NewsNews
Monday, 18 January 2010 23:19
At the completion of his keynote address at the Global Urban Summit in Rotterdam on the 4th December 2009, Prof. Chris Ryan was joined by Prof. Han Brezet, from the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands, to announce the creation of the Rotterdam Eco-Innovation Lab: REIL. REIL will follow the methodology, and build on and adapt the outcomes, of VEIL within the development around the immense harbour of Rotterdam city. This development responds to the opening up of land for housing and commercial activity as the functions of the old harbour move ‘outwards’ towards the ocean. The Harbour development aims to set new environmental standards as part of an innovative new zone, known now as the “Clean Tech Delta”. In announcing the creation of REIL, with its collaboration with VEIL, Prof Brezet also announced that the Clean Tech Delta will send a staff member to Melbourne for several months (starting in Feb 2010) to work with the VEIL team to better understand the potential for similar projects in REIL.Thursday, 05 November 2009 01:19
| Among the delicious chai and the recycled tetra-pack wallets, some unexpected ideas and projects to catch the imagination... |  |
In October 09, we were invited by Knox Council to exhibit student works at the Stringybark Suburban Sustainability Festival. You can read about the exhibition here. During the two-day festival, VEIL Co-ordinator Dianne Moy and Assistant Kate Archdeacon had time to explore the festival. Below, in the gallery, are some of the interesting inclusions they spotted.
Wednesday, 28 October 2009 21:26
| Are we on the edge of a 're-localisation' revolution? |  |
A one-day conference and forum, exploring the value, diversity and implications of a networked and localised approach to infrastructure and services. 30th November, 2009
RECORDS OF THE EVENT, INCLUDING PRESENTATIONS, SLIDES AND A SUMMARY OF ISSUES COVERED WILL BE POSTED ON THIS WEBSITE.
With large, centralised infrastructure appearing vulnerable to climate change and ‘peak oil’, alternative solutions are emerging everywhere. Many of these are delivering food, water and energy via smaller, networked systems of localised production that can also lower carbon, increase efficiency, build resilience and strengthen local economies.
This ‘distributed’ systems model is over-turning old ideas of services and is re-shaping our image of the future. With communities and business becoming active adopters of solar panels, wind generators, rainwater tanks and neighbourhood gardens, people are breaking the mould of passive consumer - redefining themselves as active producers of critical resource.
Where can I find out more about Distributed Systems?
Research related to distributed systems is on-going. Two briefing papers covering energy and water issues can be downloaded from the publications section of this website. Additional papers will also be posted there.
Wednesday, 12 August 2009 03:45
| What happens when a forward-thinking council shares its expertise with design students? |  |
Last Thursday, August 6, VEIL and the Sustainable Landscapes studio (University of Melbourne), led by Dr Sidh Sintusingha, met with staff from Hume City Council in Broadmeadows. The Councils' urban designers, transport planners, environmental officers and development officers spent most of the day sharing their expertise with the students and outlining their hopes for the future of the area. The Sustainable Landscapes studio is the first foray into research for an upcoming VEIL Hub, which will focus on retrofitting existing Melbourne suburbs for sustainability and resilience. The Hub, planned for later this year, will draw on the knowledge developed over the last three years of the VEIL project, in particular the EBD Eco-City exploration, which continues inform ongoing studios.
Details of the Hub will be finalised soon.
Tuesday, 11 August 2009 00:00
Chris Ryan and VEIL ‘alumni’ Michael Trudgeon (Crowd Productions) have been successful in being selected as one of three winners in an international design competition for a new sustainable wild-life park and interpretation centre in the North of the Netherlands. The three winning teams (the others being a Dutch Landscape design practice and a UK Architectural practice) will meet to integrate their work in a three day design workshop in the Netherlands in early September. The Ryan-Trudgeon design submission was based around an analysis of a life-cycle approach to eco-tourism (treated as a service-product) in which the material is ‘experience’ – giving an experience pathway that starts with anticipation (the equivalent to material processing and manufacturing) then moves to destination (the usual ‘use-phase’ focus for eco-design) and then to memory (the equivalent to end-of-life phase). The work builds on some of the project that formed the pre-cursor to VEIL – EcoSense – (www.eco-sense.info) and integrates intelligent use of information technology. It is hoped that an information package about the winning entry will be available from the VEIL site in the next months.Read more...
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