Emerging leaders tackle future community challenges in smart seeds program

Communities are at their best when they are connected, inspired, resilient and productive – but a range of societal, economic and environmental barriers can make it challenging to create communities that are well placed to flourish. Smart Seeds, a global innovation initiative powered by GHD, is helping equip emerging leaders with the innovation and collaboration skills they need to create thriving places and spaces that put people first.

Now in its tenth year, the program continues to tap the next generation of engineers, architects, planners and builders to generate fresh ideas on complex real-world challenges.  

Recently, five teams made up of young professionals from the public and private sector worked together over 12 weeks to develop solutions to their set challenges related to future communities. The teams pitched their solutions to four judges – Adam Davids, Director of Learning, CareerTrackers Indigenous Internship Program, Nicole Gurran, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney, Toby Thorpe, 2021 Tasmania Young Australian of the Year and Jill Hannaford, GHD’s Global Leader – Future Communities.

"The backdrop of housing affordability, climate change, population growth and the pandemic has increased the need for designers to focus on putting people and the human experience first, all while delivering sustainable infrastructure. The Smart Seeds Future Communities program has enabled each of the participants to think outside of the box and come up with solutions that help create the places and spaces of tomorrow, and it’s really exciting to see" says Michelle Cramer, GHD’s Future Communities Leader – Australia.

Place Insights: Achieving sustainable place attraction

Place Insights aims to reveal the true nature of places and spaces by turning user behaviour data into a valuable resource, which can then inform design and placemaking outcome and investments. By integrating smart sensors, the platform captures the behaviours and preferences of communities, for example, on public seating, and AI technology extracts insights. With the potential for constantly expanding data sets, Place Insights can ultimately give insights from across cities, and identify trends before they show up in economic data. The platform also has the potential to overcome biases in placemaking approaches, overcoming any imagined sense of community users or patterns that designers and planners may have. Watch the team pitch their solution here.

The HUGGA Project: Affordable housing

The affordable housing crisis affects young people aging out of foster care – an often forgot about group. In Australia, nearly half end up homeless, unemployed or in prison within a year. The HUGGA Project aims to provide a low-cost housing solution for this cohort, near urban hubs with wraparound support services that essentially ‘hug the youth’. HUGGA would utilise land that is otherwise vacant or waiting to be developed such as land banks, institutions or church land and provide youth with affordable, transportable tiny homes. The program also incorporates skills learning such as life skills, careers, budgeting, education and employment support, to help the youth navigate this transition period. Watch the team pitch their solution here.

Collective Climate Resilience Initiative: Climate resilience

Many stakeholders have their own climate response plan when it comes to climate crisis issues such as flooding or bushfires – but there is no connected response. The Collective Climate Resilience Initiative recognises this and creates a framework which enables infrastructure preparedness and connectedness during climate crisis by encouraging collaboration among corporate Australia. The initiative brings together a steering committee of corporations, government, utility and infrastructure providers. This approach uplifts the planet, people and profit, and allows communities to be better prepared in the face of a crisis. Watch the team pitch their solution here.

Virtual Grandchild: Post-pandemic communities

Virtual Grandchild recognises that many everyday activities are now being moved online and aims to ensure that elderly community members are not left behind. Virtual Grandchild is a hotline that connects those aged 55 or over with essential services and provides technical guidance. For example, someone may struggle to go to the grocery store and also struggle with placing an order online. This person could call the hotline and talk to a real operator who will set up the order with their preferred retailer and talk them through the online process. Gradually, this person may gain confidence in the process and rely on the operator less and less. Watch the team pitch their solution here.

Comnext: Voices of the community

Comnext is the next generation in community engagement and aims to ensure all voices are truly heard in the creation of safe public spaces and places. Comnext is an app which pools information from state and local government planning portals and websites on projects and allows people to connect with a project over its entire lifecycle. The app would work in conjunction with already established community engagement initiatives. Through the app, a user can be notified of a project where they live or work, and it allows them to simply post their feedback through the app. It also notifies people of any official community meetings related to a project, and they can register via the app. Comnext also crowdsources ideas for community initiatives such as a mural in a particular street. Users can accumulate engagement points each time they engage in something, and high engagers would be recognised, for example, through a plaque in a local park. Watch the team pitch their solution here.

The judges commended the high calibre of each solution, and the winning idea was Comnext.

Nicole Gurran said "We thought this was a very innovative solution to a large challenge, with widespread applicably and ease of implementation. It also breaks down some barriers that have been in existence for a long time. We could see the real possibility in this solution. I was honoured to be on the judging panel for this showcase and inspired by the quality of project entries. Addressing critical societal challenges, each of the five projects demonstrated true innovation in proposing scalable solutions which, if implemented, would deliver true social benefits and more resilient communities."

The HUGGA Project took the People’s Choice Award with its idea to use vacant land and tiny houses to solve the affordable housing problem for youth coming out of the foster care system.

“Smart Seeds is a program which provides the ideal environment to foster innovation, connect people across multiple industries and go beyond single discipline thinking. As we approach the milestone of 10 years of Smart Seeds in Australia, it’s really impressive to see how the program has grown and the creative thinking that has come out of it,” says Emma Jones, Smart Seeds Program Lead.

• Collective Climate Resilience team: Genevieve Gittins, Stockland, Haneen Haj Ahmad, GHD Caitlin Neill, Sydney Water, Kaitlin Withers, Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation and Christopher Yip, McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd
• Comnext team: Jack de Lyster, Department for Infrastructure and Transport, Amanda Kerslake, Orange City Council, Poornima Khare, Sydney Water, Jacob Pickles, Stockland and Krystal Tang, GHD
• The HUGGA Project team: Bronte Ingram, GHD, Stephen Collins, Orange City Council,Catherine Liaw Curtin, Stockland, Effie Warren, Bridge Housing Limited and Haydn Franklin, Department for Infrastructure and Transport
• Place Insights team: Jessica Carson, GHD, Alex Frost, Sydney Water, Jack Holmes, Renewal SA, Ben Johnston, John Holland Group and Ally Morgan, Transport for NSW.
• Virtual Grandchild team: Isaac McCormack, GHD, Hayley Micah, McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd, Vini Tandel, Department for Infrastructure and Transport and Brodie Wilcox, GHD Digital.

Acerca de GHD

GHD es una empresa líder en servicios profesionales que opera en los mercados mundiales de agua, energía y recursos, medio ambiente, infraestructura y edificaciones, y transporte. Comprometidos con la visión de garantizar que el agua, la energía y las comunidades sean sostenibles para las futuras generaciones, GHD ofrece soluciones en consultoría, servicios digitales, ingeniería, arquitectura, medio ambiente y construcción a clientes del sector público y privado. Fundada en 1928 y propiedad de sus trabajadores, GHD cuenta con una red de más de 12.000 profesionales en más de 160 oficinas en cinco continentes.