2024 Symposium: Climate Action in Cities

The Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning is proud to present the 2024 ABP Symposium.

This year’s theme is “climate action,” bringing together local and global voices to campaign for urgent and meaningful change across Australia’s built environment sector.

This year’s Symposium connects academic, government and industry experts to influence the national agenda for the transformation of our urban spaces. Home to over 50 per cent of the world’s population, our cities are responsible for up to 75 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. This makes the built environment our greatest challenge but also our greatest opportunity for climate action.

Over two days, you’re invited to attend a series of thought-provoking keynote lectures, interactive sessions, panel discussions and site visits. Each session will unpack urban solutions to the climate crisis from different angles, from research to policy to industry, while offering tangible solutions to drive positive sector-wide change.

The Symposium features international guest keynote speakers Sarah Ichioka and Deb Chachra. World-renowned urbanist and founding director of Desire Lines, Sarah Ichioka,will explore how the built environment sector can help drive the transformation of our buildings, places and environments as we move towards genuinely regenerative approaches.

Professor Deb Chachra is a globally-recognised academic and materials scientist, working at the intersection of technology and society, with an emphasis on systems, education, design, and materials. She is author of the much-acclaimed recent book, How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems that Shape Our World.

Discover real-world examples of best practice design and planning with a series of site visits. These guided sessions will reveal the innovative built environment initiatives across University of Melbourne’s Parkville campus and the Altona Coastal Precinct.

At the end of the Symposium, you’ll not only understand the extent of the climate emergency but also the critical role our industry can, and must, play in avoiding potentially devastating impacts on our cities and their environments.

Check out the full program here.

This symposium was partially funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme.

The Symposium keynote speaker, Sarah Mineko Ichioka is made possible by the generous support of the Robert Garland Treseder Fellowship.