The centrality of cities and major urban centres to waterways globally presents significant challenges to the biodiversity and services of these systems. Their highly modified nature and often degraded appearance mean that we regularly overlook the biodiversity and potential for these sites to present nature based experiences despite high levels of novelty.

Join in a lively conversation transitioning between design, ecology and preferred futures for the Lower Birrarung . Through conversation, speakers will explore ideas of novelty and how the highly designed nature of these systems present unique opportunities to reimagine how we design and experience biodiversity and services across urban waterways through speculative and real-world approaches.

Novel Natures serves as the opening night for the Novel Futures exhibition and will include a range of panelists bringing perspectives from across design, ecology and social systems.

Doors will open at 6.00 pm to allow attendees to explore the exhibition prior to the Novel Futures discussion and will include refreshments pre and post panel discussion. The panel will commence promptly at 6.30 pm.

This discussion will be facilitated by:

Shane Hunt

Shane is the founder of Haptera design, a multidisciplinary design studio and consultancy working at the intersection of design and ecology. His research as a PhD candidate at RMIT University currently explores the potential for novel habitat deployment across degraded urban aquatic systems to elevate biodiversity and human experiences of these systems through speculation and deployment of structures across the lower Birrarung at Fisherman’s Bend.

Sarah Bekessy

Professor Sarah Bekessy leads the ICON Science research group at RMIT University which uses interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex biodiversity conservation problems. She is particularly interested in understanding the role of human behaviour in conservation, in designing cities to encourage ‘every day nature’ experiences and in defining and measuring ‘nature positive’ development.  Sarah is a Lead Councillor of The Biodiversity Council, a member of the Board of Bush Heritage Australia, and is a member of the Eminent Scientist Advisory Group for WWF Australia.

Melissa Pineda Pinto

Melissa Pineda Pinto is a McKenzie Postdoctoral Researcher Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Using a multispecies justice approach, her research focuses on visibilising urban novel ecosystems in derelict spaces through diverse co-design and critical geography interventions in the cities of Melbourne, Australia and San José, Costa Rica. She has worked and continues to collaborate on the project NovelEco, looking at novel ecosystems in cities through forecasting and co-design methodologies and policy analysis where her research examines urban nature through diverse justice lenses for achieving sustainable futures.

Brendan Lanham

Brendan is a marine ecologist at The University of Melbourne with an interest in using eco-engineered structures to improve the restoration of degraded marine habitats. Since completing his PhD in 2019, Brendan’s research in restoration ecology has explored the use of textured substrates from concrete to biodegradable materials to restore southern Australia’s lost shellfish reefs.

Javier de Urquijo Isoard

Javier de Urquijo Isoard is a design researcher exploring the intersection of biological degradation, material affordances, and multispecies design. His work challenges anthropocentric design frameworks by investigating how nonhuman organisms perceive and interact with different materials and objects, offering new perspectives on sustainable design practices. Through his PhD research and projects, de Urquijo has developed methodologies that reframe biodegradation not as material property but as a dynamic affordance that can be designed with and for multiple species.

This event is made possible by the support from FB IDEAs, ICON Science and The Mission to Seafarers Victoria.