Victorian university RMIT has launched four new research projects in Melbourne, including two circular design projects.
All four projects will take place at RMIT’s urban research facility called PlaceLab situated in Brunswick and inner-city Melbourne, with each focusing on sustainable practices, urban design and community culture. They will engage with local community groups and key stakeholders through activities such as surveys, vox pops, exhibitions and workshops.
The two circular design projects are called Wear & Care and Flatpacked: Repacked and are taking place at RMIT’s PlaceLab in inner-city Melbourne.
Wear & Care kicked off with a series of hands-on mending sessions that saw locals and RMIT students and staff revive clothing that required fixing or alteration.
RMIT PlaceLab researcher Hayley Thompson said Wear & Care aims to bring together locals, retailers and researchers to learn about and encourage practices that mend, repair and share clothing - with the aim of building a local response towards a new and sustainable fashion model.
“This is just one example of how we can be more sustainable with our clothing,” Thompson said. “But there are so many other opportunities out there and Wear & Care will help us explore new avenues for experiencing fashion that support a more sustainably focused fashion culture.”
The Flatpack: Repacked project will investigate how residents of Melbourne furnish their homes. RMIT researcher Luke Gebert said it aims to provide solutions to hard rubbish waste by uncovering the lifecycle of furniture in the City of Melbourne.
"By determining the mechanisms and motivations that shape the purchasing and disposing of furniture in urban settings, our research will advise short and long-term interventions based on the 4Rs of a circular economy – reduce, reuse, recycle and remove,” Gebert said.
The theme of sustainability will also cover PlaceLab Brunswick’s research projects, Cardigan Commons and Voice, Vibe and Vision.
Cardigan Commons will explore what it would look like to transform Cardigan Street into a green space that enhances local ecology, environmental health, and community wellbeing.
Voice, Vibe and Vision aims to better understand the area’s unique character amid transformative infrastructure change across its design district. It will gather local perspectives on the sounds, images, words, stories, and imaginings that create Brunswick’s urban character, and result in a compendium that will function as a useful tool to help the Brunswick Design District (BDD) prepare for and respond to future transformative infrastructure changes.
According to RMIT, PlaceLab aims to create real-world, place-based solutions for liveability, resilience, and inclusivity that can then be delivered by local government and place-making partners.
RMIT PlaceLab is supported through the Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF) to promote urban improvement, inclusion and access, economic growth, productivity, jobs, and social impact.