action Research For
urban transformation
Melbourne is home to global experts addressing many of our key challenges.
our SYSTEMS lab brings them together to shift the enabling conditions for urban regeneration.
The Systems Lab is a dedicated action-research platform that explores how to shift conditions in our systems to facilitate place-based change. It aims to unlock changes that can accelerate impact across the Earthshots and at a whole-of-city scale.
The Lab experiments with shifting these underlying conditions through a set of enablers, identified as necessary through our Earthshots:
New Narratives of Place
Measuring What Matters
New Urban Governance
Systemic Investment
Collaborative Research Practices
Each of these enablers is designed as an action-research stream which engages with multiple layers of the system, such as policy, media, research structures and finance.
Our work focuses on diagnosing existing barriers in the system, experimenting with new interventions through our Earthshots and learning from these experiments to extend their impact.
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Measuring What Matters
Holistic measures of progress that centre long-term social and ecological wellbeing in decision-making
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New Urban Governance
Governance models that enable effective and adaptive decision-making in line with our current and future challenges
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Collaborative Research Practice
Research and learning practices that serve the wellbeing of people and planet by centering collaboration and diversity
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Investing in Transformation
Investment paradigms that facilitate capital flows towards systemic activity in service of place-based regeneration
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New Narratives of Place
New approaches to defining social, economic and political narratives that empower local communities
Our action research is guided and supported by our Research Council, an advisory group with representatives in relevant fields across seven university partners.
Associate Professor Magnus Moglia: Chair (La Trobe University)
Professor Lauren Rickards (Latrobe University)
Professor Sarah Bell (University of Melbourne)
Professor Dan Hill (University of Melbourne)
Professor Jago Dodson (RMIT University)
Professor Andrea Siodmok OBE (RMIT University)
Associate Professor Elmira Jamei (Victoria University)
Associate Professor Sorada Tapuswan (Swinburne University)
Professor Rob Raven (Monash University)
Dr Darren Sharp (Monash University)
Dr. Micahlis Hadjikakou (Deakin University)
Background materials & resources
"Regen Melbourne is the sort of initiative that those who study climate change and other crises dream about – a bottom up but razor sharp effort to take stock, draw breath and turn the ship around."
Professor Lauren Rickards
Chair Climate Adaptation Lab, Latrobe University