Explore how to foster play and creativity in our suburbs at the inaugural Salon Canberra x Ginninderry Inspire Ideas Forum.

Children playing cricket in suburban streets was an everyday sight not so long ago. What happened, and how can we encourage more outdoor play and creativity in this period of technology proliferation?

Ginninderry has explored this very question through considered infrastructure and, subsequently, a research project in partnership with a team at the University of Canberra led by Cathy Hope.

Designed to enable this nostalgic type of play – wheelie bin, ball and bat until sundown type of play – Ginninderry’s Slow Street Initiative is just one example of how planning can encourage this kind of play back into our public spaces. But perhaps more questions need to be asked.

How successful can planning be in a world defined by technology and the internet? Is there room on the streets for our kids despite Australia’s tenacious driving habits? And how do we embrace and design for intergenerational play?

Enter Cathy Hope. To Cathy, play is for everyone. Her work has impacted Canberra for several years as she has explored play and creativity in all its forms at locations across Canberra, including Haig Park and, most recently, Ginninderry. Her approach has been led by curiosity, bringing playfulness into the design and function of our public spaces by asking questions like, ‘how can we play here?’.

Wednesday, 23 November 2022, 6 – 8 pm

? The Woolshed, Strathnairn Arts Association, enter via Gullifer Street, Strathnairn.

This is a free event, but limited tickets are available.

Click here to secure your seat