Net Zero Precincts Stage 1 report: Orienting

Net Zero Precincts is a four-year Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage project that brings together two key areas of research for the first time — transition management and design anthropology — to develop a new interdisciplinary approach to transitioning urban environments to net zero. The project uses the Monash University Clayton Campus and Monash Technology Precinct as an action-oriented Living Lab to experiment, test and learn in a real-world setting. 

The project aims to develop and validate a new and transferrable approach for net-zero transitions informed by the real-life experiences of the precinct community and its businesses, government, knowledge sector and civil society actors. As such, it will provide significant benefits to organisations and individuals seeking to engage with and learn from everyday people about community needs and aspirations in accelerating urban transitions.

This report summarises the research findings from Stage 1 of the project based on over 50 interviews with participants living, working, commuting or connected to the Monash University Clayton Campus and the Monah Technology Precinct. Bringing together the theoretical and empirical findings of transition management and design anthropological research helps to create a more comprehensive understanding of the present and future of the Monash Net Zero Precinct. This enables us to make the connections and bridge the gaps between transition management and design anthropology. The interdisciplinary process being developed explicitly connects with the everyday experiences and challenges of the people involved in transitions. 

The report was co-authored by Darren Sharp, Emma Quilty, Sarah Pink, Megan Farrelly, Sam Rye and Rob Raven from Monash University. The research was funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects funding Scheme (‘Net Zero Precincts: an interdisciplinary approach to decarbonising cities’ project number LP200100296) in partnership with Monash University, ENGIE, City of Monash, ICLEI Oceania, CSIRO, City of Greater Dandenong, Energy Efficiency Council and Swinburne University.