AILA VIC's Respecting Country 

Respecting Country | Thursday 24 October 2024, Naarm / Melbourne

Strengthening relationships and understandings with Traditional Custodians through a culturally responsive design approach

This event was created in response to numerous and ongoing requests from practitioners and clients to better understand how to embed First Peoples recognition and enable self-determination through culturally responsive approach to design.  

Led by AILA VIC's Connection to Country committee members, this unique event has been curated for built environment practitioners and clients who are already working with Traditional Custodians and are seeking to better understand and implement culturally responsive approaches to their engagements and project outcomes. Through bringing practitioners and clients together to listen and directly converse with Traditional Custodians, we can collectively learn to work in more culturally responsive ways that will result in richer outcomes for the project, the community and Country.

This one day event has been curated to support landscape architects, urban designers, architects, planners, clients and other relevant professionals to:

•  Strengthen and build stronger relationships with First Nations people & communities, some who are leading voices in design
•  Understand how to best embed First Peoples recognition and enable self-determination in the design process
  

 Encourage practitioners to invite/attend with clients (current & potential future) and together:

•  Listen and engage in conversation with First Nations leaders who hold key government and state-wide body advisory positions

• Better understand the importance, positive impact and opportunities of early engagement on projects (which in turn saves valuable project time spent for both client and consultant)

• Develop an understanding of potential culturally responsive design approaches which genuinely collaborate with First Nations people, understanding Indigenous perspectives and ways of working (protocols and processes)
• Continue to build on conversations and learnings developed following the symposium – where the consultant and client can support each other to achieve greater positive outcomes

Following the highly successful 2016 AILA Vic C2C Connecting to Country Symposium and the sellout 2022 AILA National ‘Country’ Festival, join us for an immersive, interactive day of deep listening, conversations and learnings in a safe space whilst being able to seek guidance and ask direct questions of First Nations people.

Rare opportunity for clients 

Relationships between clients and First Nations representatives are the most important ones, although clients are often the last ones to speak directly with the the community of whose Country their project area sits within. 

This symposium is a rare opportunity where clients, together with consultants and other built environment practitioners, are invited to come together in an immersive and informative day of conversations. Attendees will listen to and be able to directly converse with First Nations people, leading to deeper understandings and providing valuable guidance to ongoing approaches in relationships and projects, resulting in better outcomes for all – the project, community and Country.

To ensure attendees are able to absorb the greatest benefit from the conversations to be held, short, relevant readings and links will be shared with all registered attendees two weeks prior to the event. 
 
This will be followed up with a 1-hour online session for all attendees (consultants and clients) in the week prior to the symposium which will provide more detail and depth of understanding for the discussions that will be taking place.  This online session will also provide all attendees with an opportunity to ask or put forward questions they would like to have further explored/discussed by (and with) the First Nations representatives as part of the symposium.

Post symposium
Approximately 4 weeks following the symposium, all attendees will again be invited to a 1-hour online session where having had time to digest the information discussed at the symposium, you will have a further opportunity to ask further questions or seek guidance. The aim of this session is to invite reflection from understandings and actions undertaken post symposium, how this has aided your approach or is there a next step where you need guidance.

 

Respecting Country Program

Thursday 24 October, The Terrace, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

Time	Activity
8:30 am	Registration
8:45 am	Welcome to Country & Smoking Ceremony + Djirri Djirri Dancers
9:30 am	Event Introductions
10:00 am	Conversation 1: Trust and relationships as the foundations for positive outcomes
11:15 am	Morning tea
11:35 am	Conversation 2: The Importance of Truth-telling in shaping our shared future
12:50 pm	Lunch
1:40 pm	Conversation 3: Our responsibility and deeper understandings
2:55 pm	Afternoon Tea
3:20 pm	Immersive and interactive small group workshops with panellists
4:10 pm	Final Panel session: Bringing it all together (final yarning session)
5:00 pm	Closing remarks
5.10 pm	Close

Speakers
More speakers to be announced soon!

Register today

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Tommy Day III 
Tommy Day is a Gunditjmara, Wemba Wemba and Yorta Yorta man based in Victoria. Tommy is an AILA Cultural Ambassador and a multi-disciplined artist, designer and owner operator of Jirri Jirri Art & Design. Tommy has a background in Native Title and Cultural Heritage and over 20 years’ experience in senior management roles within land management planning and Indigenous Protected Area’s management. He currently serves as an advisor across several projects across Victoria. Tommy believes firmly in designing in harmony with country and true and authentic partnerships that are based on legitimacy and cultural match, working closely with Elders and community.  

Jason Eades 
Jason is a proud Aboriginal man born and raised on Gunnai country in south-east Victoria who brings a deep passion and experience in Aboriginal affairs to his role as Director, Aboriginal Melbourne. Before joining the City of Melbourne, Jason was the inaugural CEO of welcometocountry.com a tech startup that created an online marketplace to connect travellers to First Nations tours and experiences across the country and an online store of products either made by First Nations people or genuine collaborations. He is a previous CEO of the Koorie Heritage Trust, and one of four Aboriginal co-owners that founded PwC’s Indigenous Consulting. 

Josh Loyd 
Josh Loyd is a yamaji with strong links to wajarri barna (Country), in the mid-west of Western Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and has 15 years of experience in mineral resources, transportation, buildings, water, and environment sectors, working across remote, regional, and metropolitan areas in Australia. Josh is passionate about and well-versed in community engagement, cultural heritage, planning, design, and technical advisory, all informed by his lived cultural experience. As AECOMs First Nations Director for Buildings and Places, Josh serves as a conduit between Traditional Owners, clients, and designers, prioritising a co-management/co-design philosophy that emphasises sustainable outcomes for the Indigenous Estate. 

Maddi Miller
Maddi Miller is a Dharug woman living and working on unceded Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Wilam Biik. She is an archaeologist, artist, writer, and is currently a Lecturer at The University of Melbourne. Maddi’s research focuses on storytelling as a mechanism for bringing together multiple ways of knowing. Her leadership was acknowledged as a participant in the inaugural Joan Kirner Young and Emerging Women leaders program. 

Rebecca Phillips
Rebecca (Bec) Phillips is a proud Djaara/Dja Dja Wurrung Pangerang/Yorta Yorta woman of Central and North East Victoria. Bec is passionate about her Culture and Country and believes the preservation and revival of Culture and language is important to uphold what our ancestors paved the way for and what we must build on for future generations. She is an Artist, Educator, Creative and storyteller through a variety of mediums. Sharing stories that explain cultural landscapes and of connection to Country to generate awareness in the broader community about life ways and cultural values. She is the current Chair of the DJAARA Board. 

Sarah Lynn Rees 
Sarah is a Palawa woman descending from the Plangermaireener and Trawlwoolway people of North East Tasmania. As an Indigenous woman she brings a unique perspective to her role in architecture, underpinned by her personal experience, heritage and research into the Indigenous built environment. She is passionate about working collaboratively and transparently with communities, ensuring their voices are heard, respected, and maintained. Sarah is highly motivated and committed to procuring design outcomes that benefit and embed themselves contextually into their socio-political, cultural and physical environments. Her role at Jackson Clements Burrows Architects includes both architecture and leading JCB’s Indigenous Advisory, Architecture and Design services. 

Ian Hamm
A Yorta Yorta man, Ian has extensive government and community sector experience, particularly at executive and governance levels. Ian has overseen major policy and strategic reforms for government and community organisations. He works with people from a vast array of backgrounds, managing complex and sensitive relationships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Ian chairs and is a member of several boards, including the Indigenous Land & Sea Corporation, the Community Broadcast Foundation, Connecting Home, The Healing Foundation, Holmesglen TAFE and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is also devoting himself to improving the representation of Aboriginal people on boards and other high-level governance, through strategic action, advocacy and mentoring.

Dr Aunty Doris Paton 
Dr Aunty Doris Paton is a Monero - Ngarigo and Gunai woman. She is a specialised educationalist and researcher. She focuses on empowering others with knowledge to strengthen relationships and understanding. She is strongly committed to sharing her cultural knowledge of language and local history. Doris has a strong governance background and has held many positions on local, regional and national committees and boards. She is currently a part-time Senior Lecturer at Monash University. Over many years, she has held management positions in Aboriginal Education and training. She is a specialist curriculum advisor in Aboriginal curriculum and content. She educates the wider community through customised cultural competency training.

Tickets
For more information about ticket options, please CLICK HERE.

Contact
For this event and registration queries, please contact AILA VIC at [email protected] or call 0499 713 950.

 

Respecting Country is proudly brought to you by AILA VIC and partners City of Melbourne and Aboriginal Melbourne.

         

AILA's and AILA Victoria's Respecting Country, 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.