As well as high-level meetings with the Australian High Commission and the Vice Chancellor of Solomon Islands National University (SINU), the intention of the trip was to set up a local implementation team to deliver climate actions as part of the Climate Resilient Honiara project. Prof. McEvoy said, “a local project team (consisting of World Vision, PacSol consultancy, SINU, and the UN-Habitat local office) will deliver water tanks, drainage upgrades using nature-based solutions, and local disaster planning training in five vulnerable informal settlements. RMIT will provide the necessary scie ..read more

Prior to the war on Ukraine, poor housing conditions prevailed – including overcrowding, lack of maintenance, energy inefficiency (and energy poverty) and severe unaffordability for low-to-middle-income groups entering the housing market in major cities. Ukraine continues to face the problem of homeowners unable to sell or invest to renovate their buildings.  A rapid evidence review led by RMIT CUR with New Housing Policy, CEDOS and Housing Europe,  demonstrates the magnitude of need, its dynamic spatial distribution and the vulnerability of households affected. By 202 ..read more

The multitude of challenges facing the construction industry in Australia seems to keep accumulating. Supply chain shortages, labour shortages, price increases, insurance and financial difficulties, mental health issues, and gaps in skills and training have variously exacerbated during, or as a result of, the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges not only impact workers within the industry and the ability to deliver projects on time and on budget, but ultimately the end consumer. In a recent research report led by Master Builders Victoria in partnership with RMIT Un ..read more

Sharing knowledge for the recovery of Ukraine Executive Summary This executive summary is from full report authored by Oleksandr Anisimov and Pavlo Fedoriv (New Housing Policy, UA), Oleksandra Tkachenko (UNUN), Julie Lawson (RMIT Centre for Urban Research) and Edwin Buitelaar (Utrecht University) and published by PBL, the Dutch government’s National Agency for Environmental Assessment. This report responds to Ukraine’s ambitions for the recovery of homes and neighbourhoods. It calls on policymakers in Ukraine, partner countries and international organisations to give strategic attention to saf ..read more

In 2021, the Transport Health Assessment Tool for Melbourne (THAT-Melbourne) was launched as a free web-based simulation model and tool that presents data on the health benefits gained when driving is replaced by walking or cycling in Melbourne. Since winning the Planning Institute of Australia’s Planning Research Award for THAT-Melbourne last year, the research team, led by Gunn, received funding from The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre to extend the tool to Brisbane. THAT-Brisbane will improve planning practitioners’ literacy on the health impacts of active transport to support ..read more

The event was attended by more than 60 people, including many of our industry partners, with catering generously supported by Tract Consulting. As well as providing an opportunity for new, continuing and graduating students to meet each other, teachers and industry members, it also allowed students to be recognised for their achievements. Awards were given out to students for Outstanding Academic Achievement in all degree programs (Bachelor of Environment and Society; Bachelor of Environmental Science; the Environment and Society/Environmental Science degree; Bachelor of Urban and Regional Pla ..read more

The Forum for Dwelling Justice, held in Naarm (Melbourne) in August 2022, aimed to examine the colonial relations of housing precarity and forge solidarity between sites of resistance. The Forum brought together leaders, activists, community-based practitioners, scholars and film-makers to stage a conversation about precarity, racial violence, incarceration and dispossession and how these dynamics shape the ways we dwell, and fight for dwelling justice, here on stolen land. In one panel at the Forum, peer-led dwelling justice projects were the theme, with film-makers Jazmine Barzani, Lucie McM ..read more

A heat pump extracts heat from outside, concentrates it (using an electric compressor) to raise the temperature, and pumps the heat to where it is needed. Indeed, millions of Australian homes already have heat pumps in the form of refrigerators and reverse-cycle air conditioners bought for cooling. They can heat as well, and save a lot of money compared with other forms of heating! Even before the restrictions on Russian gas supply, many European countries were rolling out heat pumps – even in cold climates. Now, government policies are accelerating change. The United States, which has had ver ..read more

The Centre for Urban Research was established in late-2012/early-2013 with the objective of connecting people and ideas for sustainable cities and regions. The Centre was formed by bringing together researchers from the RMIT AHURI Centre, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science group, National Centre for Design, and Sustainability and Urban Planning program. The founding Director was Robin Goodman who was supported by David Hayward, Dean of GUSS, and the multi-disciplinary community of researchers and leaders that have collaborated under the CUR banner. Since 2012 CUR has grown to become one of ..read more

The election of a Labor Government at the 2022 federal election has brought new attention to policies for climate change mitigation and energy transition, with an accelerated minimum target of 43 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 now legislated. Cities and suburbs will be central to achieving the climate target as concentrated sites of energy consumption in homes, workplaces and consumer activity. The energy transition demands new approaches to infrastructure and urban policy, among a much wider set of transformations necessary across economic, social and environmental spheres. Infrastru ..read more