Ginninderra Project 2017: A year in review

December 12th, 2017

The vision to transform our Ginninderra research property into a showcase of sustainable urban living gathered momentum, with steady progress throughout 2017.  Some of the key highlights of the year were:

  • community involvement in our on-site science and environmental restoration work through events like our community planting days
  • science planning and gathering of our organisation-wide expertise in research, relevant to sustainable cities
  • further building of the team that is managing the project for CSIRO.

Community involvement

The enthusiasm and commitment of the many volunteers of all ages who took part in our community shrub planting days was a memorable highlight. Not only did these volunteers plant thousands of shrubs back into the Box Gum Woodlands but they also became some of the first ‘citizen scientists’ helping to ‘bring the birds back’ and boost the ecological health of our urban environment.

This couldn’t have happened without our partnership with the Ginninderra Catchment Group and many other supporting groups, including the Mulanggang Traditional Aboriginal Landcare Group with whom we celebrated NAIDOC Week by learning about the rich cultural landscape in the Ginninderra area. The Heritage Interpretation Walk, led by Ngunnawal custodian Wally Bell, presented a great opportunity to discover the Aboriginal heritage and cultural values of the site.

Our broader engagement with the community continued through the year through meetings with, and presentations to, various interest groups and community councils.

Planning and creating cities of the future

In 2017, CSIRO and the Ginninderra Team have been bringing together the science expertise and innovation that will contribute to Ginninderra and other Urban Living Lab initiatives that CSIRO is establishing, under a future cities vision. CSIRO and collaborator, Celestino, announced the first Urban Living Lab will be established at the Sydney Science Park, as a ‘real world’ development in which our science and innovation will be applied to city design and delivery. The aim is to create more sustainable, resilient cities, with Ginninderra anticipated to be a key Urban Living Lab.

Throughout the year our project website has showcased some of the science that we can bring to the venture, from water sensitive urban design, Little Eagle and ecological research, energy fingerprinting, city infrastructure mapping, hydrogen as a fuel source, Indigenous heritage, affordable housing and community attitudes to building features and urban growth.

Building the Ginninderra team

While the multi-stage process to select a suitable development partner has continued throughout 2017, we have been busy setting up the science and business leadership to successfully manage the initiative.

Over the course of the year we’ve introduced Executive Science Lead, Dr Anita Hill and many of the other key scientists and managers who are overseeing and guiding the project for CSIRO. As with other projects of this scale, CSIRO is applying a rigorous management and governance process for the Ginninderra initiative.

As we move into 2018, we look forward to continuing the procurement process to select a development partner, with an announcement expected to be made in mid-2018.

In the meantime, we’d like to wish you a very happy festive season.