International committee appointed to low-carbon-living project

An international scientific committee of 10 sustainability experts has been appointed to promote, oversee and guide transformational research and future city planning for the Australian Visions and Pathways 2040 project.

Funded by the CRC for Low Carbon Living (CRCLCL), the project’s primary objective is to engage with key built-environment stakeholders and the community to provide clear pathways towards designing new buildings, precincts and cities that are sustainable across the board - delivering benefits such as lower fossil fuel energy use and pollution, and resilience to changing climate and extreme weather events. 

The leader of the committee, Professor Chris Ryan, said the systems that support a city “are all interconnected and, although there are many projects looking at different components in this complex web, the elements need to be viewed as a whole, to see how they can viably work together to deliver futures suited to a low-carbon economy.

“There is a wealth of research and knowledge available to us but we need to pull it together to find cohesive design and creative solutions that work sustainably not just for Australia but for other parts of the globe where needs and resources vary,” he said.

Professor Ryan said the committee consists of experts from Europe, the US and China, all at the top of their field, who will “provide an expert overview of our research and engagement work to ensure it is of the highest standard. It will also position the project internationally, providing global exposure and input.”

Visions and Pathways 2040 has been funded to March 2017, with a view to an extension once the project’s progress has been determined. It also has a host of project partners: Aurecon, AECOM, Hassell, Brookfield Multiplex, City of Melbourne, City of Sydney, Sydney Water, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), The University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales and Swinburne University of Technology.

A workshop was recently held in Melbourne, where 70 participants were encouraged to create visions of the future that have been cohesively documented and visualised as glimpses of the future. A similar Sydney workshop will be held at the end of May, then results of both workshops will be analysed and reported by researchers and by the project partners.  

“Ultimately, the project team and the stakeholders’ jobs are to dream about what a low-carbon living city may look like in 2040 then work out how these dreams can become a reality,” said CRCLCL CEO Professor Deo Prasad, AO. “They need to have visions during this process which may also flag disruptive innovations that, like the steam engine, could completely change the way we live.

“Once we have glimpses of the vision, then it allows us to better understand the transitions and road maps in getting there. This, then, better enables an understanding of the requirements such as capacity building, research, planning and policy.”