AILA's Innovation Symposium

2024 AILA Innovation Symposium | Friday 25 October 2024, Naarm / Melbourne

Embracing Change is a symposium focused on creating a robust dialogue about what it means to innovate in the Australian  landscape architecture profession. Perspectives from small to large organisations lend insights about the strategies, courage and hard work of paving new ways in the market through leadership, technology and design. 

"Embracing change offers us opportunities to push the boundaries of our thinking and work as landscape architects. Coming together in the symposium allows us to connect, exchange and share insights about the gritty nature of innovation, so that we can powerfully impact the environments we care about.”

Program
The program features panel discussions on four themes: market, leadership, technology and design. 
Panels capture a cross section of the profession by including perspectives from small, medium, large and government organisations. Topics reveal the hard work of change, as panelists share what worked or didn’t work, and the outcomes. 

Speakers
Scroll below to view speakers. 

Innovation Symposium Program

Friday 25 October, The Glasshouse Melbourne

Time	Activity
6:45 am	Meet at the front of The Glasshouse by 6:45am. No RSVP is necessary to take part in this activity.  Run or walk around The Tan. Join us for a pre-symposium social event with a run or walk around the 3.8km soft surface track around Melbourne's iconic Botanical Gardens.
8:00 am	Registration
8:30 am	Welcome to Country by Uncle Colin Hunter Jnr and Event Introductions with Ben Stockwin, Ben Willsmore and Jela Ivankovic-Waters
9:00am	Market Drivers: Collaborators, Competition and Clients The role of collaborators partnerships and clients in driving innovation in landscape architecture. Moderator: Lucinda Hartley | Panelists: Jon Hazelwood, Thomas Gooch, Allison Stewart, Heath Gledhill and Maureen Benier
10:15 am	Fireside Chat with Lucinda Hartley and Kylie Davis
10:45 am	Morning tea
11:15 am	Leadership Cultivating a Culture of Innovation What are the key elements of creating a culture of innovation at your organisation? Moderator: Jela Ivankovic-Waters Panelists: Prof Alex Felson, Chris Tidswell, Sarah Hicks, Su Lim and Kirstine Wallis
12:40 pm	Landscape Innovators Announcement  Competition proudly supported by Place Intelligence
12:50 pm	Lunch
1:40 pm	Technology: Transforming Projects, Practices and Industry What do technologies like BIM, AI and data represent to your organisation and the Australian profession? Moderator: Julia Allen, Panelists: Thomas Chapman, Will Whitfeld, Anna Chauvel, Ramin Shojaie, Serryn Eagleson
3:05 pm	Afternoon Tea
3:25 pm	Design: Skills and Value Qualities  What are the core and new skills needed as designers to meet current and future industry needs. Moderator: Cassandra Chilton, Panelists: Nicole Barling-Luke, Ethan Zhang, Georgina de Beaujeu, Alex Desmond and Christina Silk
4:45 pm	Closing remarks
5:00 pm	End of Innovation Symposium
6:00 pm	Street Furniture Australia Closing Drinks at the Transport Hotel, Federation Square

 

Key themes 
Market | Leadership | Technology | Design

Market
'Market’ addresses the role lead collaborators and partnerships play in driving innovation in landscape architecture practice in Australia. Responses vary depending on organisation types and sizes. The session highlights the need to contexualise how landscape architecture is positioned in the market and broader construction industry.  

Panellists contribute perspectives from industry representatives, large multi-disciplinary practices working with government, and to  the small-medium landscape architecture practice. Further issues are explored around  ways to engage clients and adapting to changing political-funding cycles.

Leadership
‘Leadership’ unpacks the qualities and processes needed to navigate prevailing external forces. Cultivating a culture of innovation is a major facilitator of innovation at the organisation level that entails the hard work of implementing changes to structures and systems.

Panellists share insights  about their experiences of top-down to bottom-up  leadership. The discussion highlights the vital role of transformational leadership needed across the profession to foster future leaders in their efforts to make impact in the built environments.

Technology
‘Technology’ encompasses the rapid digital transformation in the way projects are conceived and delivered. Building Information Modelling (BIM) represents an industry wide innovation that is altering the playing field of tools, processes, collaborations and outcomes. The session tackles how landscape architecture is taking advantage of s technological innovations  by adapting practices and advancing performance of landscape. 

Panellists bring their passion and expertise to share  the strategies in working with digital technologies, including building new tools, creating new processes and networks.  

Design
‘Design’ captures the importance of skills in addressing changing labour patterns in the profession and industry. Enrolments are down at universities. There is also a shortage of labour and skills for practices, who bear the onus of time and costs for training. The reality of small and tight margins sharpen the focus on conceptual, interpersonal and technical skills across the design process.  

The panel address the core and new skills needed as designers to meet current and future industry needs. Key topics of discussion are about how value is defined and ways organisations are adapting, with the aim of positively – and realistically - projecting landscape architecture’s offering in the built environments. 

What to expect
1. Identify gaps and opportunities for innovation in the profession
2. Cultivate a culture of innovation in the profession 
3. Create an infrastructure of support to innovate within the profession

The mission of the symposium  is to have a robust dialogue about what it means to innovate in the Australian  landscape architecture profession. The aim is to increase awareness and rigor about innovation as a process of change, as opposed to a buzz word meaning creative, original or new.

The symposium frames innovation in  specific terms as ‘the implementation of a product or process that is new to a social system with the aim of advancing performance.’  This definition is unpacked to guide a practice-based and practice-orientated public discussion and exchange of knowledge about how innovation is applied in landscape architecture. Applications range in terms of the economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions of practice. 

As innovation depends on the organisation size and type, the symposium captures a cross section of the profession by including perspectives from small, medium, large(and public practices. A snapshot of different organization contexts provides a unique, real-time overview of the profession and how it is positioned within the industry.  Panel discussions are set on four themes: market, leadership, technology and design. Topics within each theme reveal the hard work of change, as panellists share what worked or didn’t work, and the outcomes. 

Uncovering  innovation through discussion and knowledge exchange meets AILA’s strategic pillars. The one-day event achieves: economic sustainability, increases value of membership, education (12CPD points), advocates to government bodies,  and promotes the profile of the profession. 

 

Speakers
More speakers to be announced soon!

Register today - early bird registration open until 12 September!

Secure your discounted tickets while they last!

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Chris Tidswell, Director at Arcadia and IFLA President
Chris Tidswell is the President (Director) of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Asian Pacific Region (APR), having previously served as Honorary Secretary. With a strong commitment to expanding IFLA APR's network and raising awareness across the Asia Pacific, Chris has worked closely with past Presidents Damian Tang and Monica Kuo to strengthen the region's landscape architecture capabilities. Chris's leadership is shaped by his extensive experience, including roles as a National Board Director and Company Secretary for the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA). His passion for corporate governance is reflected in his contributions to AILA's National Practice Committee, National Advocacy Committee, and National Gender Equity Working Group. In addition to his work with IFLA APR, Chris is a Director at Arcadia Landscape Architecture, an Australian firm with offices in multiple cities. With over 17 years of experience in the built environment, Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to continuous learning to his work, encouraging those around him to do the same.

Lucinda Hartley, Urban Futurist
Lucinda Hartley is a serial entrepreneur, award winning technology leader and urban futurist. Named as one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review, her work over the past decade has focused on pioneering category-creating companies and products that have been adopted around the world. She studied Landscape Architecture and worked as a landscape architect in Australia and overseas for a decade. Lucinda is a serial founder, currently focused on solving Australia’s housing affordability crisis, as co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of Mondus Capital, an innovative shared-equity home loan product for first home buyers. Prior to this she co-founded of urban big analytics company Neighbourlytics, where she spearheaded world leading technology for measuring urban life, now implemented in10 countries. She also co-founded CoDesign Studio, which delivered more than 100 neighbourhood improvement projects across Australia. Lucinda is a professional keynote speaker and one of Australia’s most sought after voices on social trends.  She helps business leaders and organisations see around corners and thrive in the future of work and living.  She has worked with Google, the United Nations, Planning Ministers, MPs and major Property Developers to shape some of the world’s most significant urban development decisions, including helping create the UN Sustainable Development Goals for Cities.

Sarah Hicks, Director at Bush Projects
As a founding director of Bush Projects, Sarah’s role as lead designer is informed by her commitment to make purposeful contribution within a development to the local environment and community. Bush Projects seeks to optimise the public and ecological values of a project at any scale, through analysis-led, responsive outcomes that are shaped by the collective expertise of the practice and project collaborators. Recent projects, demonstrate how an approach of creative collaboration can optimise landscape performance; including the AILA award winning narrm ngarrgu Library and Family Services rooftop terrace, eight new campuses for the Victorian School Building Authority - including vertical, primary, secondary and specialist schools and the newly opened Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence, a First Peoples-led pathways-based education and cultural centre on Yorta Yorta Country in Shepparton.

Thomas Chapman, Founder of LandArchTools and Computational Design Lead at McGregor Coxall
Thomas Chapman is a Cybernetic Landscape Architect whose work explores the intersection of design and programming. As a registered Landscape Architect, Thomas brings a rare mix of practical industry and advanced technical knowledge that he uses to lead design into a data-backed future. Fuelled by his passion for collaborative tool building and the augmentation of the modern profession, he has built tools that are used globally by the industry. Thomas is the founder of LandArchTools, a company developing software for Landscape Architects and the Computation Design Lead at McGregor Coxall’s Biourbanism Lab. Currently he is developing PhytoFiles, a social, democratic plant database designed for Landscape Architects.

Will Whitfeld, BIM Manager and Senior Associate at OCULUS
Will is a landscape architect and BIM manager with a passion for creating experience-driven environments. His dual qualifications in landscape architecture and environmental psychology inform his design approach. He is committed to advocating for environmentally sustainable and socially responsible outcomes. Will leads the application of digital design technology at OCULUS, driving the adoption of new digital tools such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), software automation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and parametric design. Always learning, he regularly educates others about emerging technologies.

Georgina de Beaujeu, Climate and Biodiversity Strategist at Tract Consultants
Georgina de Beaujeu has a background in strategy and business improvement in for profit and social sectors. Georgina transitioned into Landscape Architecture in 2018.  Georgina completed a PhD in 2024 that considered how to create win-wins for nature and people in partnership with a NSW Council. The PhD won an AILA Award in 2024, alongside a project Georgina led to improve urban greening in the Hawkesbury region. As the Climate and Biodiversity Strategist at Tract Georgina drives the Climate and Biodiversity Committee to support the organisation and industry to embrace nature and climate positive design. 

Dr Alexander Felson, Elisabeth Murdoch Chair of Landscape Architecture at the University of Melbourne
Dr. Alex Felson, the University of Melbourne's Elisabeth Murdoch Chair of Landscape Architecture, merges academia and practice to shape resilient urban environments. His expertise spans applied ecology, urban hydrology, landscape architecture, and environmental planning. Through the Urban Ecology and Design Lab (UEDLAB), he blends conservation and constructed ecosystems with low-impact development, creating urban spaces resilient to climate change and biodiversity loss. Focusing on innovative public space design, Felson informs large-scale regional projects with rigorous research, combining landscape ecology and geo-spatial planning.

Felson's proactive climate adaptation emphasizes civic landscape design, community engagement, and ecological literacy. He collaborates on resilience and adaptation tied to digital technology and geospatial mapping and planning. He leads site-specific landscape and ecological design strategies, including roles in the New York Reforestation Plan, prioritizing community involvement, urban food webs, and green spaces. Felson's expertise extends to landscape biotechnologies, such as recycled waste rain gardens and the NSF-funded Thermo-greenwall project. He champions cross-disciplinary collaboration, co-founding "Design with Country" at the University of Melbourne. 

Anna Chauvel, Founder and Director at PLACE Laboratory
Anna is a thought leader specialising in urban design and people-centred design. As co-founder of PLACE Laboratory, she champions the place making approach to creating vibrant public spaces. Anna's work focuses on crafting sociable, inclusive and sustainable urban environments that enrich community life. A pioneer in applying placemaking principles, Anna recently led the development of the "Gender-Sensitive Urban Design Framework and Toolkit" for the ACT Government. Her award-winning projects, including Rockingham Foreshore and Mindeerup Piazza, exemplify her commitment to using observational data and on-the-ground place audits to inform design processes from feasibility to post-occupancy evaluation. Anna serves on the NSW State Design Review Panel and has contributed to the National Capital Design Review Panel. Her insights on social-centred analysis and design have been featured in Landscape Australia, highlighting her expertise in transforming urban identities and fostering community connections.

Dr Serryn Eagleson, Digital Advisory Lead at Arup
With a PhD in Geomatics Serryn’s expertise lies in the design, analysis and delivery of data science projects. In the past five years, Serryns’ publications have been cited 329 times (Google Scholar). During her PhD studies Serryn designed a spatial hierarchy for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). For this work in Serryn was the awarded a prestigious Victoria Fellowship award (2004). 

Jon Hazelwood, Principal Landscape Architect at Hassell
Jon is an experienced international public realm and landscape architecture professional. Jon is a Principal of the international design firm Hassell and leads the Global Public Realm Sector and has guided public landscapes from the broad, strategic thinking phase through to detailed resolution and successful delivery.  Educated in the UK, Jon has worked at Hassell since 2007 in both the UK and Australia and is currently co-leading the public realm of the proposed Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation Urban Garden - Laak Boorndap here in Melbourne. Other major projects include, the winning scheme for Ngurra in Canberra, the Advanced Manufacturing Building, Bradfield Cities first building and a co-author of Biodiversity in Place Framework, Government Architects Office, NSW. Over recent years Jon’s focus has been on the importance of Urban Biodiversity. Jon is leading important and industry changing research and demonstration projects that are exploring innovative ways our cities can be buzzing with both people and pollinators.

Thomas Gooch, Founder/CEO at Office of Planetary Observations
With a background in Landscape Architecture and a multi-scalar practitioner, Thomas Gooch is the Founder of Office of Planetary Observations (OPO), a start-up providing nature data software – powered by AI, for built environment professionals. Innovating in the space industry has also led him to contribute writing a ‘Declaration of Rights of the Moon’, and OPO building out point cloud analysis technology for managing bushfires across Victoria.

Su Lim, Managing Director at FreeState
Su is the Managing Director of FreeState, a design agency focused on creating experiences that result in places being socially useful, commercially astute, and continually relevant. Su has lived and worked across Asia and Australia, and her practice is often focused on the relationship between culture, behaviour and place. She is particularly interested in how these relationships can evolve over time and through change events. Su believes that it takes diverse perspectives to inspire breakthrough thinking and advocates for a participatory approach to design.
Prior to FreeState, Su was co-founder of strategic consultancy ‘Six Ideas’, and also served in leadership positions at JLL and DEGW. Su holds an MBA and BA from RMIT University, GCCM (AGSM, UNSW) and is a certified organisational coach. She is a member of the Corenet Global Faculty, teaching workplace strategy and leadership subjects.

Cassandra Chilton, Cassandra Chilton at ASPECT Studios
Trained in both landscape architecture and gold and silversmithing, Cassandra's design philosophy revolves around craft, materiality, people, and place. With over twenty years of professional experience, her portfolio features major public landscape projects across Victoria and South Australia. Cassandra is known for designing distinctive and engaging spaces that enhance the everyday experiences of users, fostering deeper connections between people, their environments, and each other.

In addition to her landscape architecture practice, Cassandra is a founding member of the feminist art collective Hotham Street Ladies. The collective's humorous and occasionally controversial works have gained widespread attention through publications and exhibitions both locally and internationally. Cassandra also served as the Creative Director for the 2019 AILA International Festival of Landscape Architecture and contributes to Landscape Australia and Architecture Australia

Ethan Zhang, Senior Landscape Architect at ASPECT Studios 
Ethan is an experienced landscape architect and urban designer currently working at ASPECT Studios. With a global perspective on design methods and thinking, he has contributed to a variety of award-winning projects in Australia, China, and the U.S. Ethan’s interests in art and emerging technologies drive him to create immersive, embedded experiences that foreground cultural, technological, and ecological frameworks within the landscape.

Beyond his work at ASPECT Studios, Ethan has led design studios at RMIT and Melbourne University. Through teaching and research, he searches inter- and transdisciplinary opportunities to redefine boundaries between architecture, urbanism, and landscape thus seeking a new way of understanding global challenges. 

Julia Allen, Julia Allen at Hassell
Julia is the Design Technology Leader at Hassell steering the integration of digital design applications and workflows across the business. With over 15 years of experience in the AEC industry, she specialises in managing Design Technology research and development initiatives. Her passion lies in creating systems that add value to both businesses and clients. Julia has contributed to large-scale infrastructure and actively engages with the wider industry as a Co-Founder of MelBIM.

Nicole Barling-Luke, Director at Regen Melbourne
Nicole is a strategic designer and systems innovation practitioner. Nicole most recently has been working in place-based approaches for urban transitions and draws on a background of leadership development for the public sector. She began her career at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, spent time working internationally at Nesta and States of Change. An anthropologist by background from the University of Melbourne, Nicole also has a Masters of Design Futures from RMIT. 

Dr Jela Ivankovic-Waters, Greening Innovation Strategist & Consultant
I am passionate about innovation as a transformational process that advances the role landscape plays in our day-to-day experiences. My focus is on planting as greening strategies from design through to establishment and management. With over 25 years’ experience in all facets of greening, I draw on a rich combination of academic innovation research and teaching, along with practical industry experience in landscape architecture, horticulture and community. My work is dedicated to knowledge sharing and making meaningful connections across disciplines and sectors. I have achieved this in co-authoring the award-winning book, ‘Native : art and design with Australian plants’ (Thames & Hudson, 2017) and fulfilling the Fay Marles Scholarship for a PhD at The University of Melbourne  (2023). Currently,  my research is aligned with my consulting practice about wholisitic planting strategies that address biodiversity, climate resilience, heat island and net zero goals. I engage widely to advocate the role landscape architecture plays in leading innovation. My approach recognises the significance of people being at the heart of technological and organisational change processes, which are essentially driven to meet social needs for connection to our natural and built environments. 

Alex Desmond, Coordinator Open Space Projects, City of Whittlesea
Alex is a landscape architect working in local government, dedicated to creating spaces that strengthen community connections and enhance health and well-being. With a focus on engagement and stakeholder management, she blends thoughtful design with the needs of the community. She is strongly committed to the role local government can play as a catalyst for meaningful change, focusing on leaving a lasting legacy in both urban and growth areas. 

Dr Allison Stewart, Division General Manager, Victoria at Mott MacDonald
Dr Allison Stewart has 20+ years’ experience working on mega-projects in industry, government, consulting, and academia. Allison is motivated by a passion for mega-projects that can help cities get the best out of infrastructure and associated land use. A Melbourne resident since 2016, Allison has held executive roles at Infrastructure Victoria and the Suburban Rail Loop Authority, Victoria’s largest integrated land use and transport project. Her qualifications include Doctor of Philosophy in Management and Master of Science degrees from the University of Oxford, and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Maureen Benier, Architect/Senior Strategic Planner at the Victorian Planning Authority
Maureen Benier has near 30 years' experience in urban development. She is a registered architect, urban designer and now works at the Victorian Planning Authority as a senior strategic planner. A big picture thinker, Maureen has embraced innovation throughout her career evolving through different disciplines and capacities, such as running her own company, consulting and now working in government. Chasing people-centric, livable outcomes, Maureen has pushed the boundaries in the private and public sector. A committee member of the UDIA Innovation, Sustainability and Technology (IST) committee Maureen chairs the Digital Urbanism sub-committee, a group that is myth-busting some key technological innovations that industries are currently testing or implementing. Her commitment to innovation involves learning from others and in turn sharing that knowledge, which has led her in the past to teaching and more recently guest lecturing for the Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning course at RMIT. Throughout the years Maureen's unique opportunities have allowed her to be a boundary spanner for people-centric planning outcomes through active participation in policy, design, knowledge sharing and research.

Christina Silk, Landscape Architect, Horticulturalist, UNSW and Christina Silk_Office of Planting
Christina Silk is a registered Landscape Architect and Registered Horticulturalist. Her work over the last 30 years has centred on planting design which she conducts both in her own practice and in collaboration with other Landscape Architecture practices. Since 2020 she has divided her time between practice and teaching at UNSW in the Landscape Architecture Program.

Heath Gledhill, Group Capability Leader - People, Movement & Place at Aurecon
A passionate integrated strategist committed to unlocking hidden value, overcoming financial and operational challenges, and driving evocative yet practical solutions, Heath draws on his qualifications in both design, management and business, to drive successful teams, businesses and project solutions.

Kirstine Wallis, Landscape Architect & Teaching Fellow at Wyndham City Council / University of Melbourne / IADA
Kirstine Wallis is an artist, educator, and landscape architect born in Melbourne on Bunurong Country, with Aboriginal ancestry traced back to Palawa milaythina (Tasmania). She currently works for Wyndham City Council in Landscape Urban Subdivisions and teaches the Design with Country Resilience Studio for master's students at the University of Melbourne. An active member of several professional boards and committees, Kirstine serves as Co-Chair and Director of Indigenous Architecture and Design Australia (IADA), participates in AILA’s Connection to Country Committee, and contributes to The University of Melbourne’s Landscape Industry Advisory Board.

Kylie Davis, Founder & President at Proptech Association Australia
Kylie Davis is a proptech entrepreneur, commentator and expert on innovation and human-centric real estate. She is the founder and president of The Proptech Association Australia, host of the Proptech Podcast and Entrepreneur in Residence at REACH Australia, part of the largest proptech accelerator in the world. Kylie has an MBA from the University of NSW, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a founding member of the Rise Initiative, a charity that focuses on mental wellness across the property professions. During her 25-year career across media, marketing and big data, Kylie has held senior editorial and marketing roles at Fairfax, News Corp and CoreLogic and now runs her own strategic marketing consultancy with clients across Australia, the US and Canada. She was a co-founder of content marketing automation proptech, HomePrezzo, which was acquired by ActivePipe in 2020 – her second successful exit. Her research into consumer and marketing experiences has set the benchmark for behavioural performance in real estate. She is the author of more than a dozen landmark reports including Voice of Australian Property Managers for MRI, Behaviours of Top Performing Agents for OpenAgent, Real State of Real Estate Leadership, Future of Real Estate and the Perceptions of Real Estate Agents series for CoreLogic and the Email Marketing Benchmark Report for ActivePipe. Kylie holds multiple director and advisory board roles and works with companies including Propte, LandNow, Realtime Conveyancer, Dynamic Methods, WebIT, ActivePipe/Moxiworks, Cloudstaff, MRI Software, and Direct Connect.

Charity Mosienyane, Lead Convenor Swimmable Birrarung at Regen Melbourne
Charity Mosienyane has over 20 years of experience in the engineering sector locally and globally, leading water supply / drought resilience strategies as well as leading the design and delivery of civil infrastructure projects across water, transport and energy sectors. She is passionate about collective and collaborative approaches to delivering transformative, city shaping projects.  She currently holds the role of Lead Convenor for a  Swimmable Birrarung, a city transforming project in service to the river and the city of Melbourne.

Tickets
The Innovation Symposium is being held in conjunction with the AILA National Landscape Architecture Awards and a one day event, Respecting Country, both held on Thursday 24 October. 

For more information about ticket options, please CLICK HERE.

Early bird rates are available until Thursday 12 September. 

Contact
For event and registration queries, please contact AILA at [email protected] or call 02 6198 3268.

 

AILA's and AILA Victoria's Strengthening Relationships with Traditional Owners, Innovation Symposium and associated events, will take place in Naarm / Melbourne from the 23-25 October. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong peoples and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.