Message from the Director

Please welcome our 103 new students from 17 countries who joined the Bachelor of Environments this semester. Our Student Advisors, Dani, Anna and Megan organised for our new students to meet with later year students in our inaugural transition program launched over lunch last Tuesday.  Many thanks to the our generous group of second and third year students who are willing to share their tips for making university life productive and fun. By the buzz of conversations happening over lunch in the Bachelor of Environments' Frank Tate building, we suspect there will be plenty to talk about.

We encourage all of you to use the Frank Tate building as a home away from home to catch up with others or simply to find a comfortable space to relax or work. It is your building.

Whatever year you are in, I hope this semester is your best yet particularly for those of you beginning your capstone subjects.

Associate Professor Clare Newton
Director, Bachelor of Environments

Date: Wednesday 7 August 2013
Time: 12.00pm - 1.00pm
Venue: MSLE Lower Theatre
Registrations: Careers Online

A great education is a key to career success, but balancing this with experience in your field of study can really enhance your future employability. Find out why experience matters, and how you can get the right kind of experience at this Next Steps event for Bachelor of Environments students.

Date: Wednesday 7 August 2013
Time: 1.00pm - 1.45pm
Venue: G07, MSLE Building (142)
Registrations: To register, please email Erin Wilson

Two of the greatest issues of our time, adapting to climate change and feeding a rapidly growing population, are placing tremendous pressures on our environments and society.

Together these issues are increasing the economic competition for scarce land, water, energy and nutrients, while challenging the preservation of biodiversity, social structures and spaces.

To help tackle these important concerns, come and hear about the exciting research possibilities at honours level in geography and landscape management.

Now is your last chance to get your application in for the RE-shapers TALK competition.

On the 1st of October 2013 the University of Melbourne will be joining with the Festival of Ideas to host a dozen ‘RE-shapers’ who are creating or imagining something different, effecting change where they are located, or trying something new to help RE-shape the world towards sustainability.

To apply: Email up to 20 image slides that show the change(s) that you're taking that have RE-shaped and improved the environment, the community, the world. Include a 1-page description of what your process has been and what you think you've achieved.

Entries Due: Monday 5 August 2013
Email: Click here

TALK date: Tuesday 1 October 2013
Time: 9.00am - 5.00pm
Venue: Clarendon Auditorium, MCEM

Applications due: Monday 9 September

As part of the Festival of Ideas, the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning and Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute (MSSI) will host Environments Day on Wednesday 2 October.

The Faculty of ABP is offering students a unique opportunity to get involved through two exciting competitions.

Competition 1: The 20 Minute City?
Melbourne's aspirational future is the 20-minute City - so say the planners and politicians. What does this compressed connectivity mean for the design of our communities and our neighbourhoods?

Competition 2: Imagine Australia in 2033: How we created a healthy just and sustainable post carbon society
It is October 2033. The transition to a healthy, just and sustainable post-carbon future is well underway in Australia. How did this happen?

Prizes to be won so make sure you're in to win. The challenge: Develop a five minute presentation which provides a creative, imaginative and plausible response to this question, accompanied by five powerpoint slides and 500 words responding to the questions above.

Date: Friday 9 August 2013
Time: 1.30pm - 6.00pm
Venue: Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room, Sidney Myer Asia Centre
Cost: $50
RSVP: Here

Federal Policies, State Planning and Local Realities

The book, Australia's Unintended Cities, considers the broad and seemingly growing gap between the aims common to strategic planning - sustainable, inclusive and prosperous cities characterised by more compact urban growth, greater use of public transport, higher densities especially at transport nodes and along transport corridors - and the reality of urban development on the ground.

In this afternoon seminar, the contributors to Australia's Unintended Cities will revisit the propositions of the book in light of the upcoming Federal Elections and release of a new metropolitan strategy for Melbourne. What difference might these events make in our shared endeavour for sustainable, inclusive and prosperous cities?

The expert panels will include Terry Burke, Michael Buxton, Tony Gilmour, Brendan Gleeson, Alan March, Terry Rawnsley, Marcus Spiller, Mary Tomlinson, Richard Tomlinson and Judith Yates.

Cities, Growth and Design: Perfect Together

Date: Tuesday 6 August
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: Carrillo Gantner Theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre
Registrations: Register here

Alan Greenberger, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Director of Commerce, City of Philadelphia, will discuss urban governance and designing for economic vitality through issues of American sprawl.

Under his leadership, the City of Philadelphia has rewritten the Philadelphia Zoning Code and has initiated a five-year long comprehensive plan for the city, entitled Philadelphia 2035. Both intitiatives are the first of their kind for the city in over 50 years and are the recipient of the American Planning Association's National Award for City Planning in 2013.

Cities, Growth and Design: Perfect Together discusses the inherent interplay between place, ambition and character, and how successful cities balance these sometimes competing objectives.