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20 November 2018: An inclusive, inspiring place to encourage play across one’s lifespan will be the focus of the third Play, Creativity and Wellbeing Symposium, on 22 and 23 November at the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Museum of Australia.

Hosted by the at the University of Canberra’s , and the , the symposium will be coordinated by founder Dr Cathy Hope, Assistant Professor at the University’s Faculty of Arts & Design. It has spiraled out of her research on the importance of play throughout one’s life.

“The negative impacts of risk aversion, sedentary lifestyles, the commoditisation of pleasure, less time in nature, play deprivation in children, device-driven and mediated engagement, social isolation and an overworked society – all this has driven home the need for diverse, accessible forms of play for all ages, as a counter,” Dr Hope said.

“Canberra is an ideal place to hold the symposium, because it’s undergoing such a huge evolution,” she said. “Play is all about enlivening the city, being inclusive, active and proactive, diverse, progressive and creative.”

The symposium will feature a host of charismatic speakers from across the nation, including experts in place-making, play space design, the arts, parkour and ecology.

“There will be a huge diversity and variety of ideas, concepts and specialisations at the symposium, and these ideas will bounce off each other, grow and change,” Dr Hope said.

Here are some of the change-making speakers:

• Dr Troy Innocent, Senior Lecturer (Games and Interactivity) from the Smart Cities Research Institute at Melbourne’s Swinburne University will speak about what it takes to create whole playable cities, and hack urban public space.
• Anne Malloch thinks that people should feel as safe playing in darkness, as they do in the light. Team Leader for City Issues at the City of Melbourne, she’ll be sharing strategies she developed for creating a positive late night entertainment environment.
• Kate Luckcraft is theStudio Director of Aspect Studios in Sydney. She has advocated for integrated play space design and child-friendly cities for over 20 years, and will be talking about public space for play.
• Dr Alex Pavlotski, Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland, combines his love of counter-culture with an anthropological approach. He’ll be exploring the way parkour activates urban spaces.

“At the symposium, we aim to reclaim and reconfigure our connections with places and people in more imaginative, all-seasons, sustainable and immersive ways,” Dr Hope said. “It’s going to be an exciting event full of possibilities.”

The Play, Creativity and Wellbeing Symposium is sponsored by the City Renewal Authority, the ACT Government, and supported by the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Museum of Australia.

for symposium details and the full program.