Vision - Broadmeadows 2032 Exhibition
The Victorian Eco Innovation Lab (VEIL), a State Government funded think-tank, is exhibiting designs and visions for a sustainable future in Broadmeadows as part of the State of Design festival from 19th – 25th July 2010.
Vision Broadmeadows 2032 is a free public exhibition showcasing 60 designs from VEIL’s workshops with Melbourne University, RMIT, Monash University and Swinburne University in the fields of architecture, landscape design, industrial design, communication design and service design, presenting a wide range of sustainable opportunities for the local area.
Exhibition details
Dates: 19th to 25th July, 2010
Times: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm
Location: The Ericsson Administration building, 61 Riggall St, Corner Blair and Riggall Streets (Enter via Blair Street) Broadmeadows
Parking: On-site 200 meters from entry
Accessibility: Wheelchair access is provided
Getting there
The #532 and the #540 buses run from Broadmeadows Train Station past the Ericsson Building. The Station is an easy daytime walk from the Exhibition and it only takes 8 minutes by bike!
Launch night shuttle bus
A shuttle bus will run from Broadmeadows Train Station to the Exhibition every fifteen minutes on the launch night. The first bus from the station will be at 5, and the last return bus from the exhibition will depart at 8:45 pm.
Background
The City of Hume is a rapidly developing centre north of Melbourne, wrangling with the problems of burgeoning suburban sprawl, population growth, climate change, stressed infrastructure and impending broad-brush state planning initiatives. VEIL conducted research and workshops using their 25-year horizon visioning techniques in collaboration with the Hume City council, local government, sustainability experts and university design students to identify emerging technical and social innovations to develop sustainable systems beyond 2032.
The exhibition asks questions about how Broadmeadows could change: How would a suburb like Broadmeadows cope if petrol, water electricity and food prices increased dramatically? What changes could take place locally to help Broadmeadows meet their future daily needs? How could the community turn around these 2010 pressures and develop 2032 local assets? What new businesses could be developed? What new types of housing could be created?
How could people interact with water, food, and energy? “A sustainable Broadmeadows is a transformed suburb with a thriving community that is low carbon, environmentally sensitive and resilient, it is able to recover from the shocks of climate change and extreme weather events. The people of Broadmeadows are more engaged in determining and participating their own future.”
What might small dispersed local infrastructure look like? “Our current conversations on infrastructure involve big public assets like schools, hospitals, electricity and roads. In the future local infrastructure might also be smaller more diverse and flexible, assets like; community water storage and treatment, local food production and markets, bicycle and local transport networks, neighbourhood workshops, micro-business networks, connected renewable energy systems. These local assets don’t operate independently but are connected to form bigger systems and networks.”
After the exhibition these ideas will be explored further by Hume City Council as part of its new and emerging strategic planning initiatives. VEIL was established through Our Environment Our Future – Victorian Sustainability Statement in 2006 and is funded through the Victorian Government Sustainability Fund managed by Sustainability Victoria.
“This exhibition will show how a large and mainly suburban city, can begin to tackle the challenges of climate change and Zero Carbon while creating strong opportunities for economic growth and a vibrant local culture” Professor Chris Ryan, Director. VEIL
“Rather than relying on big, vulnerable, existing centralised systems like the electricity grid, VEIL is looking at targeting local sites within the Broadmeadows community to create a network of services that will make it more resilient and more sustainable.” Dianne Moy, Project Co-ordinator. VEIL
“We are exploring a series of distributed and connected experimental visions for the future development of the Broadmeadows region by looking at energy, water and food systems, transport, information, social and economic services to identify opportunities for change. These are on the ground responses identified as starting points, specifically designed for the Broadmeadows region.” Dianne Moy, Project Co-ordinator. VEIL
More information
For interviews, photo opportunities or high resolution images please email: tiani@decodemedia.com.au phone: (03) 9015 7999