This project aims to explore the effects of green place-making practices and how they can cultivate a sense of attachment to a place. The research paints a clearer picture of what green suburbia entails, as well as the draw they have towards people, but also encourages conversations surrounding sustainable living and how to achieve it.

The Ginninderry Green, Open and Play Space project sought to make great outdoor public spaces for, and with, the Ginninderry Community Development Officer to identify the needs and aspirations of the community for Ginninderry’s public spaces. Outcomes from this project include The Link’s playspace and orchard, the dog agility course in the Ginninderry dog park, and Ginninderry play days (such as the much-loved Kite Festival) in Paddys Park. Community feedback is also informing the next exciting green space at Ginninderry – Macnamara Park.

Ginninderry’s Vision is to ‘create a sustainable community of international significance in the Capital Region’. The University of Canberra Living Lab Framework project aimed to co-create a research platform to help Ginninderry fulfil this vision over the lifetime of the development. The framework builds on international best practices to provide opportunities for Ginninderry residents to inform ongoing improvements for better community and place outcomes – with a focus on wellbeing. At the heart of this project is the principle that residents are the experts in the experience of living at Ginninderry. They are therefore best placed to inform Ginninderry’s ongoing design and activation. The Living Lab Framework provides a suite of tools to enable collaborative, citizen researcher-led approaches to improving sustainability and resident wellbeing over the next 40 years.

Where we choose to live shapes and changes us and the land we live on. Ginninderry has always been somewhere where people from across the world have come to for its beauty, vistas and waterways. The Ginninderry Local History Project, led by Mary Hutchison from the Australian National University, has spent the better half of the last decade capturing these stories and changes at Ginninderry. Stevie Skitmore is an archaeologist who joined the study in 2018 and highlights some of the fascinating hidden stories embedded in the Ginninderry landscape.

Past Traces has been assisting with the heritage assessments across the Ginninderry area since 2015. The team has conducted multiple heritage assessments in consultation with the Aboriginal community including field survey and subsurface testing of areas of potential. These studies have resulted in the identification of numerous Aboriginal sites and reflects the importance of the Murrumbidgee River Frontage and Conservation Corridor. The team have provided extensive advice for the ongoing development of Ginninderry to minimise harm and retain heritage values.