Project update – March-April

The floodplains of Ginninderra Creek and gently undulating lands of CSIRO Ginninderra have been home to CSIRO agricultural and crop research for more than 60 years. Our Agriculture and Food business unit has been sowing, managing and harvesting about 30,000 crop research plots each year. They also run a merino sheep flock as part of general site management and for specific grazing and dual purpose cropping experiments.

With unfolding plans to conduct our Agriculture and Food research at other specialist sites, the focal point for Ginninderra has shifted over recent years towards our urban sustainability work. We have reported regularly about such research at Ginninderra, through the Project website, covering diverse areas including:

• Urban heat mapping, green infrastructure and climate adaptation strategies
• Water sensitive urban design
• Box gum woodlands and grasslands restoration
• Collaborative district-wide Little Eagle research
• 3D visualisation, modelling and planning
• Bringing together social, environmental, physical, historical and aspirational attributes through urban placemaking
• CSIRO Urban Living Lab capabilities including a wide range of expertise in areas such as:
  • infrastructure technologies
  • energy and water efficiency
  • data and digital innovation
  • 3D printing and advanced manufacturing
  • ecological health and diversity
  • human health and wellbeing
  • attitudes to community living and sustainability
  • housing affordability, and
  • materials and resource use.

At Ginninderra, we continue to work through the detailed process of developing the science plans, site and environmental studies, as well as undertaking engagement with the objective of realising a unique sustainable urban community informed by science and innovation.