, you spoke about different disciplines of people that exist, you've spoke about people who are, who have been living here for a while and who understand, you know, the natural environment or understand the kinds of social groups and support that's needed in the community. And I think building that understanding of the community is really important and engaging in some of these place based activities, but also understanding what kinds of approaches are needed to help those people participate and be involved and what's important to them. But it sounds like, you know, key to that is what do people care about and what is bringing them together in this place. And then working to make it really easy for them to understand how they can engage and communicating your vision in a way that connects with what they're ambitious about, as well. So I think those pieces to me really stood out as a great foundation for creating something that, you know, on the surface can seem quite simple. Once people rock up at this exhibition, you know, it looks great, it's really kind of fluid and easy to engage with. But actually, there's so much work behind the scenes of getting to know who's here and what they have to offer that makes this a real treat. So yeah, I think for me, that really stands out and is something that a lot of people can learn from. Yeah.
Okay, the time right now with so we've got a new precinct coming into the suburb as well in the art and precinct, which will add another 20 odd 1000 residents, we've got a new hospital precinct coming. And obviously a new train station opening there's a whole urban renewal project that's about to happen on the doorstep and and so at a time when there will be a lot of change coming the opportunity for people to actually have their say about what makes north and west Melbourne. So great, and how that should influence that new precinct and retain what has been so great about North and West Melbourne while you know, expanding or saying that is really important is this being a really important time to contribute to that conversation as well.
The kinds of approaches that you've spoken about and these kinds of events, give people the confidence that they can have a voice and they don't need to have all the answers to be able to contribute to something because I'm sure when people say oh these poor resyncs going up, they're probably like, oh, all the decisions have been made. And I don't really get a say, but actually, from what I've heard from you, and you know, seeing examples of this around Melbourne, but also globally, that ability to be involved and share your ideas through mechanisms like this actually gives people the agency to act in things that are happening in their place and make sure that their values and the things that are important to them about this place are considered.
Well, I think when community doesn't get involved, and decisions are made remotely, and are imposed on an area, you do get results like Doc land, and what has happened there. And I think there's so many ways that community can get involved that doesn't necessarily have to involve council or getting approval for things and so forth, and just get up and make them happen. And guess there'll be an element of lobbying and organizing and so forth. initiatives that will require council or state government approval or contribution, from the ideas that have been submitted already, there's a whole host of things that will be able to be implemented without that. And, you know, we're hoping that using those as the catalyst for getting people involved, and getting a few wins on the board, will help build people's confidence in also getting involved in then lobbying and doing some of the harder more long term activities as well.
Though, what you've called out there is that you're not requiring people to take on all of that load of coming up with an idea that then requires them to figure out how to lobby how to put proposals in how to, you know, do the more complex stuff in the bigger system of government, I think what this is enabling is to say, think big, think about what you need in this place. Let's put that out there. And then as a community through this mechanism, we can figure out how we're going to make it happen together. And that is overcoming a massive barrier that a lot of people face in thinking, Who am I to be able to put something forward? I don't know how to do all these things. So what's the point? I'm not gonna get it very far. This is kind of breaking that, which is really giving
people the first step essentially to the take. Yep. Yeah,
I think it's awesome. Dillard, thank you so much for sharing your story with us sharing your initiative. We'll be watching closely, obviously, Melbourne Design Week is coming up soon. And so I'm really excited to see this exhibition and festival live during that. But yeah, most of all, just appreciate you being open with us. Thanks, Kara. Appreciate it. So hopefully you are feeling is inspired as Nina and I are about this brilliant initiative. Nina, thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with me on this field note.
Well, I'm so excited to be going to the opening night on the 23rd of May of the irregular festival. The festival itself is over the weekend from the Friday the 23rd to Sunday, the 25th of May, and it's at the North Melbourne Meat Market. I'd encourage everyone to get along and check it out have a look at the ideas that are surfacing from the community and and I'll see you there.
Thank you and thanks so much for coming along again. For everyone listening if anything that we've gone through today has tickles your fancy or gotten you inspired or even just made you think I want to learn more about this. I'm always available you can email me my emails below in the blog. But that is a wrap for this month audio field note be later
