2019 APRU Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Conference
August 29th – September 1st, 2019 | University of New South Wales | Sydney, Australia

The APRU SCL 2019 Conference Video

APRU SCL 2019 Conference Overview

The third annual Association of Pacific Rim Universities Sustainable Cities and Landscapes (APRU SCL) Conference was hosted by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia from August 29^th through September 1^st, 2019. Working Group sessions throughout the conference brought together returning and new researchers, experts, and students to collaborate on common sustainability challenges. New initiatives developed by conference organizers Professor Linda Corkery, Sara Padgett Kjaersgaard, and Catherine Evans drove the conference forward. Seventy-eight delegates from fourteen countries and twenty-four universities represented sixteen member universities from around the Pacific Rim.

APRU SCL Steering Committee and Working Group leaders met on the first day of the Conference. Yizhao Yang, Associate Professor, SCI-China Program Director, Asian Studies, Planning, Public Policy and Management and Anne Taufen, Associate Professor, Urban Studies Program, University of Washington Tacoma Urban Studies, presented updates on the APRU SCL Handbook due to launch in June of 2021.

Preceding the conference, Steering Committee leaders and Working Group leaders convened in an Advocacy Workshop lead by Tim Arnold, the CEO of the Australian Institute for Landscape Architecture (AILA). The conference opened with an evening lecture and awards ceremony for the global student design ideas competition “Cities and Refugees 2019” hosted by UNSW in a public-facing event. Brett Moore, Chief of Shelter and Settlements gave an informative talk relating to the theme of the student competition representing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a sponsor of the competition. The initiative for the student competition engaged one-third of all conference attendees attracting students from a range of disciplines.

Tim Arnold, CEO of the Australian Institute for Landscape Architects (AILA) led the Advocacy Planning Workshop engaging the Working Group and Steering Committee examining the definition of advocacy and developing an action plan with the APRU SCL.

Bruce Watson, Deputy Dean of UNSW Built Environment opened the “Cities and Refugees” global student ideas competition awards ceremony and public facing event. Guest speaker Brett Moore, Chief of Shelter and Settlements, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a sponsor of the competition presented on “Cities and Refugees” Complexity and Conflict”. Professor David Sanderson, Judith Neilson Chair in Architecture, UNSW announced the winners of the Cities and Refugees Competition.

Seven Working Groups convened several times throughout the conference exchanging ideas on sustainability themes setting the framework for annual research output. Drawing on all annual conference outputs, papers generated from the conferences are set to be published in the Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Handbook by Routledge in 2021. The Food and Nutrition Security Working Group established a new theme at the conference. Working Groups took the opportunity to go on local excursions relating to their area of focus.

Left to right: Adam DeHeer Working Group leader of the Water and Wastewater Working Group facilitates discussions. The Urban Renewable Energy Working Group with leaders Makena Coffman second from left, Professor and Director of the Urban and Regional Planning and Institute for Sustainability and Resilience, University of Hawaii, Manoa and Yekang Ko, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, APRU SCL Program Director, of the University of Oregon, second from right in the central photo. The photo on the right shows the Landscape and Human Health Working Group exchanging ideas during one of the six meetings.

From left to right: The APRU SCL Conference opened Thursday morning with the Welcome to Country address given by Auntie Maxine Ryan. APRU SCL Conference co-organizer Sara Padgett Kjaersgaard, Lecturer, Built Environment at UNSW and Maxine Ryan during the Friday morning session. Christina Schoenleber, APRU Secretariat and Director of Policy and Programs offered insight and highlights of the valuable network within APRU. Professor Bart Johnson, Steering Committee Chair shared about the network of landscapes and the valuable connections to draw on across the Pacific Rim.

Between Working Group sessions, plenary talks were given by local academics to offer an in-depth history of Sydney’s complex and layered landscape, in alignment with the SCL mission to provide contexts for sustainability. From left to right: Professor Emerita Heather Goodall, UTS Sydney gave a talk about the environmental history of the Sydney region and its importance as a transnational city. Roderick Simpson, Environment Commission, Greater Sydney Commission and Adjunct Professor, Built Environment at UNSW talked about developing a sustainable model for shaping Sydney’s growth. Jacinta McCann, Global Design Advisor for AECOM offered an industry perspective and encouraged the importance of transferring research to practice.

Leaders working with tribal elders and at international design firms gave in-depth and thought-provoking talks about the importance of context-driven and community-led research and working directly with under-represented communities. From left to right: Peta MacGillivray, UNSW and Wendy Spencer of the Dharriwaa Elders Group (DEG) shared about the strengths of holistic and community led initiatives. The panel was moderated by conference co-organizer and UNSW Lecturer, Sarah Padgett Kjaersgaard. Catherine Evans, Senior Lecturer at UNSW moderated a talk on Building International Research Links with Professor Dennis Galvan, Vice Provost for International Affairs, University of Oregon; Professor Bart Johnson, Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Steering Committee Chair, University of Oregon; Che O’May, UNSW Senior International Research Development Manager, Christine Kueh, UNSW Built Environment, Research Unit; Kate Bishop, UNSW Built Environment/Landscape Architecture.

The entertainment highlight included a special Sydney Harbour Dinner Cruise on Saturday evening. From left to right. APRU SCL conference delegates wait for the coach buses to arrive for transportation to the Sydney Dinner Harbour Cruise. Conference delegates Giuliana Fuentes, Professor, Santa María Catholic University School of Architecture;  Yekang Ko, APRU SCL Program Director and Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Oregon; Beatriz Maturana Cossio, Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Chile.

Working groups gather Sunday for a cross-pollinator discussion to find and discuss thematic intersections. Tea times and lunch breaks offered great opportunities for networking between Working Group sessions. The conference organizers gathered to reflect on conference structure and strategize for designing successful conferences.

Plans for upcoming conferences solidified during the conference at organizational meetings. Working Group leaders and Steering Committee leaders met a second time at the end of the conference to discuss the Sustainable Cities and Landscapes position in advocacy. In the final plenary session, representatives of each Working Group shared ideas generated during the conference plan and action plan for the year. Chun-Yen Chang, Professor, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, National Taiwan University and leader of the Landscape and Human Health Working Group shared about his Working Group’s objectives.

Many thanks to conference organizers and hosts (left to right) Catherine Evans, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Built Environment; Linda Corkery Professor of Landscape Architecture; Sara Padgett Kjaersgaard, Lecturer, Faculty of Built Environment at the University of New South Wales for co-organizing the memorable and inspiring APRU SCL 2019 Conference.

Errol Haarhoff, Professor of Achitecture, and Director of the Urban Research Network at the University of Auckland announced the 2020 APRU SCL Conference at the University of Auckland. In 2021 the conference will be held at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. New member universities joined the APRU SCL Hub over the last year welcoming Korea University, University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and Nanjing University. The focus of future conferences is to ensure optimal impact and engagement for people coming together to produce transformative work using the diverse resource network unique to the APRU SCL Hub.

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“Everyone has a different background and we’re coming together to talk about the issues. Even if the solutions don’t stem from them immediately, we’re talking about them and starting to understand the world and how we’re all interconnected.”

– APRU SCL 2019 Attendee

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“One of the challenges is to work toward the Sustainable Development Goals and this is something that we’re doing currently.”

– APRU SCL 2019 Attendee

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“From this conference, what is different is that there are  concrete ideas to bring to the table and bring back to the university as well as the network itself. It’s such an exciting and vibrant Hub.”

– APRU SCL 2019 Attendee

Student Competition 2019: Design Ideas Competition: Cities and Refugees https://www.apruscl2019.org/studentcompetition

The APRU SCL Hub was thrilled to host the Design Ideas Competition: Cities and Refugees held in conjunction with the APRU SCL conference. The brief asked for a design or physical intervention/series of interventions that meaningfully improves the lives of refugees in urban environments for in the short, medium and/or long term.

The Cities and Refugees Competition was organized by the Rapid Urbanisation Grand Challenge at UNSW (Sydney), with Australian Red Cross, ARUP International Development, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities – Sustainable Landscapes and Cities Hub (APRU SCL).

The showcase of submitted work was presented during a public-facing event at UNSW in Sydney, Australia during the APRU SCL Conference on August 30^th, 2019. Congratulations to the winners:

PRIZES

1st place (AUS$5000)–
National University of Singapore
Lucy Madeline Davis, Sharan Kaur Sambhi, Ernest Tan Sze Shen, and Nguyen Ngoc Luu Ly
Physical Sciences (Chemistry), Anthropology, Urban Studies, and Urban Studies

2nd place (AUS$2500)-
Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et de Paysage de Bordeaux & Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Strasbourg
Cécile Elbel & Ipek Erker

3rd place (AUS$1000) –
UNSW Sydney
Samuel Jones
Masters of Architecture Student

Three honorable mentions:

University of Auckland
Dennis Byun, Angela Lai, Harry Tse, Todd Min, Sungoh Choi, John Woo, Scott Ma, and Jingyuan Huang
Bachelor of Architectural Studies (BAS) representing Portal Studio

Shahid Beheshti University
Solmaz Arzhangi, Sara Arzhangi, and Narges Rajaeipour
Post-disaster reconstruction in architecture and urban study, Master of Architectural engineering and Master of Architectural engineering

University of Technology Sydney
Allan Soo