Australian urban environments are situated on unceded traditional lands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities. Urban planning and design professionals have an opportunity to include Indigenous voices and perspectives in their practice. Research by the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub has reviewed both existing research on best-practice approaches to inclusion of Indigenous people and communities in urban development and planning projects, as well as current practices in the sector.
The following resources are intended to provide urban environment professionals with roadmaps for practice change to deepen and extend professional capacity for Indigenous engagement.
Report: Situational Analysis of current engagement practices with Indigenous communities within Australia and steps towards deepening engagement practices. This situational analysis describes settler-colonial urbanism, how engagement with Indigenous communities is currently practiced, and ways of working towards deepening engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities.
Factsheet: Reshaping settler-colonial urbanism in Australia: Working Towards Building Respectful and Reciprocal Relationships with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Island Communities in Urban Planning and Design Practice. This factsheet describes settler-colonial urbanism and how urban aligned professions can undertake engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia.
Report: Deepening the Relationship: Enhancing the capacity for Indigenous engagement in the urban professions. This gap analysis builds on previous work undertaken by the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, to identify how Indigenous engagement is practiced in the Urban Planning and Design (UPD) professions. Based on in-depth conversations with UPD professionals, the report documents current engagement practices and where the gaps in capacity development need to be addressed.
Tool: Professional and personal practice reflective tool. This set of interactive matrices provides key questions and dimensions for practitioners to critically reflect on their relationship with Indigenous sovereignties across professional, personal and educational aspects.
Banner image: Birrarung Marr, Melbourne. ‘Birrarung Wilam’ – meaning river camp – is an environmental art project made up of several interrelated elements that celebrate the physical and spiritual connections between Indigenous people and place. Pictured are the five shields.