VITAL: Questions of Resilience

DATES June 19-21 2025

LOCATION Dungog Worimi/Gringai Country in the NSW Hunter Region. Friday main seminar day will be at the Royal Hotel Dungog, 80 Dowling St, Dungog NSW.

CPD 6 formal points available on the Friday

THE LOCATION
The small farming town of Dungog in the NSW Hunter Valley region has been a major player in cattle, dairy and forestry since colonial invasion in the early 1800s. Its name comes from a Gringai word meaning “place of thinly wooded hills”. It was the area’s magnificent cedar trees that attracted early white settlers to the place, and in the 1960s, Dungog supplied glulam timbers to the (under construction) Sydney Opera House. Today the town is reinventing itself as new opportunities, people and ideas blow in on the winds of cultural and climate change.

Co-creative director Janne Ryan was born in Dungog. Her mother’s family (Croll) were early timber pioneers, whose work culminated in them receiving the contract to supply glulam Brushbox for the Sydney Opera House. It took two and a half years to develop a glulam mix that worked on this indigenous tree species.

THE EVENT
In curating this RAA event, creative directors Janne Ryan (Ideas curator) and Peter Salhani (Architecture journalist) consider regional renewal through the lens of architecture and its role in galvanising our communities into the future. They’ve cast a broad net in bringing ideas and speakers together that have direct connections to this place, and are tapped into wider networks and projects of social and economic change. You’ll hear not just from architects but from thinkers and activists working for a more sustainable construction economy at the supply chain level too.

Further program information available here.

FRINGE EVENTS
A fringe program of optional events is being provided on the Thursday and Saturday offering the opportunity to engage with the local area in a fun and relaxing way. Fringe event registration will become available closer to the event and full event ticket holders will be notified.

RAA events are open to associated disciplines and interested community members as well as RAA members.

RAA members attending can access a 10% discount on Non Member tickets for fellow practice staff. Discount code is available in member area.

*Please note that event program and details are subject to change.

Image above features ‘Forest of Dreams’, an environmental artwork in collaboration with artist Jennifer Turpin and landscape architect Barbara Schaeffer, planted by friends on The Ryan’s Dungog farm. Photo by Peter Salhani.