Placemaking: making it happen in local governments

Online Group Learning Sessions - April 2024

Join us to learn about how to make placemaking happen in your local government together with colleagues from around Australia and New Zealand. The sessions are based on the curriculum in the Placemaking: making it happen in local governments online course, but the sessions will also include interactive and breakout room activities

All sessions are at the same time of 1.00pm AEST / 11.00am WA / 3.00pm NZ for 1.5 hours and will be held via Zoom.

Come to every session, or choose which ones you would like to attend. Please register for each session in order to guarantee your place!

Wed. 10 April - What is placemaking and why is it important for local govts?

Key topics will include:

What is placemaking?	Why is placemaking important for local governments?
What makes a great place?	Shifting from doing For to doing With communities
Turning problems into opportunities	Placemaking as a way to mitigate strategic and project risks
How placemaking differs from standard practices	The economic, environmental and social benefits of placemaking

Wed. 17 April - The placemaking mindset and key concepts

Key topics will include:

The placemaking mindset	Key placemaking concepts
Are you managing the place to life, or death?	The 'hardware' and 'software' of places
The assumptions behind the roles of government and citizens	The components of place
Places as machines vs Places as systems	Tactical urbanism

Wed. 24 April - The important skills and engaging the community

Key topics will include:

The important skills required for successful placemaking	Engaging the community
Letting go of the need to control	The Placemaking Participation Spectrum
How to learn the skills needed	Building on strengths rather than fixing problems
Recruiting for a placemaking role	Placemaking as a way to break out of “The Council needs to …” loop

Wed. 1 May - Facilitating a process, mistakes to avoid + tips for success

Key topics will include:

Placemaking on a small budget	Project delivery approaches
The importance of stories	Masterplanning compared with place enabling
Encouraging and enabling businesses and residents to be placemakers	Eleven common mistakes
Setting up and managing a placemaking process	Tips for making it happen

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I join if I work in a local government outside of Australia or New Zealand?

A: Yes! Please do.

Q: Can I join if I don't work in a local government?

A: No. These sessions are just for local government employees or Councillors.

Q: Do I need to attend all 4 sessions?

A: No you don't. You can come to 1, 2, 3 or 4 sessions. Even just attending one session might be very valuable and you will get to meet colleagues from elsewhere.

Q: What will the sessions cover?

A: The sessions will be based on the curriculum in the Placemaking: making it happen in local governments online course, but the sessions will also include interactive and breakout room activities. It is an opportunity to learn with your peers.

Q: Do I need to purchase or enrol in the Placemaking: making it happen in local governments online course in order to participate?

A: No, although we would suggest that you do in order to get the maximum benefit from this style of learning. We will be using lessons from the course as the basis for discussions and notes will not be provided to attendees after sessions have finished.

Q: How can I purchase the Placemaking: making it happen in local governments online course?

A: You can find out more about the course and how to purchase it at https://placemaking.education/p/makingithappen. If you are based in Western Australia, please email hello@placemaking.education to see how you can access the course for free!

Q: Can our local government pay via tax invoice instead of online using a credit card?

A: Yes you can. Please email a request through to hello@placemaking.education. Please provide the number of sessions you would like to attend, attendees names and email addresses and a purchase order number. We will then register you for the sessions and email out a tax invoice.

Q: Does the $50 per person per session price include GST?

A: Yes it does.

Q: Why is it free for local governments in Western Australia?

A: The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries in Western Australia has sponsored online placemaking training for all local government staff and Elected Members in Western Australia - over 22,000 people! This training is an extension of the sponsorship.

Got another question? Please email hello@placemaking.education and will be happy to help.