Strategy Update to Australia's Urban Challenges

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Future Earth Australia is pleased to share our 2024 Update to the Sustainable Cities and Regions 10-year Strategy. 

Australia’s urban challenges have only increased in number and complexity since 2019, confounded by the effects of COVID-19 and ongoing climate change. Sustainable urban transformations are an integral mitigation strategy for these challenges.  

Future Earth Australia offers a 2024 Update to our Sustainable Cities and Regions Strategy for urban systems transformation.  

Climate change, social inequities, employment and industry changes, education and health services and other challenges – all meet in local urban spaces where 90% of Australians live.  

While affecting everyone, these challenges often further the disadvantaged. These challenges are increasingly interdependent on one another and point to multiple transitions to meet desired urban sustainability outcomes.  

The updates’ results are consistent with the previous 2019 strategy, enhanced through a fresh round of consultations in 2023-2024. A workshop at RMIT University in May 2023 captured critical Early Career Researcher and Professional perspectives which also informed the update. 

cities and regions strategy update
Click to read the Sustainable Cities and Regions: 10 year strategy 2024 Update.

FEA’s 2024 Sustainable Cities and Regions Update comprises four key strategies and related actions for urban transformation: 

  1. Consistent and sustained urban leadership and governance across sectors and levels  

  1. More inclusive and effective stakeholder and community engagement  

  1. Extensive urban innovation and knowledge co-development, sharing and uptake 

  1. Enhanced policy-practice-research collaborations and capabilities 

The update provides a vision for strengthening Australia’s urban capabilities, offering a clear roadmap and recommendations for how local, state, and federal governments can partner with urban stakeholders, communities and researchers on urban systems transformation.   

Future Earth Australia intends to use the 2024 Update to influence and generate meaningful transdisciplinary discussion around the current draft National Urban Policy. 

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See the full publication here:

Sustainable Cities and Regions: 2024 Update | Future Earth Australia 

See The Conversation Article about the National Urban Policy and Future Earth Australia here:

Labor’s new National Urban Policy is welcome. But will it be transformative? (theconversation.com)