Building Civic Circularity: Community Hubs and Networks for Reuse, Repair and Resource Exchange

Building Civic Circularity

Community Hubs and Networks for Reuse, Repair and Resource Exchange

Monday 30 November 2026 | 10am-4pm
Western Sydney University, Parramatta South Campus, Building EB G.02

About the event

Join community organisers, researchers, council representatives, practitioners, activists, policymakers, students, creatives and others for a day of collaboration and conversations about building the community hubs, networks and infrastructure needed to connect, support and sustain reuse, repair and resource exchange.

Building Civic Circularity brings people together for keynote presentations, community and council perspectives, collaborative workshops, a lunchtime swap and opportunities to share experiences, build relationships and explore possibilities for collective action.

Across our communities, people are already organising clothes swaps, repair initiatives, food redistribution, tool libraries, creative reuse and other forms of resource sharing. These activities help meet everyday needs, reduce waste, build community connections and contribute to more just and sustainable responses to climate change, resource extraction, overproduction and social inequalities.

But how can we better connect and support this work? What might community circular hubs look like? How can community groups, councils, universities and other organisations share spaces, equipment, knowledge and resources? And what kinds of partnerships, governance and infrastructure are needed to make these initiatives more connected and enduring?

These are the questions we'll explore together.

What to expect

We'll begin with a Welcome to Country from Linda Sainsbury, a Baramadagal woman of the Darug Nation and Founder and Director of Berri Werri Consultancy Service.

We're delighted to welcome Professor Abby Mellick Lopes (University of Technology Sydney) and Associate Professor Sukhmani Khorana (University of New South Wales) as our keynote speakers. Abby will explore how community circular hubs, partnerships and public institutions can support civic circularity, while Sukhmani will consider how everyday practices of environmental care, resource sharing and thrift foster belonging, connection and community.

Through keynote presentations, community and council responses, collaborative workshops and informal conversations, we'll explore how to:

• Build community circular hubs that bring together reuse, repair, resource sharing and community participation.

• Strengthen networks and partnerships between community initiatives, councils, universities, practitioners and other organisations.

• Develop shared infrastructure and support through access to spaces, equipment, resources, funding and governance.

• Identify opportunities for collective action, collaboration and future research.

We'll also host a lunchtime swap, putting civic circularity into practice, with morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea providing opportunities to connect.

Come ready to share what you're doing, learn from others and explore what we can achieve together.

Building on our research and action agenda

This event builds on our 2025 Climate Justice Through Reuse and Repair gathering, which brought together around 120 community organisers, practitioners, council staff, researchers, students and activists. Those conversations helped shape our Climate Justice and Community Care Through Reuse and Repair: A Research and Action Agenda, calling for greater recognition, resourcing and support for community-led reuse and repair.

We're also building on the Circular Economy Community Hubs research led by Professor Abby Mellick Lopes and colleagues.

Together, this work invites us to think about civic circularity as more than individual practices of reuse and repair. It is about the relationships, collective labour, shared stewardship and infrastructure that make it possible for people and communities to care for materials, each other and their environments.

With community care and climate justice at the heart of our discussions, our aim is to strengthen existing relationships, generate new partnerships and identify practical opportunities to connect, resource and sustain community-led circular initiatives.

Who should attend?

Everyone interested in community-led reuse, repair, resource sharing and more caring, just and sustainable futures is welcome.

We particularly welcome community organisers, grassroots groups, social enterprises, reuse and repair practitioners, creatives, councils, policymakers, researchers, students and people working across sustainability, circular economies, community development and resource exchange.

Whether you're running a local swap, developing a community hub, working with materials and resources, supporting community initiatives or exploring new approaches to circularity, we'd love you to be part of the conversation.

Event details

Date: Monday 30 November 2026
Time: 10am–4pm
Venue: Building EB G.02, Parramatta South Campus, Western Sydney University
Cost: Free
Catering: Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea provided

Getting here: From Parramatta, take the light rail to Yallamundi stop, then walk across campus to the venue. Paid parking is available on campus. Campus map here.

Accessibility and participation support: Please contact us if you have any accessibility requirements or need assistance attending. A limited number of travel vouchers are available to support participation.

Bookings: Places are limited and registration is essential.

Convened by: Dr Jenna Condie, Associate Professor Alison Gill and Associate Professor Stephen Healy, Western Sydney University.

Presented by: Urban Futures Research Group, Institute for Culture and Society; Caring Futures Strategic Research Collaboration, School of Social Sciences; Festival of Action; and Global Challenges – Creating Liveable Environments, Western Sydney University.

We acknowledge the Baramadagal people of the Dharug Nation, the Traditional Owners of the lands on which our event takes place. Sovereignty was never ceded, and this always was and always will be Aboriginal land. There is no climate justice without First Nations justice.