Western Sydney University’s (WSU) Urban Transformations Research Centre was officially launched on Friday by NSW Minister of Infrastructure, Minister of Cities and Minister of Active Transport, Rob Stokes at the University’s Parramatta Engineering Innovation Hub, where the centre is located.
Why now?
The university launched its newest research centre at a time when our community is calling out for accelerated action on climate change and demanding greater leadership and greater collaboration across all sectors. We have heard. And we are responding to this call. The urgency is greater than ever. Time is ripe to make impact at scale and right here in Western Sydney.
It is in WSU’s foundational principles and guiding mission statement that we as an academic community champion our region. We are an anchor institution embedded in Western Sydney. We are committed to delivering impactful research that makes a difference. We are committed to regional leadership, but also national and international leadership. A further endorsement of our commitment to making impact was marked earlier this year when the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings announced Western Sydney University as number 1 in the world on achieving impact through the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Promoting social justice, inclusive education, equality, environmental stewardship, and resilience are at the core of our university’s mission.
Why Western Sydney?
Western Sydney region is experiencing firsthand many of the sustainability and resilience challenges of the 21st century, notably rapid urban growth, extreme urban heat, and entrenched inequalities. The destructive impacts of climate change are felt most intensively in the western part of the Sydney basin. The rapid succession of shocks, like bushfires, heatwaves, and floods, are putting real pressure on our state and local governments already grappling with the needs of the growing and changing population in Western Sydney.
Our region is growing and fast. Tens of thousands of new residents make this region their home every year. Significant investment is taking place to provide jobs, homes, and infrastructure that our region needs. Yet, we must make sure that what is planned and built today guarantees the future livelihoods and wellbeing of all our local communities. The question arises – do we have the best set of strategies in place to transform our communities and infrastructure into sustainable, equitable and resilient futures?
A year ago, at WSU’s Urban Living Futures Research Week event, we made a commitment to ongoing research and collaboration with our partners to tackle the wicked urban challenges that our region faces. We have honoured that commitment through establishing the Urban Transformations Research Centre, dedicated to this task.
Tackling complex urban challenges goes beyond the capacity of any one organisation. We cannot rely on quick fix, single focused solutions. We require the commitment and coordination of multiple organisations, stakeholders and our communities working together, and in much more collaborative and innovative ways. Moreover, complex change can only occur through a transdisciplinary systematic approach to designing and delivering the future needs of Western Sydney and beyond.
Transformative research
Our centre’s transdisciplinary teams is working across three interrelated research and innovation programs.
Systems innovation and demonstration
This program tackles the complex interconnected aspects of energy, water, transport, and resource systems. It draws on systems expertise from across the university, with an emphasis on life cycle and circular economy assessment, net zero analysis and urban metabolism modelling. The program contributes to net zero buildings and precincts by guiding the use of materials and their provenance towards education of waste, reuse, and recycling at scale.
People-centred sustainable precinct design
This program centres on the delivery of healthy, inclusive, and resilient urban places. It draws on the university’s interdisciplinary excellence, from geography and urban planning, culture and society, design thinking, health, and environmental science disciplines. The program contributes to the effective integration of sustainable design principles into planning practices, and thereby enabling the creation of sustainable development outcomes at scale.
Resilient construction and infrastructure
This program centres on developing safe and resilient infrastructure, with enhanced resilience to extreme weather and natural disasters. It draws on the university’s established strengths in the areas of construction sustainability, structural engineering, infrastructure safety, advanced engineering materials, advanced manufacturing, and construction management. The program contributes to improved and sustainable building materials and construction methods adopted at scale.
Our researchers and professional staff dedicated to environmental sustainability are working closely together. We leverage the university’s Western Growth Program. This is a large-scale transformative program, repurposing our campus network and assets. We are keen to showcase to the rest of Australia and the world, our sustainable innovation precincts, and demonstration projects that we are co-creating with our partners. Notably, the Penrith Sustainable Innovation Community, Hawkesbury Circular Economy lab, and many more examples across our 12 campuses in Western Sydney.
A key feature of our action-oriented approach is that our industry and society partners will become associate partners with our centre. Our partners will drive which projects we should prioritise. And together we will strategise on the emerging issues and how we can solve the complex challenges that our contemporary built environments face.
To demonstrate that action speaks louder than words, we were pleased to announce at the launch our centre’s external advisory board. Monica Richter has agreed to be the chair of our board. Monica is the Acting Head of the Climate and Food Security team at WWF-Australia. Our other board members include: Davina Rooney, chief executive of Green Building Council of Australia; Lynne Gallagher, CEO, Energy Consumers Australia; Richa Sud, senior sustainability consultant, Taylor Thomson Whitting; Chris Lee, CEO, Climate-KIC Australia; Greg Woodhams, formerly Greater Cities Commission.
We are honoured that each of these high-profile individuals has agreed to back our university’s exciting strategic research initiative. Each totally understands our centre’s mission in supporting our communities and infrastructure to be sustainable, equitable and resilient and that we all need to come together to achieve this. Our board will provide critical ongoing advice to identify future directions and strategic opportunities for the centre. Each brings a wealth of experience, and are highly regarded and proactive individuals. We know they will work hard with us.