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Our Research Themes

COVID-19 is having an immense impact on the shape of our society. It is vital that governments, community leaders and other decision makers have access to the best information during the recovery.

Our researchers will make a profound contribution toward that outcome.

Monash is mobilising expertise on healthy communities and urban renewal to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals under the following 7 themes:

Physical and Mental Health and Wellbeing : Addressing impacts and setting new standards
Human Behaviour: People and Place: changed expectations re how and where we live, work and recreate
Economic: Population Projections, Economic Growth, Budget Impacts.
Future City: Changing Planning and Infrastructure Priorities
Social Impacts: Inclusion, Equity, Housing, Education...
Environmental impacts: Air quality, temperature, green recovery etc
Digital Technology: Enabling a better future technology

Physical and Mental Health

Injuries during the Covid-19 pandemic

Lead researcher
Associate Professor Janneke Berecki-Gisolf
Team Members
Ehsan Rezaei-Darzi, Voula Stathakis, Tharanga Fernando
Brief Summary
Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) Since the onset of the pandemic, Victorians have spent much more time at home. The home has become the workplace and the classroom, and the juggling of multiple roles and increased time spent at home have had an effect on injury rates. This includes not only unintentional injury but also intentional injury: self-harm and assault in the home. The Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit (VISU) is producing monthly bulletins to monitor the effect of the pandemic on injury rates. The aim is to provide key injury prevention stakeholders with injury data to help inform injury prevention measures. The bulletins are reviewed by and presented to the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Victorian Agency for Health Information. You can find the bulletins here and read more about VISU’s work here on The Conversation here.

Forecasting daily COVID-19 cases by state

Lead researcher
Professor Rob Hyndman
Team Members
Pablo Montero-Manso, Nick Golding, Freya Shearer, Robert Moss, Peter Dawson, Dennis Liu, Joshua Ross, Cameron Zachreson, Nic Geard, Jodie McVernon, David Price, James McCaw
Brief Summary
Business and Economics, Curtin University, University of Melbourne, Department of Defense, University of Adelaide, Royal Children’s Hospital The team combine several models of SARS-Cov-2 transmission using a mixture distribution ensemble to estimate probabilistic forecasts of COVID-19 cases by state for the next 4 weeks. The component models include an SEIR model, an agent-based model, and a global time series model. The forecasts are presented each week to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) comprising all state and territory Chief Health Officers and the Australian Chief Medical Officer. They are used to inform an appropriate policy response in each state and territory. You can read more about the team and their work on the Australian Research Council website here.

The impact of the COVID pandemic on mental health

Lead researcher
Associate Professor Caroline Gurvich
Team Members
Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, Dr Natalie Thomas, Dr Elizabeth Thomas, Dr Anton Isaacs, Dr Keith Sutton, Dr Gemma Sharp, Dr Shalini Arunogiri
Brief Summary
Faculty of Medicine, Central Clinical School, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre and School of Rural Health The COVID-19 and Mental Health Survey was designed by a group of multidisciplinary mental health researchers, with expertise spanning psychiatry, psychology, neuropsychology, statistics, women’s mental health, rural mental health and indigenous mental health. The prospective longitudinal survey was launched on April 3 2020 and is tracking the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the next two years, with surveys disseminated every two months. The team are measuring different risk factors that contribute to poorer mental health and different coping strategies and resilience factors that are associated with better mental health. This data is essential to provide the evidence base for developing effective resources to manage the mental health and wellbeing community impact of COVID-19. Australian women carry a significantly high mental health burden related to COVID-19. Growing literature demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic is having greater impacts on women, including magnifying gender inequalities in job security, the division of labour and increased incidence of domestic violence. Therefore, it is not surprising that early research from our group and others has revealed that the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has also demonstrated a gender disparity, with women experiencing significantly greater mental health impacts. Findings from the survey were cited in Women’s Mental Health Alliance Victoria Policy Brief here and you can read more about the team’s work in The Age here.

COVID-19, pandemic restrictions and addiction

Lead researcher
Dr Shalini Arunogiri
Brief Summary
Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences- Central Clinical School, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre and Monash Addiction Research Centre Dr Arunogiri is focused on the impacts of COVID-19 and related lockdown restrictions on the prevalence and presentation of substance use disorders. This work includes- surveys of the general population to understand alcohol use as a coping mechanism; scoping review of alcohol use, mental health and gender; review and commentary of pandemic restrictions on opioid agonist treatment models; and a review of management of pregnancy and substance use in Australia and internationally, in the context of COVID-19. While substantial research has focused on the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of Victorians, comparatively little is known about the impact on substance use disorders. This project specifically seeks to understand the downstream effects on presentations on treatment, service delivery, and burden through a gender-lens, in view of the evidence of disproportionate impact of the lockdown on women.

HER Hospital @ Cabrini

Lead researcher
Professor Jayashri Kulkarni
Team Members
Associate Professor Caroline Gurvich, Dr Shalini Arunogiri, Dr Gemma Sharp, Dr Leo Chen, Mr Anthony de Castella Cabrini Health CEO Ms Sue Williams, Dr Fergus Kelly
Brief Summary
Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences – Central Clinical School, Dept of Psychiatry, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Cabrini Hospital Owing to COVID-19, women experienced more episodes of mental health concerns, with high levels of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, domestic violence caused emotional trauma and deliberate self-harm. The pandemic uncovered an unmet need for mental health services for women, like never before. The team have initiated a key partnership with Cabrini Health to develop a nation-first special all female hospital to provide innovative new services for women. This new hospital will be situated in Elsternwick, Melbourne and currently plans are underway for refurbishment of an existing rehabilitation hospital. The new hospital will be called “HER Hospital @ Cabrini” and marks the beginning of a totally new collaborative, woman sensitive approach to the management of mental ill health in women. Victoria leads the way with this development, and the team anticipate replicating this model of mental health care across Australia, and globally.

“KIT” the positive body image chatbot

Lead researcher
Dr Gemma Sharp
Team Members
Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, Dr Francesca Beilharz, Dr Suku Sukunesan, Dr Stephanie Louise, Professor Susan Rossell
Brief Summary
Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences – Central clinical School, Department of Psychiatry, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre and Swinburne University Nearly one in three 15-19-year-olds in Australia are “very” or “extremely concerned” about their body image. Negative body image is a major risk factor for the development of eating disorders as well as depression, anxiety and substance abuse. Social media represents a key avenue for prevention and intervention. The team have have initiated key partnerships with the Butterfly Foundation and through them, Instagram, in order to develop a world-first body image “chatbot” which uses artificial intelligence to have human-like conversations. The friendly chatbot, called “KIT”, helps young people feel more comfortable about discussing sensitive issues and prepares them for seeking in-person support via a direct link to Butterfly Helpline. KIT was officially launched on Instagram for Australian-based users and on Butterfly’s website on 18^th Nov 2020. KIT is there to assist any young person affected by body image/eating issues and their loved ones (parent/partner/friend) can also seek KIT’s support. Ultimately, the team expect KIT will help reduce the prevalence of body image and eating disorders in Australia through prevention, intervention and increased treatment-seeking. KIT will also help carry some of the load of the ever-increasing demand for Butterfly’s Helpline service. You can access KIT here and read more about the team’s work on The ABC here.

Impact of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on statin supply and adherence

Lead researcher
Associate Professor Simon Bell
Team Members
Dr Jenni Ilomaki, Professor Dickson Lukose, Professor Geoff Webb
Brief Summary
Pharmacy, Information Technology, Monash Data Futures Institute Statins are guideline-recommended treatment for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in people with cardiovascular risk factors. Adherence to statins is important, because poor adherence is associated with increased risk of CVD events. COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions have affected peoples’ ability to seek heath care, including visits to pharmacies to fill prescriptions. Using data from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) the team aim to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the frequency of stating dispensing from Australian community pharmacies by comparing the months on 2020 affected by COVID-19 and related lockdowns, to the same months in 2019.

Gender-based violence and help-seeking behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lead researcher
Dr Naomi Pfitzner
Team Members
Associate Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor Jacqui True
Brief Summary
Faculty of Arts – Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre; Monash Gender, Peace and Security Centre This research sought to understand women’s experiences of violence and help-seeking under the COVID-19 restrictions as well as the impact on practitioners who provided support during the pandemic. Drawing on practitioner experiences in Victoria and Queensland during the initial national lockdowns the team’s research showed there had been an increase in the frequency and severity of violence against women as well as an increase in the complexity of women’s needs during this time. A survey of Victoria practitioners during the stage 3/4 restrictions revealed that responding to family violence from home during COVID-19 restrictions has taken a significant toll on practitioner wellbeing. This project has raised awareness at the state and national level of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s experiences of and responses to family violence in Australia. This research has informed Victorian and national policy through collaboration with the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, Victorian Department of Education and Training, Family Safety Victoria, Victorian Family Violence Justice Advisory Network, Victorian Family Violence Policy Advisory Network, Victoria Police and the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency. This research has engaged with family violence sector organisations and legal stakeholders, including: Domestic Violence Victoria, No To Violence, Victoria Legal Aid, Women’s Legal Services Victoria, EDVOS, Barwon Area integrated Family Violence Committee, Bayside Peninsula Integrated Family Violence Partnership, inTouch, National Advocacy Group for Women on Temporary Visas Experiencing Violence [NAG], Women’s Health in the South East, 1800 Respect, Centre for Women Queensland and Queensland Domestic Violence Services Network and Women’s Safety NSW. You can find out more about this research on the teams website here or on The Conversation here.

Sub Project - Family violence in Victoria during COVID-19

Lead researcher
Dr Naomi Pfitzner
Team Members
Associate Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor Jacqui True, Professor Dickson Lukose
Collaboration
Crime Statistics Agency
Faculty/ies
Faculty of Arts – Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre; Monash Gender, Peace and Security Centre; Monash Data Futures Institute
Brief Summary
This project brings together a range of service provider data to produce a data visualisation of the nature, incidence and impact of family violence in Victoria during COVID-19. You can find out more about this research on the teams website here

Accelerated Theta Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Depression

Lead researcher
Professor Leo Chen
Brief Summary
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences This research is a large-scale, multi-site clinical trial across 3 Australian states investigating the antidepressant efficacy of the accelerated application of theta burst TMS. Depression is a common condition associated with significant patient and carer distress, lost productivity and can inform risk of suicide. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an effective treatment for depression with established evidence base. However, a treatment course over 4-6 weeks limits its clinical utility, presents health economic disadvantages and is unpopular with patients seeking rapid relief. A new form of TMS, theta burst stimulation (TBS), produces similar antidepressant effects as traditional TMS but can be applied much more efficiently. The tangible impact of this work is to validate the antidepressant efficacy of a novel brain stimulation therapy that can be applied in an efficient and cost-effective way. It is also well-tolerated, free of medication-related side effects and does not require hospitalisation, administration of anaesthesia or associated with cognitive side effects typically expected with traditional brain stimulation antidepressant therapies, such as electroconvulsive therapy. If effective, Accelerated Theta Burst Stimulation presents as a viable and cost-effective treatment modality for depressive disorders in the post-COVID-19 world, when depression is likely to be over-represented in the general population.

Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 on Urban Residents

Lead researcher
Professor Jane Fisher
Brief Summary
Professor Fisher wants to understand the psychological consequences, both adverse and beneficial, of the COVID-19 restrictions for adults. The team are investigating in what ways urban residents’ living circumstances, occupations, unpaid workloads, and experiences of COVID-19 and the restrictions are reflected in mental health problems and optimism. This research will inform public policies and strategies to promote mental health, and identify where and for whom additional services are needed to assist recovery and restoration of social and economic functioning of the community.

Changes in Sleep and Other Behaviours

Lead researcher
Professor Shantha Rajaratnam
Team Members
Mr Mark Czeisler, Dr Melinda Jackson, Dr Elise Facer-Childs, Professor Sean Drummond
Brief Summary
The team are undertaking a wide-ranging survey to monitor changes occurring in the sleep patterns of Melburnians, as well as other behavioural changes, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Costs of inadequate sleep in Australia through lost productivity and impacts on wellbeing are estimated at more than $66 billion per year. COVID-19 and measures to control its spread have had very significant effects on peoples’ lifestyles and behaviours, including sleep patterns and work activity. By measuring how Melburnians’ sleeping habits have changed during the shutdown, they hope to cast more light on the extent to which changes in school and work patterns have affected sleep behaviour as well as mental health.

Communicating health and nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lead researcher
Dr Tracy McCaffrey
Team Members
Annika Molenaar, Eva Jenkins, Professor Linda Brennan (RMIT), Professor Dickson Lukose, Professor Geoff Webb
Brief Summary
Persuasive language is often utilised on social media to connect with audiences in the hope that behaviours will change (i.e. purchase of new product or adoption of healthy eating). Exploration of the language used and potential persuasive language that could be used in the topic areas of 1) food security and 2) food waste is necessary. This project will provide an understanding of the current conversation on social media and what the future conversations could look like to enact positive change around nutrition-related topics such as food security and food waste. Our work will explore the sentiment and emotion of social media conversations across food and health-related topics (food insecurity and food waste) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne. This project brings together the fields of nutrition science and AI under the auspices of the Monash Digital Nutrition Lab, within the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food. Led by Dr Tracy McCaffrey, the team of public health nutritionists will collaborate with Prof Patrick Olivier’s Action Lab and Prof Dickson Lukose of the Monash Data Futures Institute (MFDI) to harness the power of AI to develop open-source systems for use in nutrition and dietetics settings. This research is still in progress and is a continuation of our Communicating Health project. Previous publications can be viewed here.

Human Behaviour

People and Place: changed expectations re how and where we live, work and recreate

Public Perceptions of Blue and Green Spaces in Melbourne

Lead researcher
Associate Professor Megan Farrelly,
Team Members
Dr Belinda Hatt, Dr Stephanie Lavau and Dr Peter Bach
Brief Summary
Faculty of Arts, Melbourne Water, University of Melbourne, EAWAG (ETC Zurich) Access to and quality of public open spaces was brought into acute focus with COVID-19 restrictions. While access to parks and waterways varies across metropolitan Melbourne, what is less clear is whether how and why people engaged with these spaces during the pandemic changed due to the movement restrictions. The team’s mixed-method study seeks to uncover how and how often residents utilised public open spaces during the COVID-19 lockdown periods and to identify whether resident use of, and appreciation for, these public spaces has changed. The team are also interested in public perceptions regarding the quality of public green and blue spaces. These insights will inform future policy and management strategies not only for Melbourne Water in managing their public lands and access to waterways, but also for metropolitan local councils seeking to improve the resilience and liveability of local places across Melbourne.

Survey of COVID Responses to Understand Behaviour (SCRUB)

Lead researcher
Dr Alexander Saeri
Team Members
Professor Liam Smith, Emily Grundy, Peter Slattery, Michael Noetel
Brief Summary
Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Australian Catholic University, Department of Premier and Cabinet Running every three weeks since March and working in close collaboration with the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, SCRUB tracks Australians’ behaviours in response to COVID-19. During the pandemic, behaviours such as physical distancing, handwashing and mask-wearing are the target of policy responses to minimise case numbers, illness and other harms from COVID-19. SCRUB measures and diagnoses these and other pandemic-relevant behaviours to support evidence-informed public policy decision-making. Each wave, SCRUB measures protective behaviour; personal, social and structural factors that influence behaviour; and modules to explore specific issues such as vaccine confidence, transport use, risk perceptions, and wellbeing SCRUB data and insights are fed quickly through to decision makers, making it possible to detect early warning signals ahead of the number of COVID cases. At the height of the outbreak in Victoria, SCRUB was one of a few key sources of information use by the Victorian Government to inform decision making. Into 2021, SCRUB will continue to measure whether people are doing what’s needed to keep themselves safe from COVID-19, as well as monitor Victorians’ adjustment to COVID normal, and offer insights to catalyse behaviour change for a sustainable recovery. You can read more about the teams work here.

Evaluating Neighbourhood Sentiment during Melbourne’s Covid-19 lockdowns

Lead researcher
Dr Alexa Gower
Team Members
Associate Professor Liton Kamruzzaman, Professor Carl Grodach, Professor Dickson Lukose, Professor Geoff Webb
Brief Summary
MADA and Monash Data Futures Institute Utilising Twitter posts collected over 2020, this project analyses sentiment within over 300 Melbourne suburbs and maps this against the characteristics, amenity levels, and urban form present in the suburb. Associations are identified between neighbourhood types, positive/negative sentiments and neighbourhood satisfaction during the Covid-19 lockdowns by visualising this data on both a digital dashboard, displaying quantities and changes in sentiment over time for an area, and the Melbourne Digital City which models the data spatially. Social media reveals a unique perspective into resident’s satisfaction with their neighbourhoods and how this evolved through Melbourne’s lockdown periods. This dashboard enables policy makers and members of the public to view the sentiment in their area and how this relates to their built environment. Comparing this to other areas, the dashboard is able to offer insight into the needs of residents from their neighbourhoods and how these needs change in a crisis. You can read more about this study in the Wyndham Star here.

Use of Open spaces and Interactions with Natural Environments

Lead researcher
Professor Steven Chown
Brief Summary
Melburnians’ use of open and green space, and interaction with the natural environment during the shutdown, and whether this has changed because of the closure of pubs, cafes and other entertainment venues. To define circumstances under which the “extinction of experience” – the diminution of human-nature interaction and alienation from natural environments and their wildlife – may be reversible. This will have profound implications for how we should design cities for liveability and wellbeing of inhabitants over coming decades.

Use of Health Services During COVID-19

Lead researcher
Professor Danny Liew
Brief Summary
The team are investigating the potential indirect effects of COVID-19 on the health of Melbourne residents, specifically arising from disruption to the health system and changes to health behaviour during the shutdown. This includes residents being afraid to attend healthcare facilities. The indirect effects of COVID-19 in terms of disease burden threatens to surpass that of COVID-19 itself. The team expect that this research will help inform health service planning and policy during the recovery phase and for future pandemics. They also hope our work will contribute to greater public awareness and education about community health and behaviour.

Travel Patterns During and After COVID-19

Lead researcher
Professor Graham Currie
Team Members
Dr Taru Jain, Dr Laura McCarthy, Ms Laura Aston, The Victorian Department of Transport
Brief Summary
Travel and activity patterns of Melbourne residents due to the COVID-19 shutdown to understand how this might influence long-term travel behaviour in Melbourne. A key concern is Melbourne's $32 billion ‘big build’ infrastructure program; is this still going to be needed? This research is guiding decision-making on the ‘big build’ transport investment program, but will also contribute to our understanding of travel behaviour change associated with significant social and economic disruptions.

Economics

Work Changes During and After COVID-19 and their Health Effects

Lead researcher
Professor Alex Collie
Team Members
Professor Malcolm Sim, Professor Peter Whiteford, Associate Professor Genevieve Grant, Associate Professor Dennis Petrie
Brief Summary
The team are investigating changes in the way people work during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and how these changes affect their physical and mental health. They are also interested in understanding the impact of work loss during the pandemic on people’s health and future employment. Unemployment and work loss have been major economic and social impacts of the pandemic. This research will provide unique data on people's employment and health status through the pandemic and during the recovery process, and enable the team to understand the impact of government stimulus and employer actions on workers.

Flexible Working Arrangements During the COVID-19 Response

Lead researcher
Associate Professor Dominique Allen
Team Members
Ms Adriana Orifici
Brief Summary
The team are investigating the impact that the Victorian Government’s direction to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic is having on Melbourne workers who have family responsibilities, as well as how employers are responding to flexible work arrangements to accommodate those responsibilities. At present, there is not a great deal of data on how Melbourne employers are responding to requests by workers with family responsibilities for flexible work arrangements during the COVID-19 response. The team hope this research will generate more insight in this area and contribute to important policy discussion and development that ensures the rights of workers with family responsibilities in Victoria are protected.

Changes in Energy Use During COVID-19

Lead researcher
Associate Professor Guillaume Roger
Team Members
Dr Gordon Leslie, Professor Simon Wilkie
Brief Summary
This research focuses on how electricity is consumed in Melbourne (including who and where), the impact of COVID-19 on household and business electricity use, and what can be learned from the variation. By learning how different demographics and areas consume electricity during various times of day, and mapping these results against wholesale electricity prices, the team hope to gain insight on which demographic groups benefit the most from transitioning to dynamic pricing - that is, from more closely aligning electricity prices and actual consumption.

Assessing Risk of Employment Vulnerability

Lead researcher
Professor Carl Grodach,
Team Members
Dr Alexa Gower, Associate Professor Liton Kamruzzaman
Brief Summary
MADA and MeRC The Melbourne Digital City Model will facilitate a more complex understanding of proposed urban changes and enable more sophisticated development conversations with different places and communities in Greater Melbourne. The Melbourne Digital City Model provides a platform to visualise the potential outcomes of a proposed policy change and compare the possible affects with alternative scenarios. Visualising policy proposals facilitates community discussion and understanding of the scope of the change envisioned in their area and assists the community in weighing the costs and benefits. The Model allows users to visualise change at the broad suburb level down to the street level through a 3D model of their area using a combination of highly accurate geocoded information and LiDAR scan data. This allows visualisation and communication of how a broad metropolitan-scale policy can be applied to also benefit and address the challenges experienced in the local area. Together this assists local planning through a better informed and engaged community. Additionally, the 3D scenarios in the model can show multiple ways in which a policy objective can be achieved and encourage the development of targeted and unique, place-specific policy responses. The specific outcomes that are realised can be tailored to suit the local character, values and challenges in the area while still meeting the broader metropolitan objectives of the policy. The dynamic nature of the scenario model also means that these options can be altered in real time with communities to further foster involvement in the process. Community members can explore and directly manipulate the scenarios to explore the outcomes that they feel best suit their specific neighbourhood before tangible changes occur

Future City

Changing Planning and Infrastructure Priorities

The impact of COVID-19 on young adults’ life plans and future mobility

Lead researchers
Dr Alexa Delbosc and Dr Laura McCarthy
Brief Summary
Faculty of Engineering The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the life plans of many young adults. Those who have lost work or disrupted study are struggling with uncertainty and delay in their life plans. Others who planned to live or work overseas have found their life plans ‘accelerated’. The team seek to understand how these changes will influence how and where young adults will travel in cities.

Beyond experimentation: how processes and places shape built environments

Lead researcher
Associate Professor Megan Farrelly
Team Members
Professor Rob Raven
Brief Summary
Faculty of Arts and the Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) Faster, more radical urban change towards delivering sustainable cities with flexible, resilient infrastructure is required. This demands new thinking, technologies, systems and governance practices. Australia is set to invest over $100 billion in revitalising ageing urban infrastructure, including in the water and energy sectors. A key part of this investment involves substantial seed grants for promoting innovative approaches (for example technologies and policy designs) within these sectors. Too often, however, these initiatives are fragmented, disconnected and have limited influence in shaping policy and practice change. By examining multiple case studies of innovative practices across the water and energy sectors, this project aims to create ground-breaking, cross-sector knowledge and create a guiding framework for decision-makers to influence and shape state and national policy environments. The team will investigate the influence of processes and place when experimenting with alternative urban infrastructure systems. Focusing on the urban water and energy sectors, this project expects to generate new cross-sector knowledge regarding the transition dynamics associated with delivering sustainable urban futures. By understanding the enabling conditions that support experimentation and innovation, anticipated outcomes of this project include improved institutional strategies and enhanced policy and program interventions. This work expects to positively impact the value and associated outcomes of government and private investment in future innovation dedicated to advancing sustainable, flexible built environments.

Net Zero Precincts: an interdisciplinary approach to decarbonising cities

Lead researcher
Professor Rob Raven
Team Members
Professor Sarah Pink, Professor Geoff Webb, Associate Professor Megan Farrelly, Associate Professor Ariel Liebmann, Associate Professor Selby Coxon, Associate Professor Peter Graham
Brief Summary
Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI), Faculty of Information Technology, Monash Art, Design and Architecture, Faculty of Arts This project aims to help cities and urban regions reach net zero emissions by taking the precinct as an optimal scale for urban transition. This project expects to co-create a new approach grounded in transition management and design anthropology. This will be tested in an action-oriented case study in the Monash Technology Precinct through three Living Lab experiments across energy, mobility and buildings. Expected outcomes include a validated approach for net zero transitions that delivers to the real-life experiences of the precinct community of business, government, knowledge institutes and civil society. This should provide significant benefits to industry seeking to enhance community engagement for accelerating urban transitions. This project expects to create ground-breaking and industry-relevant, cross-sector knowledge by delivering an applied approach to the transition of urban infrastructures at precinct scale. There will be three expected national benefits: 1) delivery of a framework for urban transition management that aligns with community interests and provides guidance tailored to local, state and federal government, and other policy actors with commitments to net zero; 2) creation of integrated urban solutions in energy, mobility and buildings that enable industry and government to standardise, commercialise and scale the outcomes of the project to other precincts; 3) transferring social and economic benefits to the broader community that improve the liveability and prosperity of our cities as a result of accelerating net zero urban transitions. This will significantly impact the value and resilience of future investments in urban infrastructures and create opportunities to grow domestic jobs and exports. The project involves partnerships with Engie, Monash City Council, ICLEI, CSIRO, EEC, City of Greater Dandenong, and Swinburne University.

Our Research Themes

Physical and Mental Health

Human Behaviour

Economics

Future City

Social Impacts

Environmental Impacts

Digital Technology