CAUL updateDr Cathy OkeKnowledge Broker25 August 2016

Overview1. About the CAUL Hub: org structure and research

focus2. CAUL Projects and research updates3. Clean Air Plan for Western Sydney4. Green Cities Blueprints5. Indigenous Engagement and Participation6. Preparation for Research Plan V37. Follow up and key contacts

CAUL Hub missionTo take a comprehensive view of the sustainability and liveability of urban environments with a focus on practical research outcomes

About the CAUL Hub• Consortium of four universities: the University of

Melbourne, RMIT University, the University of Western Australia, and the University of Wollongong.

• Expertise in air quality, urban ecology, urban planning, urban design, public health and green infrastructure.

• One of six research hubs funded under the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Programme 2015-2021.

CAUL structure

CAUL Hub themes

CAUL projectsWestern Sydney Air Quality Clare Murphy (UoW)

Data Integration Richard Sinnott (UoM)

Shared Urban Habitat Kirsten Parris (UoM) & Richard Hobbs (UWA)

Liveable Urban Systems Jago Dodson (RMIT)

Urban Greening Nicholas Williams (UoM)

W Sydney Air Quality

Understanding poor air-quality events through measurement campaigns that address specific knowledge gaps and the development of new models of air quality for Australia. These will provide the tools and evidence to develop a Clean Air Plan for Western Sydney.

W Sydney Air Quality

Update (August 2016)

• Initial measurement campaign in Auburn, Western Sydney undertaken

• Identification of and negotiation for access to further sites for additional campaigns underway

• Completed development of two preliminary air pollution models for the NSW Greater Metropolitan Region

Urban GreeningMapping the current state of Australia's urban green spaces, setting realistic goals for increasing various types of urban greening in the future and developing the methods to meet and assess these goals.This will contribute to the development of Green Cities Blueprints for Australian cities.

Urban GreeningUpdate (August 2016)

• Discussion paper on urban canopy cover developed, articulating the complex role of ‘targets’ and ‘trajectories’

• Workshop on mapping urban greening (August 2016)• Analysis of Melbourne street tree sensitivity to climate change

completed

Urban SystemsUnderstanding how transport networks, green space and housing function in our cities, and the effects of their interconnections on the humans that live in them. The research will inform decision-making in city planning, management and development to improve outcomes in these areas.

Urban SystemsUpdate (August 2016)

• Vehicle-level traffic model for metropolitan Sydney has been developed, allowing emissions modelling to be undertaken

• City-wide urban greening analysis underway for Perth• Planning for liveability analysis of Upper Stony Creek

redevelopment in Melbourne

Shared Urban Habitat

Addressing the question of how humans can effectively share urban spaces with other species, including the protection of habitat within cities and the conservation of threatened species. The project also considers the benefits that people derive from everyday encounters with urban biodiversity.

Shared Urban Habitat

Update (August 2016)

• Comprehensive dataset on threatened species in urban environments has been compiled

• Two workshops on ‘Re-wilding the City’ completed• Development of citizen science app underway

Data IntegrationBringing available datasets on the urban landscape together into a single research environment.

This will enable researchers and the community to combine datasets about cities in novel ways to provide new understandings of the relationships between different elements of the city.

Data IntegrationUpdate (August 2016)

• Mobile air pollution devices benchmarked against EPA; preparing for integration with AURIN platform

• Development of API to allow increased researcher access to datasets

• Studies of social media sentiment analysis

Clean Air Plan

Green Cities Blueprints

Green Cities Blueprints

National Framework for Green Cities Blueprints• National policy; programs; resources

Federal government:• National policy• Coordination• Resources

State governments:• Key data holder• Coordination• Policy frameworks

Local governments:• Local strategy• Implementation• Evaluation

Industry orgs:• Driver of change• Resources• Coordination

Researchers:• Evidence base• Data analysis• Decision tools

Non-gov actors:• Partners• Strategy• Implementation

Green Cities Blueprints platform• Access point for users and public

Monitoring• Measurement • Baseline• Benchmarking • Target setting • Monitoring• Evaluation

Best practice exchange• Learning• Sharing• Collaborating

Resources for action• Toolkits• Decision support tools• Guidelines

Green City Blueprint • Local strategy and policy making,

action, monitoring, evaluation

Indigenous Engagement

Indigenous Engagement

Update (August 2016)

• Framework developed and used to assess Indigenous Engagement and Participation potential for each project

• Researcher cultural awareness training undertaken• Position advertised for an Indigenous Urban

Sustainability researcher based at RMIT

Research Plan V3

Key ContactsProfessor Peter Rayner – Hub Leader03 8344 9708 / prayner@unimelb.edu.au

Dr Cathy Oke – Knowledge Broker0439997717 / cathy.oke@unimelb.edu.au