I've got a new job! Steps that marked my journey from urban policy making transdisciplinary research.
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Three months ago, I started this blog to explore topics associated with urban digitisation, particularly a new research interest of mine; artificial intelligence as an aspect of sustainable technology development. I wanted to translate the complexity of these topics with visualisations to increase our understanding and engagement in emergent debates and potential scenarios. As I have previously written, I believe technology could be a powerful force for good, if only progress unfolds in a considered manner.
Having only just started with writing here, the opportunity arose to join the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). Specifically, a think tank project called Open Source Lab based at the EUREF campus - an inner city business park for energy, mobility and sustainability businesses, research, demonstration projects and events. I'll be exploring the overlap between open source concepts, urban mobility and digitisation. It's an opportunity that will surely benefit my research interests and expertise in the long-term. I'm excited about the transition it marks from my origins in urban studies to transdisciplinary research. I'll be working at at the EUREF lab space, at the DFKI as well as the Design Research Lab of the Berlin University of Arts with computer scientists, design researchers and a range of co-creators and stakeholders. Whilst I have experience in academia, the public and private sector, this will be my first experience of being in an academic research environment but working on industry-driven outputs and network building.
To mark this progression, I thought I'd share content from my portfolio with additional commentary about the context that underpinned the varied fields of experience.
Urban Systems Vulnerability and Resilience Research
After strategic urban policy planning for a London borough (by day) and completing my Masters at the University of Westminster (by night) I moved to Melbourne and took on some freelance work. For the Victorian State Government Department of Planning and Community Development Sustainability Analysis research group I researched and delivered a briefing report on the use of vulnerability assessment for regional sustainability and climate change adaptation policy and strategy. I also worked with the team building a knowledge base on distributed energy systems.
Future Melbourne
I really admired the progress that City of Melbourne was making and aiming for with sustainability transitions for the built environment and its complex systems. I was lucky enough to be able to join the City of Melbourne's Strategic Planning team and help deliver the Future Melbourne city plan, including the development of a Wiki platform for the drafting of the plan. It was a world first, representing global best practice in stakeholder engagement and technologically innovative policy making using an open source Wiki website and content management system throughout the process. The work was awarded the Planning Institute of Australia President's Award jointly with a project of City of Sydney in 2009.
Doctor of Philosophy: Urban Innovation
After Melbourne I returned to my hometown Sydney and began PhD research at UNSW before moving to Berlin, Germany for fieldwork. This time was enabled through an award of the German Academic Exchange Service, and over time due to changes in circumstances my stay in Berlin became permanent. My PhD was awarded by the University of New South Wales, with research stays at Free University Berlin Environmental Policy Research Center and Technical University (TU) Berlin Center for Metropolitan Studies.
My PhD extrapolated citizen led projects of urban innovation in Berlin, what I called 'Independent Urban Interventions', exploring the characteristics of unconventional spatial transformations, their founders and associated actors. Employing critical theory as a conceptual framework and qualitative research with over 50 interviews, I examined the enabling conditions and barriers for innovations in Berlin's built environment as well as attributes of stakeholders and their networks that gave rise to innovative modes of urban development, utilisation and inhabitance in the city.
Awards:
Australian Federal Government Australian Postgraduate Award, 2010 - 2016
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Research Stay for Doctoral Candidates, Young Academics and Scientists, 2011
University of New South Wales Faculty of the Built Environment City Futures Research Center PhD Research Scholarship 2010-2014
Wightman Scholarship for Architecture, Postgraduate Research Fellowship, 2013
Short form Journalism: RESET Digital for Good
During my PhD key issues with all the case study projects was that they couldn't scale their activities or achieve financial viability for the long term. I am passionate about enabling impact in systems change for progress towards sustainability. Whilst citizen-led projects and grassroots social movements are one aspect of this, I became fascinated (and slightly obsessed) with technological innovation as an enabler of progress. I joined a small Berlin based non-profit called RESET and created articles on digital innovations aligned with sustainability ideals including (all linked):
Design Thinking and Innovation Facilitation
After a short time exploring technological innovation and mission driven tech startups at RESET I discovered an opportunity at the Do School Innovation Lab to work across their programs deriving insights and building a knowledge management system and culture for the maturing startup. As resident Knowledge Wrangler, I supported the delivery of innovation facilitation (e.g. design sprints, intrapreneurship programs) and mission driven venture development and incubation through knowledge capture, sharing and training activities. It enabled me to learn design thinking concepts, design led workshop facilitation and curriculum design.
Looking Forward
I'm really looking forward to the next year in terms of developing my experience and deepening the connections between my background in urbanism and social sciences with technology and computer science. Although I haven't previously focused on any one domain of urban planning having always worked strategically across topic areas, spending the next year mainly with projects in the realm of transportation makes sense as this is a sphere of urban digitisation with an abundance of activity in terms of research (especially AI use cases) as well as broad implementation of new technologies unfolding in cities around the world.
Through mobility applications I can explore progress and implications of activities by industry players, policy making and broader urban governance. During this time I want to better understand how open approaches, such as open innovation processes, multi-stakeholder collaboration, open data and software might enable or contribute to innovation ecosystems.
I will continue to write from time to time, hopefully developing ideas relating to my own research interests and will share highlights of the work I am doing at the DFKI. Wish me luck :)
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