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Kapp, Jessica Storm - Dyman Gallery | Contemporary Art

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Kapp, Jessica Storm - Dyman Gallery | Contemporary Art

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Jessica Storm Kapp Kapp is a creator currently working out of Stellenbosch, South Africa, where she also graduated with her egree in Fine Arts. Originally from Knysna, her current work explores the resonance of home through the uncovering of memories and remnants belonging to certain landscapes.

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Research, Affordable Housing, University of Melbourne

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Melbourne, Australia, is facing rapid population growth and a severe housing affordability crisis. Home purchase is among the least affordable in the world, and there is an acute shortage of low-cost rental housing.The Affordable Housing initiative was created to address these challenges. Challenges that can't be solved by one discipline alone.

About

The challenge

In the last two decades, house price growth has driven dramatic increases in wealth inequality in Australia. More affluent households have benefited from increased property values. At the same time lower-income households have seen large increases in their rental and mortgage payments.

For low-income households, decrease in housing affordability can:

limit access to jobs and essential services

negatively impact on physical and mental health

increase the risk of homelessness.

The combined pressures of population growth, demographic change, sustainability imperatives and equity challenges are driving an urgent need to better understand and deliver affordable housing in Australia.

Our research capability

The initiative acknowledges the complexity of housing systems and their role in supporting or inhibiting sustainability, social justice and economic stability. This is why it brings together researchers from numerous disciplines, including:

architecture

urban planning

property economics

public health

geography

economics

sociology.

The initiative is also supported by an advisory group of industry experts and includes collaboration with:

The initiative is creating new collaborative research into the supply of quality housing: its design, planning, affordability, accessibility and use. In the process it is developing an evidence base for solutions to contemporary housing issues.

And it is building on research already conducted as part of the Transforming Housing project.

Our approach

The initiative aims to make a positive contribution to social inclusion and equity by:

addressing changing demographic patterns

furthering sustainable approaches to urban development.

The initiative's mix of evidence and diverse expertise is creating integrated solutions to:

problems of housing markets and social inequality

the quality and amenity of living environments

urban intensification and sustainability

the management of growth.

Research outcomes, including positive changes that could be made across the housing system, are shared through:

internationally established formats such as housing expos

publications, public events, workshops and research forums.

Research themes

Research conducted through the initiative is organised into the following themes.

Markets and policy

This research area examines the market and policy transformations necessary to increase the supply of affordable housing. Research activities include:

These themes build on research conducted as part of the Transforming Housing project. One output of this project has been the Affordable Housing Calculator. It is an educational tool designed to model the likely impact of various incentives and affordable housing contributions on residential project feasibility.

A manual for the calculator is available. Contact affordable-housing@unimelb.edu.au if you or your organisation are interested in learning more about this tool.

Theme leader: Dr Ilan Wiesel, School of Geography

Design innovation

Through prototyping and modelling, this theme explores innovation in:

architectural and site design

infrastructure

engineering

manufacturing

building technology.

Research activities include:

Theme leader: Professor Alan Pert, Architecture Building and Planning

Health

The health theme explores how affordable housing can improve an individual's mental and physical health.

Research activities include:

identifying and articulating the benefits of affordable housing for health, education, welfare and sustainability

improving the quality of evidence on the relationship between housing and health

examining how unaffordable housing contributes to socio-economic and health inequalities

examining innovations in the supply of affordable housing to promote health and wellbeing.

Theme leader: Professor Rebecca Bentley, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

Design precedents

This theme explores the history of:

Research activities include:

Current research

Theme leader: Professor Paul Walker, Architecture Building and Planning

Sustainability

This theme explores housing using a triple bottom line of environmental, social and economic considerations. Key topics include:

identifying and articulating the benefits of sustainability for affordable housing

improving the quality of evidence on the relationship between housing and sustainability

examining how increasing sustainability in housing can be beneficial to broader environmental, social and economic agendas

identifying policy mechanisms in which to generate more sustainable housing in Australia with affordability at its core

examining innovations in the supply of sustainable and affordable housing to promote more resilient housing for all into the future.

Theme leader: Dr Georgia Warren-Myers, Architecture, Building and Planning

Watch the first session of the 2021 Housing Assembly Symposium

Full play list from the Melbourne School of Design 2021 Housing Assembly Symposium

021 Housing Assembly Symposium

Projects

Projects funded in 2021 include:

Beyond the surface of housing affordability stress: What is the role of financial wellbeing in explaining negative mental health effects?

The negative effect of housing affordability stress on mental health is widely established. However, as housing affordability stress, by definition, applies only to the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution, a narrow focus on income alone may distort the true picture, hampering our capacity to find solutions to this problem. We incorporate the concept of 'financial wellbeing'. Levels of financial wellbeing can vary widely across income levels. The concept measures the extent to which a person is able to meet their current expenses, has some money left over, is in control of their finances and feels financially secure, now and in the future (Muir et al., 2017). Considering financial wellbeing alongside housing affordability stress expands our understanding of the well documented negative impact of housing affordability stress on mental health. Utilising nationally representative Australian survey, this project will explore the roles, and potential explanatory power, of financial wellbeing in explaining the link between housing affordability stress on mental health.

Research team: Associate Professor Ilan Wiesel (CI) (Faculty of Science), Professor Rebecca Bentley and Dr Ang Li (both Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences) and Dr Ferdi Botha (Faculty of Business and Economics)

Housing typologies and asthma in Victoria: developing a tool for identifying health harming housing

Asthma is a major contributor to Australia's overall burden of disease. More than 11 per cent of Australians have asthma, resulting in more than 39,000 hospitalisations per year. In Australia asthma presentation is concentrated in 'affordable' housing, suggesting the strong role of social determinants in its causation. The objective of the project is to scope and design a research protocol for use in an application for funding. We will conduct a literature review to examine existing housing typologies in relation to asthma to audit and document the key attributes that contribute to it. A proposed framework will be tested by health practitioners and building scientists in a co-design process. In addition, we will scope and plan a protocol for combining Valuer General data on housing attributes and area-level health data on asthma in Victoria.

Research team: Professor Rebecca Bentley and Adelle Mansour (both Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences), Dr Georgia Warren-Myers and Dr Christopher Jensen (both Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning)

Empty heading fieldHealth and housing trajectories following climate-related natural disasters

Climate related natural disasters will increase in Australia into the future. We need to plan our housing response. The immediate effect of natural disaster events is disruption to housing security, housing condition, loss or damage of home, and displacement. Provision of affordable housing to people who experience floods, heatwaves, bushfires, cyclones, and other extreme weather events is a critical part of our emergency response. Importantly, these events have a profound effect on people's health, particularly their mental health and wellbeing subsequent to the experience. The right approach to housing assistance has the potential to greatly ameliorate the effect. This project aims to use longitudinal data collected over a 20-year period to describe the housing trajectories of people who experience natural disasters so as to inform the development of approaches to best address this pressing issue.

Research team: Dr Ang Li (CI), Professor Rebecca Bentley and Erika Martino (all Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences), Associate Professor Ilan Wiesel (Faculty of Science) and Dr Ferdi Botha (Faculty of Business and Economics)

An intergenerational visioning of affordable housing in a regional context

Housing affordability has been identified as a priority for the Echuca-Moama region of Victoria. Pressure from people moving from Melbourne to regional areas of Victoria in response to COVID- 19 lockdowns, enabled by support for people to work from home, has forced the costs of renting and buying up. On the pathway to finding solutions for this, is understanding residents' concerns and experiences, and engaging residents in solution generation. We propose a participatory co- design mixed method project that aims to engage key groups of interest in Echuca Moama (older people, First Nations people and school leavers) in the question of what affordable housing means to them. This will be the first project of its kind in the region and will lead to an application for further funding to extend the research findings.

Research team: Professor Rebecca Bentley (CI) and Associate Professor Jennifer Weller-Newton (Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (Rural Health)), Dr Kate Raynor (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning) and Associate Professor Danny Hills (Health Innovation and Transformation Centre, Federation University)

2020 projects

Ongoing projects funded in 2020 include:

Housing temperature impact on health inequalities: using computer science and simulation modelling

Living in cold housing leads to poorer health by promoting cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Housing conditions and housing financial stress are linked to socioeconomic position. This means that housing temperature contributes to health inequalities.

To investigate ways to prevent cold housing, the Population Interventions Unit at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health has developed SHINE (Scalable Health Intervention Evaluation). This tool combines epidemiological models and economic simulations to measure the effects of different interventions. For each one, SHINE evaluates:

the health gains (in health adjusted life years)

potential savings for the health system

SHINE uses the results of a previous Hallmark project on housing interventions. The tool splits populations into groups - for example, by level of income - for analysis, while ensuring that all groups are representative of the population as a whole.

We will compare targeted and population-wide interventions, such as:

hypothetical 'magic wand' interventions that completely remove lower temperatures. This will help us to see the total potential health gains.

retrofitting houses with insulation, stopping drafts, and making other repairs

providing financial help for home heating.

We will consider the cost per unit health gain for groups with different socioeconomic positions. The rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease are higher among people in lower socioeconomic groups. We expect that the health gains will be greater for these groups.

We will then compare the health and cost impacts of these interventions with those of other preventive interventions - such as tobacco tax and colorectal screening - using the Australia and New Zealand Health Intervention League Table (ANZ-HILT).

Research team: Dr Patrick Andersen, Professor Tony Blakely and Professor Rebecca Bentley (all Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), Dr Nic Geard (School of Computing and Information Systems) and Professor Alan Pert (Melbourne School of Design)

Fit for purpose:  Establishing regulatory clarity around housing for people with disabilities

The policies that regulate housing conditions in Australia are complex. Some are national in scope, some are state-based, and others are at a local council level. People with disabilities have added rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disability and other national and state-based anti-discrimination legislation.

The National Disability Insurance Agency governs the provision of services to people supported by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and who live in privately owned homes - either as homeowners or renters.

People with a disability need appropriate housing to move from group homes or residential facilities to the general community. Currently, state and federal governments expect the private sector to invest in and provide most of this new housing.

Three main areas of law cover housing for people with disabilities:

Construction codes designed to ensure that buildings are safe, healthy and fit for purpose

Legal rights for tenants, homeowners and people with disabilities

Government policy (enabled through the NDIS) around housing provision and requirements to access funding for disability.

We will examine issues in these areas that relate to housing investment in the disability sector. We will ask:

How do the legal responsibilities in these three areas support or inhibit investment in new dwellings?

Which responsibilities have legal precedence and so should be used to guide policies for housing people with disabilities?

How can we achieve consistency between the various Australian jurisdictions?

Can we make the governance around the disability housing sector clearer to allow effective investment from the private sector?

Research team: Dr Andrew Martel and Dr Vidal Paton-Cole (both Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Phillip Greenham (Melbourne Law School), Owen Jourdain (SDA Alliance), Tony Rutherford (Mills Oakley)

Remodeling  Build-To-Rent housing to bridge the gap between social housing and private rental market

There is not enough public and social housing. People who have been crowded out from the private rental market or who are under financial stress also lack housing options. The Victorian Housing Register has a waitlist of more than 50 000 people hoping to secure public housing. The proportion of people who are placed in social housing is also very low, at 10% per year.

Our research looks at housing options for low- and moderate-income earners. We aim to design architectural and financial solutions through the Build to Rent (BTR) model. BTR can bridge affordability gaps and serve as an intermediate solution between private rental and social housing.

We will analyse existing housing options and identify barriers to scaling up BTR models at a reduced cost. We will look at:

subsidised social BTR

private BTR

Build to Rent to Own (BTRTO).

We will research the levels of housing unaffordability for people who are:

low- and moderate-income earners

renting in social housing

entering the private rental market after leaving social housing.

Estimating the gap between market rent and household affordability is crucial to developing affordable BTR/BTRTO options.

We hope to develop a housing option between private and social housing that uses social equity and inclusion to:

improve housing accessibility for vulnerable households

reduce financial stress caused by housing unaffordability

prevent vulnerable households moving from private to social housing

decrease the burden on social housing by reducing entries and encouraging exit from social housing

encourage social renters to improve their job and income

enhance the personal and family wellbeing of social renters by speeding up exit decisions.

Research team: Dr Djordje Stojanovic, Dr Jyoti Shukla and Professor Piyush Tiwari (all Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Erika Martino (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health) and Dr Yi-Ping Tseng (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research)

Housing market dynamics and affordability in extractive resource-based communities: a comparative study of Australia and Chile

Mining industries are fundamental to the Australian and Chilean economies. But they also expose them to commodity price cycles. The economic fortunes of resource-based regions are linked to housing market dynamics and housing affordability. However, we lack knowledge of these relationships. We also lack information on:

the economic link between housing and commodity price cycles in Australia and Chile

how housing market dynamics differ at the national, state and local levels

how the property sector responds to commodity cycles

the effectiveness of policy interventions related to mining boom and decline.

We lack accurate and comprehensive data on housing issues at federal, state and local levels. This makes policy interventions less effective. High housing prices in mining regions have:

discouraged permanent residents

reduced attachment to place and participation in community

squeezed out key workers

amplified the socioeconomic conditions of vulnerable groups

increased skills shortages for mining and supporting industries

made it harder for the regions to diversify their economy for a more resilient future.

Our team will address these gaps in knowledge. We will study housing market dynamics, affordability challenges and policy responses. We will focus on national, regional (Pilbara and Antofagasta) and local resource-based areas (Karratha and Antofagasta city) in Australia and Chile.

Research team: Dr Julie Miao (Architecture, Building and Planning), Dr Martin Arias-Loyola and Professor Miguel Atienza (both Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile), Dr José-Francisco Vergara-Perucich (Universidad de las Américas, Chile), Dr Ilan Wiesel (Geography), Professor Gavin Wood (RMIT University), Professor Rachel Ong ViforJ (Curtin University) and Professor Chris Leishmann (University of Adelaide)

The impact of COVID-19 on share households in Victoria: Vulnerability, precarity and resilience

We will investigate the experiences of renters living in share housing before and after COVID-19 shelter-in-place rules were introduced in Victoria. We will use the concepts of stressors and resilience to investigate how the pandemic affected renters. This includes effects on their financial and social circumstances and their health and wellbeing.

The project uses an online survey followed by in-depth interviews. We aim to understand:

the impacts of COVID on share households

the range of coping mechanisms and resources that people used to manage these stressors.

This work is particularly relevant in the context of previously unthinkable housing outcomes. They include rent freezes, mortgage holidays and the threat of mass mortgage defaults.

Research team: Dr Katrina Raynor (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning) and Dr Laura Panza (Faculty of Business and Economics)

2019 projects

Ongoing projects funded in 2019 include:

Is leaving public housing a reality? An exploration of housing challenges faced by Melbourne's African migrants and refugees

Until recently, long-term housing conditions for African migrants and refugees have been unexplored. This project is investigating how African migrants arrive, adapt and integrate in Melbourne.

This population faces many challenges including unstable housing. They also experience racism, limited access to employment, and health and education inequalities. These stresses add to existing trauma and create barriers to the resettlement process.

The project is investigating whether these adverse conditions cause homelessness or force families into substandard housing.

The interdisciplinary research team worked is working with marginalised communities to shed light on their experiences and challenges. The team includes experts in:

communities and housing

built environment

refugee resettlement.

Research team: Dr Sandra Carrasco Mansilla. Professor Sun Sheng Han, Dr Majdi Faleh, Neeraj Dangol (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Dr Ashleigh Haw (Melbourne Social Equity Institute)

Collaborators: Haileluel Gebre-Selassie (Africa Think Tank), Professor Gonzalo Lizarralde, and Faten Kikano (University of Montreal).

Post WWII apartments: analysing medium density housing precedents for contemporary Melbourne

This project is exploring previous efforts to increase housing density in inner and middle suburban Melbourne.

The central question is how can we preserve Melbourne's distinctive character while providing housing for a booming population?

This project brings together architects, architectural historians and social historians. Together, they're analysing and photographing post-war medium-density housing, in particular, the classic 'six-pack' apartment block.

The output of this work will combine social and historical research and design analysis. It will assess the achievements and failures of attempts to increase density in inner and middle suburbs. Its aim is to influence and inform contemporary design and policy.

Research team: Professor Philip Goad, Professor Paul Walker, Catherine Townsend, Dr Amanda Achmadi (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), and Professor Andrew May (School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, Faculty of Arts)

Collaborators: Dr Tom Alves (RMIT University), Stefan Preuss (Office of the Victorian Government Architect), John Gollings Photography.

Evaluation of the Safe Place Pilot Program

More than a third of the people accessing the Victorian homelessness system in 2015-16 cite intimate partner violence as the cause. So, there is a clear link between women's homelessness and intimate partner violence. Meanwhile, there's a shortage of emergency housing in Melbourne.

Safe Steps and its partners are piloting a program that uses vacant homes in Melbourne's private real estate market to help fill this gap. This provides women with quality, affordable and safe emergency housing.

This project includes researchers in urban planning, housing economics, public health and geography. Working with Safe Steps and their partners, they're creating a model for socially and economically sustainable emergency housing.

This project was also awarded an additional A$5000 from the Melbourne Disability Institute. The institute recognises that women with disability are a large part of the population group that needs to access safe housing.

Research team: Erika Martino, Professor Rebecca Bentley (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), Dr Andrew Martel (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Ilan Wiesel (School of Geography).

Collaborators: Safe Place, Save the Children, Safe Steps.

Modelling the health impact of housing interventions in Australia: an indoor temperature pilot

In the past, it's been difficult to compare the health impacts of housing interventions as there's been limited data. So, policy decisions have been made with limited information.

This project has changed that. Soon, policymakers will be able to use a new simulation tool to understand the potential impact of housing interventions on health. Specifically, which measures produce the best health outcomes at the best price. This is also known as a cost-to-health-benefit ratio.

This sort of modelling is being piloted on the indoor temperature of housing. Researchers are assessing the health gains from improving indoor temperature, which has cost-of-living and health implications.

Previously, this sort of modelling has been applied in the context of tobacco control, nutrition and cancer screening.

Areas of expertise in this project include knowledge of simulation modelling, epidemiology, statistics, economics and housing.

Research team: Dr Ankur Singh, Professor Rebecca Bentley, (Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), Dr Julie Miao (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Dr Saber Dini, Professor Tony Blakely (Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health)

Collaborators: Dr Lyrian Daniel, Professor Emma Baker (University of Adelaide), Dr Anja Mizdrak (University of Otago)

Is Neoliberalism driving a need for new skillsets for urban planners, developers and government stakeholders? A case study of Melbourne

New planning mechanisms were introduced by the Victorian Government in 2018. Their aim was to facilitate the supply of affordable housing. They allow authorities such as local councils to enter into voluntary agreements with landowners to deliver affordable housing as part of new developments.

The success of these voluntary affordable housing agreements will inevitably rely on negotiation. This project will investigate how developers, planners and government can reach a mutually beneficial outcome.

Through a social responsibility lens, the team is drawing on psychological theories to understand stakeholders' capacity to negotiate.

The project is producing a framework to be developed further into action research to enhance negotiations of voluntary affordable housing agreements in Victoria.

Researchers within the project have expertise in property, urban planning, marketing and geography.

Research team: Dr Georgia Warren-Myers, Dr Katrina Raynor (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), Professor Angela Paladino, Dr Madeline Judge (Marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics)

Collaborators: Dr Matthew Palm, University of Toronto

Research spotlight & resources

Spotlight

Housing market dynamic and affordability in resource-based communities

Julie Miao, Nick Phelps, Martin Arias-Loyola, Miguel Atienza Ubeda, José-Francisco Vergara-Perucich, Ilan Wiesel, Chris Leishman, Rachel Ong, Gavin Wood and Le Ma

Read the fresh evidence on the relationship between mining commodity price super cycles and housing market dynamics in resource-based cities and towns. Understand how the facts that metropolitan areas have been absorbing the bulk of wealth and labour generated by the resource boom, and that public expenditure in remote mining regions remains comparatively low, and indeed tend to reproduce a development framework oriented towards extraction rather than diversification, have resulted in a more inelastic and vulnerable regional housing markets. Such vulnerability is further aggravated during the current COVID situation.

An informative report for policymakers, researchers, mining community activists, not-for-profit organisations, and anyone interested in resource-led development, affordable housing, social justice, indigenous rights, and social equity.

Read the report

A home for the diaspora - from the Horn of Africa to Melbourne's public housing

Sandra Carrasco, Neeraj Dangol and Majdi Faleh

Read the stories of migrants and refugees from the Horn of Africa in Melbourne's public housing estates.

Understand how identity - including cultural values and religious practices - informs their lives. Learn how residents, families and communities have developed through determination and resilience, despite the challenges of forced migration due to war, poverty and unrest.

Download the book
A book for policymakers, researchers, social workers, humanitarian, religious and non-profit organisations, and anyone interested in social justice, refugees' studies, migrants and integration, and social equity.

The impact of COVID-19 on members of share houses in Victoria

Research from the Affordable Housing Hallmark has revealed the significant impact of COVID-19 on members of share houses in Victoria.

Read the report
Key findings include:

Almost three quarters of survey respondents have lost their job or had their hours reduced

50% report a reduction in their mental health

50% say their financial situation has worsened since the start of COVID-19

Young people, visa-holders and people in casual employment have been particularly impacted

Access to supportive social networks and JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments are the most important resources supporting Victorians living in share houses.

Why staying home during a pandemic can increase risk for some

As coronavirus infections began to rise in Australia, the government ordered people to stay home. "If you can stay at home, you must stay at home" has become the motto for good citizenship, and our primary weapon against a cureless pandemic. But, over less than two months, the experience of staying home exposed the inadequacy of housing for many people. Housing features such as tenure, density and design have become key factors determining people's ability to:

stay home

work or study from home

isolate from other members of the household if necessary

more generally, protect themselves and others from the risk of contracting coronavirus.

Read the discussion paper
Housing inequalities have always compounded and reflected inequalities in health, wellbeing, and productivity. The imperative to stay home during COVID-19 has amplified these effects. Alongside individual characteristics such as poor health, low income, age, and gender, housing related issues are significant factors affecting people's vulnerability and varied experiences of the pandemic.

The way that people are housed matters more than ever. And the consequences for people's health, mental health and economic security are greater than they have been in most of our lifetimes.

We are looking at the ways housing has cushioned or amplified experiences of vulnerability or resilience during COVID19.

Read the response

Submissions, responses and housing commentary

Read the response
Response to the City of Melbourne's draft Affordable Housing Strategy

We commend the City of Melbourne on their efforts to provide clarity around affordable housing negotiations and share their view that State-level movement towards mandatory inclusionary zoning is a far more effective affordable housing strategy. Yet local councils should not be complacent.

View the report
We call on City of Melbourne (and all councils) to be ambitious in pushing for affordable housing in all medium to large developments.

Response to the Victorian Ten Year Social and Affordable Housing Strategy Discussion Paper
View the calculator manual (PDF)
We are glad to see a commitment to a 10-Year Social and Affordable Housing Strategy for Victoria. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the Victorian Government to develop a long-term, consistent policy environment that:

Access the calculator

Recommendations for local government housing strategies

We have compiled a list of 7 key recommendations for Affordable Housing Strategies across local government in Victoria. They are:

Email us to join

1. Use local government land for social housing

2. Advocate for state-wide mandatory inclusionary zoning

3. Embed social and affordable housing contributions in all planning scheme amendment proposals

4. Strengthen relationships between developers, community housing providers and local council

5. Advocate to State and Federal government for more social housing in your area

6. Acknowledge that government intervention is essential to delivering affordable housing

7. Build internal capacity and capability in the area of housing and homelessness

Tools and resources

Affordable Housing Calculator

This educational tool designed to model the likely impact of various incentives and affordable housing contributions on residential project feasibility.

Contact affordable-housing@unimelb.edu.au if you or your organisation are interested in learning more about this tool.

Housing PhD Network

The Housing PhD Network is a place for PhD students from any disciplines to get together and talk housing. Planned activities for 2021 include a monthly online reading group and small seminars from fellow graduate researchers.

The network is driven by PhD students and supported by the Affordable Housing Hallmark Research Initiative.

Housing Access Rating Tool - HART

HART is a 20 point tool that scores Greater Melbourne and Geelong for access to key social services, amenities and public transport.

This tool is intended to help decision makers identify locations for future affordable and social housing. The map also highlights government-owned land with the potential to support affordable housing across Greater Melbourne.

Learn more about the methodology, sites and opportunities in the Project 3000 Producing Social and Affordable Housing on Government Land report.

Go to the tool

Watch: Affordable Housing Hallmark Seminars

Take a deep dive into topics such as housing for people with disabilities, crisis accommodation for survivors of domestic violence, history of post-war apartments in Australia, how housing affects health and the housing challenges faced by Melbourne's African migrants.

View all sessions

A home for the diaspora - book launch and panel discussion

People

Steering Committee

Academic Convenor
Dr Kate Raynor
Project Coordinator

Holly Jones
affordable-housing@unimelb.edu.au

News and events

Funding

The 2021 seed funding round has now closed. Explore the fu nded projects .

More information

If you're outside the University and would like to start or get involved with a project, please contact Holly Jones at affordable-housing@unimelb.edu.au

Connect

For more information about the Affordable Housing Hallmark Research Initiative, email Holly Jones at affordable-housing@unimelb.edu.au

If you have questions or comments about the Hallmark Research Initiatives program, email hallmark-initiatives@unimelb.edu.au

Housing PhD Network

The Housing PhD Network is a place for PhD students from any disciplines to get together and talk housing. Planned activities for 2021 include a monthly online reading group and small seminars from fellow graduate researchers.

The network is driven by PhD students and supported by the Affordable Housing Hallmark Research Initiative.

To join the network, email affordable-housing@unimelb.edu.au

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Melbourne, Australia, is facing rapid population growth and a severe housing affordability crisis. Home purchase is among the least affordable in the world, and there is an acute shortage of low-cost rental housing.The Affordable Housing initiative was created to address these challenges. Challenges that can't be solved by one discipline alone.

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Circular economy introduction

In our current economy, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste - the process is linear. In a circular economy, by contrast, we stop waste being produced in the first place.

The circular economy is based on three principles, driven by design:

It is underpinned by a transition to renewable energy and materials. A circular economy decouples economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. It is a resilient system that is good for business, people and the environment.

The circular economy is a systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution.

We must transform every element of our take-make-waste system: how we manage resources, how we make and use products, and what we do with the materials afterwards. Only then can we create a thriving circular economy that can benefit everyone within the limits of our planet.

A way to transform our system

What will it take to transform our throwaway economy into one where waste is eliminated, resources are circulated, and nature is regenerated?

The circular economy gives us the tools to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss together, while addressing important social needs.

It gives us the power to grow prosperity, jobs, and resilience while cutting greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and pollution.

How the circular economy works

Get the basics or explore the circular economy in detail.

Circular economy principles

A circular economy is based on three principles, all driven by design.

Circular economy examples

See the circular economy in action with these case studies from brands, businesses and policy makers.

Apeel

thredUP

Natura Brazil

Working with nature to make food last longer

Apeel is a company that has come up with an innovative way to eliminate single-use shrink wrap plastic packaging on fresh fruit and veg, while at the same time tackling food waste.

Apeel is a layer of edible, plant-based coating applied to fresh products that mimics and enhances the natural defences of fruit and vegetables. This slows down the two main things that cause spoilage - water loss and oxidation.

explore the example

Video series: What is the circular economy?

Explore the circular economy by topic

Resources, guidance and tools

Use our practical tools and resources to put circular principles into practice and find courses and materials for learners and teachers.

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In our current economy, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste - the process is linear. In a circular economy, by contrast, we stop waste being produced in the first place. It is underpinned by a transition to renewable energy and materials.

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Frances Richard: I want to talk about the readings, images, and so forth that will be made available to students and teachers - and anyone, really - through your open-access website, and to hear more about the nuts and bolts of what you and Suzi Hall have assembled, the categories and typologies you're setting forth for students to think through. But first, let's talk a bit about the conceptual linkages among "race," "space," and "architecture." You, Hall and Thandi Loewenson have framed the proposal for decolonial and antiracist curricula in architecture and design schools by noting that such materials take up three broad and complicated tasks. These pedagogical projects point, as you explain it,

first, to a recognition of and engagement with entanglements and multiplicities; second, to an understanding of race-making and space-making as foundational to modernity (and intimately present in architecture, whether spoken or not); and third, to a conscious questioning of boundaries between methods or fields or archives - asking in particular what it means to talk of these methods or fields or archives from their margins.

Could you hone in on this triple agenda? Specifically, could you say more about how race-making and the kinds of space-making that attend it are "intimately present in architecture," and what this means for teaching young designers and architects?

Huda Tayob: To consider race-making and space-making as intrinsically entangled is to draw on a long tradition of Black radical thought. In The Critique of Black Reason (2017), Achille Mbembe builds on work by scholars such as Frantz Fanon, C.L.R. James, Aimé Césaire, and Édouard Glissant, who have argued that constructions of the raced body and of Blackness emerged with the development of the Atlantic slave trade; the Middle Passage helped to establish racial capitalism, modern systems of banking and insurance, and the concept of particular bodies as available for dispossession. Saidiya Hartman takes this on too, bringing in questions of gender and showing that the Middle Passage was in many ways the "belly of the world," where the raced body was produced through a violent rebirth. Mbembe's argument extends to what he calls the "becoming Black of the world" in the contemporary context, pointing to increasing precarity in which large populations can be deemed superfluous.

To consider race-making and space-making as intrinsically entangled is to draw on long traditions of Black radical thought.

At the same time, much of this writing speaks not only of structural violence and inequality, but also open-ended possibility. For Glissant, "the open boat" and the archipelago of the Caribbean are simultaneously sites of extreme brutality and of potential for a radically inclusive remaking of reality - as he writes, "Our boats are open, and we sail them for everyone." Treating race as foundational to modernist epistemologies responds to a rich tradition of sociological, historical, and poetic thought, and asks what this tradition might mean for architecture. The study of these histories demonstrates, we hope, that by paying attention to the violence in our economies, institutions, and curricula, we can begin to generate alternative approaches.

We encourage students to consider a variety of constructed and entangled methods, fields, and archives, and to engage with both the materiality of architecture and the ways in which the discipline is defined. What counts as "architecture" and where do we find it? These curricula ask students to consider the labor that lays the foundation or forms the backdrop for architectural undertakings - whether those are important buildings by major practitioners, or marginal constructions; whether suburbs or slums; city centers or peripheries; detention centers or so-called black sites; and so on. This work asks young architects to understand all building practices as enmeshed with one another, as racialized, and as constitutive of the world that we inhabit.

Since the 1990s, we have seen a series of efforts to globalize architectural history, including the recently published and reworked edition of Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture (2019), and establishment of the Global Architectural Teaching Collaborative. These have offered insightful critiques of 19th-century approaches to the discipline and are incredibly ambitious in their scope. Yet they tend to maintain very particular ideas about architecture as a discipline, and about the survey course as central to how architectural history might be taught. In contrast, what is important in the "Race, Space, and Architecture" curriculum is not to diversify a set of teaching materials in order to include "non-western" geographies, but rather to question the underpinnings of the discipline in the first place. This is a significant shift in that, as I said before, the imperative is to question not only where we find knowledge, but how we produce it. This reframing acknowledges racialized absences as implicit and structural, and asks students and teachers to see geographies and institutions as interconnected by systems of global capital. For, as Edward Said reminds us, "to read Austen without also reading Fanon and Cabral - and so on and so on - is to disaffiliate modern culture from its engagements and attachments." Said is making a larger argument, but in regard to Jane Austen he is talking about the novel Mansfield Park (1814), where the beauty and stature of the English country house Mansfield Park is dependent on the fact that its owner, Thomas Bertram, also owns a slave plantation in Antigua. So Austen's story is in part about how one apparently non-racialized architecture depends directly on another, violently racialized one - even while the novel almost completely glosses over the issue.

FR: I have two questions, and they seem to pull in different directions. But maybe they're more related than I think; maybe, ultimately, they're parts of just one question.

What does it mean to encourage an architecture or landscape student to read Aimé Césaire or Édouard Glissant - or to make a decolonial reading of Jane Austen?

First, I'd like to hear more about what it means to encourage an architecture or landscape student to read Césaire or Glissant - or, for that matter, to make a decolonial-architectural reading of Austen. Do architects learn differently when they learn from poets or novelists, and how so? And, further: Do you think that architects can be more intelligently critical about racialized histories and spatialized inequities when they learn from "entangled methods, fields, and archives" that exist outside the discipline's conventional boundaries? What particular lessons or insights do such "creative" texts make possible for architects?

The second question is to ask more about the discursive and historical archives you mention that originate in South Africa, or elsewhere in the global south. What are the key ideas or technics or epistemologies you are referencing? And how does the definition of "architecture" change when these traditions are included?

HT: I'll try and answer these two questions in one, as I do think they are closely related.

For Césaire, poetry is transformative and, indeed, potentially revolutionary. It is not simply a way of talking about or to a world, but also a laying-out of possibilities for a different future. Our argument for understanding architecture in part through other disciplines is guided by an interest in that which is silenced in the architectural archive. We ask students to pay attention to those spaces, practices, and subjects that are typically erased when lineages are constructed, or never considered in the first place.

Incorporating poetry in architectural curricula is a way of speaking back to disciplinary boundaries and epistemic framings. Africa, for example, does not even appear on Fletcher's Tree of Architecture (1896). When we look to other archives and epistemologies, we interrupt assumptions that these disciplines or traditions include no content relevant to "architecture." We insist instead that these bodies of knowledge can tell us about building and space-making practices; offer commentaries on urban experience; and instantiate creative means of world-making.

We interrupt assumptions that these disciplines or traditions include no content relevant to 'architecture.'

Let me describe two essays included in our curriculum, both of which present these kinds of expanded possibilities and definitions. One is "Kitchen Language" (2014) by Gabeba Baderoon, which discusses the intimate space of the domestic kitchen. The other is by Nadia Ellis, titled "New Orleans and Kingston: A Beginning, A Recurrence" (2015), which compares New Orleans "bounce" hip-hop with Jamaican dancehall reggae. Each deals with plantation or post-plantation society. Baderoon draws on visual art, fiction, community cookbooks, and interviews with cooks to consider the violent histories of domestic labor at the Cape - where, as she writes, "From the period of slavery to apartheid, the South African kitchen has been a site of harrowing intimacy, power, knowledge and invisible ideological contest, with profound cultural effects." Baderoon might not be talking about rooms as designed by architects. But we can read her work as architects, and this can help to unsettle typical architectural-historical understandings of the Cape Dutch gabled homestead. Ellis's essay on New Orleans and Kingston is not an architectural text per se either - but it compares musical cultures in two post-plantation situations, taking the reader through performance and dance venues, street festivals, and other city scenes. These two examples move between popular culture, field or site, and colonial inheritances. They don't return to groups of architects who might not be fully represented in disciplinary history - however important that work of revisiting disregarded careers might be. Instead, essays like these point to creative and embodied acts on the part of ordinary people, processes of claiming and making space in various contexts of extreme repression. This is what I mean when I speak about recognizing alternative archives.

A further example is the 1966 film by Ousmane Sembene, La Noire de.... This film follows the protagonist, Diouana, as she moves between multiple locales in post-independence Dakar, Senegal: her home in an informal settlement; the city center; the suburban house where she works as a nanny; and eventually an apartment in Antibes, in the south of France, where she moves as a domestic helper.

Materials like these point to creative and embodied acts on the part of ordinary people, processes of claiming space in contexts of extreme repression.

In the 1960s, there were very few African commentaries on urban or architectural space that explicitly positioned themselves as such, and for me, this film is a really important archive of modern architecture. Many of the scenes are constructed to mimic the orthographic projections that are foundational to architectural description, with lingering shots that celebrate the materiality and technics of tropical architecture in West Africa and high-modernist apartments in France. Yet the film simultaneously critiques the racialization of modern cities, in both the global south and north. Sembene looks at spaces that are fundamental to the reproduction of cities as such, yet often ignored in architectural discussions. At the same time, what distinguishes La Noire de... from documentary is its imagining of possibilities for living otherwise, within and around the built spaces where Diouana finds herself. While essentially a tragedy, the film depicts an embodied view of the modern city with a protagonist who is an African woman and a migrant worker, pointing to the centrality of Blackness to modernity more generally.

Part of this curriculum project, then, is to suggest a reading of architecture - as a discipline, a history, a set of practices, and a way of teaching and learning - that does not just point to the epistemic violence we commit when we absent discussions of race and racialization, but rather suggests a reappraisal of archives, to allow for what Said calls a polyphonic reading.

FR: I was in a meeting recently (on Zoom, of course), where a sizeable group of senior academics, most but not all from the U.S., were discussing the many calls for proactive antiracist change that have been resounding in design schools since the murder of George Floyd. One dean summed up what he was thinking in this way: "Curriculum, curriculum, curriculum." So let's talk about what the "Race, Space, and Architecture" curriculum contains.

The resources are divided into seven parts or "frames": Centralising, Circulating, Domesticating, Extracting, Immobilising, and Incarcerating, as well as a section on General Readings. The Baderoon and Ellis texts are part of the Extracting section, and Sembene's film is in the Domesticating section. Altogether, there are some 180 entries. Could you talk about the choice to structure this huge amount of material around these "frames"? It interests me that all your key terms have to do with movement. And the movements are transitive; you centralize or circulate or extract something; you domesticate or immobilize or incarcerate someone.

HT: In working through the relationship between race and architecture, we are questioning the production of both, and asking how race and architecture coalesce in order to render populations disposable. These processes are not fixed, but reproduced across space and time. Racialized populations are relegated to the "edge," or "outside," to positions as "other," through cultural patterns that prioritize ownership and property, yet extend far beyond. This wider framing or extension beyond the literal foregrounds antiracist and anti-colonial resistance.

Each of the six frames contains, in turn, a series of sub-framings of spatial processes, along with a set of spatial typologies. For example, sub-framings in the section on Extracting include "mining, industrializing, disaccumulating, harboring, farming, scaling, dumping, and off-shoring," along with the spatial typologies of "factories, ports, plantations, mines, zones of exception, and tax havens." Extractive mining might be understood in relation to practices of off-shoring, and plantations read in relation to tax havens. Some of the framings overlap (and certainly they also omit). But each helps students to think about particular arrangements of political and economic power, arrays that move from the intimate to the national and global, and back.

Each section aims to bring together a range of geographies, which enables us to consider very different situations and locations as being in conversation. To start with a spatial process as a verb is to emphasize that racial ordering does not end with colonialism or slavery, for instance, but is repeated continually into the present. Such ordering is not arbitrary or incidental. It operates at the level of the raced body - but also, decisively, at the level of social structures that (following Christina Sharpe) define the raced body as "constitutively outside."

FR: Would you say that an aim of the curriculum is to bring variously raced bodies "inside" architecture, "inside" the academy? Or does a pedagogy like this aspire to unravel the discourses of architecture and the academy, their power as conceptual and practical locations, more comprehensively? It's true, of course, that a discipline changes when its practitioners change; the classroom changes when students who haven't always been in the room are reading texts that haven't often been taught. But are your aims still broader?

Is there a sense in which the aspiration is to move beyond the university?

I realize I'm asking a version of the old "reform or revolution" question. Update or undo? Enlarge or dismantle? In a sense, I think the answer is always both. And I guess we have to ask if it's even possible, in the deepest sense, to bring an "outside" "in" - given what Sharpe says about the constitutive role of that-which-is-marked, as establishing and protecting that-which-is-centered, that-which-is-unmarked ... Still, I'm moved to ask, because you're making the curriculum open-access. How does this choice inform the project as a whole? Is there a sense in which the aspiration is to move beyond the university?

HT: I don't see this as project at seeking to further diversify architecture curricula. The aim to diversify often maintains the status quo, where difference is still "other" and only tolerated in a limited sense. I think a project of this nature has to have broader aims; perhaps it is about "undoing" architecture as it exists within its disciplinary constraints. Both our assembling of the curriculum and its circulation in an open-access format aim to challenge institutional cultures of containment and limited access.

Centering race means dealing directly with the violence of modernity and history. At the same time, in the curriculum we write, "architecture is a way of imagining, building, and validating a world. It is bricks and mortar; the interior arrangements of culture in the positioning of thresholds, openings and objects; and the accumulation of these built forms and practices into social forms of association and dis-association." And so, while we talk to the violence of modernity, it is also important to recall anti-colonial and antiracist practices of resistance, and other ways of imagining the world in both the past and present. I see the beginnings of this in the inclusion of texts, projects, films, and other material that recognize spatial practices of resistance, maroonage, and creativity, despite extreme deprivation.

Centering race means dealing with the violence of modernity and history. At the same time, architecture is a way of imagining, building, and validating a world.

Making this curriculum open-access draws attention to the economies of higher education, in which so many lack access. Paywalls and restrictions on library are institutional architectures that operate on a global scale. So while we are fully aware of limitations of online platforms, it remains important to make as many of these resources as possible downloadable and open-access. The curriculum was first developed through a series of workshops in London with varied groups of contributors and respondents. And Suzi, Thandi, and I all see the online version, launched just recently, as part of a larger set of projects too. The website format allows us to make this constellated form visible, and to continuously build links and add resources. Tariq Jazeel (in the Centralising frame) refers to Gayatri Spivak's concept of "planetarity," in which radical alterity is seen as offering expanded possibilities for justice. For us, this curriculum is not a singular answer to architecture's complicity in structures of race and power. Rather, it is one additional resource among many other efforts that already exist, and those that are being built as we speak.

So in addition to the six "frames," there are three sections of the website that, as we go forward, will be populated with expanded responses and elaborations. The section titled Constellations contains a growing list of extra references, resources, and projects. There is also a series of Soundings, short recordings or voice notes from authors whose work is included in the curriculum, and from students who have engaged with the project in beta form at the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art and the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Johannesburg. The third response section is Engagements, where we will soon post an initial trio of commissioned pieces by Tinashe Mushakavanhu, Gloria Pavita, and Sara Salem (we hope to have these live in October 2020). These three sections of the curriculum look outward, opening up dialogue with still wider ideas - so that all of us who take part in the project can continue to develop our world-makings.

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Frances Richard: I want to talk about the readings, images, and so forth that will be made available to students and teachers - and anyone, really - through your open-access website, and to hear more about the nuts and bolts of what you and Suzi Hall have assembled, the categories and typologies you're setting forth for students to think through.

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2019 Global Report (En,Fr,Sp) - Equal Measures 2030

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The 2019 EM2030 SDG Gender Index

In the 2019 Global Report "Harnessing the power of data for gender equality: Introducing the 2019 EM2030 SDG Gender Index", we introduce the 2019 SDG Gender Index. The index is the most comprehensive tool available to explore the state of gender equality across 129 countries (covering 95% of the world's girls and women), 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and 51 targets linked to issues inherent in the SDGs.
The 2019 SDG Gender Index finds that, with just 11 years to go until 2030, nearly 40% of the world's girls and women - 1.4 billion - live in countries failing on gender equality.
Another 1.4 billion live in countries that "barely pass". Even the highest-scoring countries have more to do, particularly on complex issues such as climate change, gender budgeting and public services, equal representation in powerful positions, gender pay gaps, and gender-based violence. No country in the world has reached the "last mile" on gender equality.

2019 Global Report Overview

Section 1: A foreword from EM2030's partners: The African Women's Development and Communication Network ( ), The Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women ( ), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , the Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Defense of Women's Rights ( ), , International Women's Health Coalition ( ), , ONE Campaign , Plan International , Women Deliver .

Section 2: Key findings from the 2019 EM2030 SDG Gender Index.

Section 3: Introducing the 2019 EM2030 SDG Gender Index, the approach, what makes this index unique and how the findings should be interpreted.

Section 4: Key global findings, patterns and comparisons of index scores between and within the different regions: Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, The Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa.

Section 5: Regional overviews of index scores and gender equality context, and thematic deep drives on 1) inequalities in girls' education, 2) women in science and technology research positions, 3) girls' and women's physical safety, 4) legal barriers for women, 5) women in government.

Section 6: Leaving no one behind: multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination of girls and women.

Section 7: Recommendations for actions.

Section 8: Annexes including the indicator framework, methodology and design of the index.

Download 2019 SDG Gender Index Graphs

SDG Gender Index, Issues, Figure 1

SDG Gender Index, Country Scores, Map, Figure 2

SDG Gender Index, Number of Girls and Women Living in Countries by Index Score Grouping, Figure 3

SDG Gender Index, Countries by Index Score Grouping, Figure 4

SDG Gender Index, Index Scores and National Per Capita Income, Figure 5

SDG Gender Index, Global Scores by Goals, Figure 6

SDG Gender Index, Index Scores Asia and the Pacific, Figure 7

Proportion of Ministerial/Senior Government Positions Held by Women, Figure 8

Secondary Education Attainment Among Women, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Figure 9

SDG Gender Index, Index Scores Europe and North America, Figure 10

Women in STEM Research and STEM Expenditure, Europe and North America, Figure 11

Extent of Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Rights in Law, Figure 12

SDG Gender Index, Index Scores Latin America and the Caribbean, Figure 13

Proportions of Women Justices on a Country's Supreme Court of Higher Court, Figure 14

Women's Perception of Feeling Safe Walking Alone at Night and Female Homicide Rates, Figure 15

SDG Gender Index, Index Scores Middle East and North Africa, Figure 16

Proportion of Women Who Have Made or Received Digital Payments in the Past Year, Figure 17

Extent of Legal Barriers That Women Face in Work and Land Ownership, Figure 18

SDG Gender Index, Index Scores Sub-Saharan Africa, Figure 19

Climate Vulnerability Score in Sub-Saharan Africa, Figure 20

Proportion of Ministerial or Senior Government Roles Held by Women, Figure 21

Awareness, Attitude Towards, and Prevalence of Female Circumcision by Ethnic Group of Household Head in Nigeria, Figure 22

Median Earnings by Selected Characteristics in the United States, Figure 23

Global Estimates of New HIV Infections Among 15-24 Year Olds by Sex, Figure 24

Employment Rates for Persons With and Without Disabilities by Sex in 51 Countries, Figure 25

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2019 Global Report (En,Fr,Sp) - Equal Measures 2030

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In the 2019 Global Report "Harnessing the power of data for gender equality: Introducing the 2019 EM2030 SDG Gender Index", we introduce the 2019 SDG Gender Index. The index is the most comprehensive tool available to explore the state of gender equality across 129 countries (covering 95% of the world's girls and women), 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and 51 targets linked to issues inherent in the SDGs.

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Gender disparities are a persistent form of inequality in every country. Despite remarkable progress in some areas, no country in the world-rich or poor-has achieved gender equality. All too often, women and girls are discriminated against in health, in education, at home and in the labour market-with negative repercussions for their freedoms.

This is the time for a reality check. The commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25) provides an opportunity to reassess the path to gender equality and adjust actions to close gender gaps.

The Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education, and contains data from 75 countries, covering over 80 percent of the world's population.

The analysis reveals that, despite decades of progress closing the equality gap between men and women, close to 90 percent of men and women hold some sort of bias against women, providing new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality.

According to the index, about half of the world's men and women feel that men make better political leaders, and over 40 percent feel that men make better business executives and that men have more right to a job when jobs are scarce. 28 percent think it is justified for a man to beat his wife.

The publication also includes the GSNI trends for 31 countries, representing 59 percent of the global population. The trends show that while in some countries there have been improvements, in others, attitudes appear to have worsened in recent years, signaling that progress cannot be taken for granted.

Downloads:

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Gender disparities are a persistent form of inequality in every country. Despite remarkable progress in some areas, no country in the world-rich or poor-has achieved gender equality. All too often, women and girls are discriminated against in health, in education, at home and in the labour market-with negative repercussions for their freedoms. This is the time for a reality check.

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Climate, inequality, hunger: which global problems would you fix first?

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In 2015, 193 countries agreed a blueprint to end poverty, protect the planet and address inequalities. Governments promised to meet 17 sustainable development goals by 2030. With only 10 years left until the deadline, the race is on to achieve them.

For the sake of simplicity, we have divided the 17 goals into seven categories. Click and drag each of the categories below to rank them in order of importance to you, and find out how your country is doing.

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Climate, inequality, hunger: which global problems would you fix first? - interactive quiz

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With only 10 years left to achieve the UN's sustainability goals, find out how your priorities compare

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Not one single country set to achieve gender equality by 2030

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No country in the world is on track to achieve gender equality by 2030, according to the first index to measure progress against a set of internationally agreed targets.

Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said the index, launched on Monday, "should serve as a wake-up call to the world".

Even the Nordic states, which score highly in the index, would need to take huge strides to fulfil gender commitments in the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), which 193 countries signed up to in 2015. The goals are considered the blueprint for global efforts to end poverty and inequality and halt the climate crisis. The deadline to meet them is 2030.

The inaugural SDG Gender Index, developed by the Equal Measures 2030 partnership, found that 2.8 billion women and girls currently live in countries that are not doing enough to improve women's lives.

A graphic showing the regions of the world - three of which contain no countries whatsoever that get a good score for gender equality.

The index measured progress in 129 countries, marking them from zero to 100 - 100 meaning equality has been achieved - on 51 targets in 14 of the goals. These targets either specifically reference gender equality, or touch on issues that have a disproportionate affect on women and girls, such as whether women have access to mobile banking, or the internet, or a safe water source.

According to the index, countries with an overall score of 90 or more are making excellent progress, while those scoring 59 or less are making very poor headway on achieving the goals.

The average overall score for the 129 countries in the index - home to 95% of the world's women and girls - was 65.7, considered a poor result in the scoring system.

Women's underrepresentation in parliament, the gender pay gap and gender-based violence were among the areas all countries were struggling to tackle.

Only 21 countries achieved marks of 80 or above, with the top country, Denmark, achieving 89.3. The UK, came 17th with a score of 82.2.

Where the UK and other countries land on the gender equality ranking list

Twenty-one countries scored lower than 50, with Chad at the foot of the table with a mark of 33.4.

Of particular concern for those involved in compiling the index was that more than half of countries scored poorly on efforts to achieve SDG 5, the much lobbied-for standalone goal to end gender inequality and empower women. The goal contains specific targets to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, end female genital mutilation and child marriage, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, and uphold women's reproductive rights.

Alison Holder, director of Equal Measures 2030, said: "I don't see any countries taking the ambitious action needed to tackle intractable problems - even the best scoring countries.

"I don't see how naturally these problems will go away. Even among the best scoring countries there are still massive problems."

As well as concerns over slow progress, Holder said she feared achievements could be undone, given the current rollback of abortion laws in the US and challenges to commitments to women's rights at the United Nations. The US ranked 28th in the index with a score of 77.6 points.

"It's clear that even in countries at the top of the index that progress is never guaranteed," said Holder. "We need to guard against countries falling backwards."
Revealed: the fringe rightwing group changing the UN agenda on abortion rights
Memory Kachambwa, executive director of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (Femnet), said what is happening in the US, and the power the Trump administration has to influence key language in international agreements, set a worrying precedent.

"It's worrying at an international level because it gives a foothold to other governments to continue to repress women," she said. "Parties who are very much against women's rights and gender equality are growing stronger and stronger and are able to have lot of influence in policy spaces a global level."

Although disappointed with the pace of change, she added that the index did at least offer a clearer picture on how countries were doing.

"When we talk to policymakers, they say they want the evidence [of gender inequalities]. We now have the evidence," she said.

Europe and North American countries topped the index, while the bottom was dominated by African states.

But the index noted that all countries had "different starting points" and, on some targets, states with low GDP were making better progress than wealthier nations in.

Denmark, for example, ranks behind Georgia, Kazakhstan and Lithuania on education, partly because the country has a lower percentage of young women who have completed secondary school.

It also has fewer women MPs than Senegal and Rwanda, despite the Nordic state having a GDP per capita 56 times higher than Senegal.

The bottom 20 countries scored higher than the top 20 for breaking down their budgets by factors such as gender, age, income or region.

Women are more likely to have their needs for family planning met in Brazil, China and Nicaragua, than in Canada, the Netherlands and Norway.

The index, launched at the Women Deliver conference in Vancouver, will be updated in 2021 and at regular internals until the 2030 SDG deadline. Data are drawn from UN agencies, the World Bank, NGOs, thinktanks and from the consultancy firm Gallup.

Equal Measures 2030 is a partnership of civil society and the private sector, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the International Women's Health Coalition, KPMG, Femnet, Plan International and Women Deliver. It was set up in 2016 to provide women's rights advocates with the data they need to hold governments to account for their SDG commitments.
Topics

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Not one single country set to achieve gender equality by 2030

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No country in the world is on track to achieve gender equality by 2030, according to the first index to measure progress against a set of internationally agreed targets. Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said the index, launched on Monday, "should serve as a wake-up call to the world".

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Nine out of 10 people found to be biased against women

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Nine out of 10 people found to be biased against women

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Analysis of 75 countries reveals ‘shocking’ scale of global women’s rights backlash

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Today's Slice: Missing in Architecture, Mass Bar 1.15-1.45

The slice is a new  series of short sharp talks over lunch every Thursday in the MASS bar, 1.15-1.45. A slither of  practice / research to provoke a discussion:

Today Missing in Architecture will be provoking discussion following on from their recent symposium on 'The Equal Architect'

This is an invitation to All Students and Staff in MSA, bring lunch if you like, and please can you enter the MASS bar via the crit spaces a and b over lunchtime today.

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HELLO MSA!!!!!!

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Or is this slide ofthe  day?
Unfortunate microphone placement...?

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Is there a structural problem in the profession about how we value the Architects talent and the amount of time they invest in the development and delivery of buildings

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Is the cost consultant the assassin of the Architects imagination?

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Thinking through your pencil
Thinking with your pencil
Thinking sharpens your pencil

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Are Architects the floppy bow ties of the construction industry

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Pracademic?

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All attempts st change passes through phases
First it is ridiculed
Secondly it is violently opposed
Thirdly it is accepted as self evident

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I hope these great words of inspiration are being captured for a podcast ?

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Is the symposium available to listen online? I have a tutorial from 2-3 so was wondering if an online audio/episode is being streamed. What an inspiring morning though! Thanks to everyone for organising it. Feeling super inspired

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Is tackling the challenge of retention the key to the future of the architecture profession?

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The interact process - a key point you mentioned about collaboration of staff and students!

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DEZEEN- thanks to everyone here today for helping putting us on this list!!! Absolutely amazing and amazed!

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On International Women's Day, here's a look at some of the individuals, collectives and organisations that are working hard to raise the profile of female architects and designers around the world.
Voices of Women
Voices of Women (VOW) made a big impression at last year's Venice Architecture Biennale, organising a flash mob that called for an end to "pervasive prejudices and disrespectful behaviour that appears to be systemic in our culture and discipline".

The group is led by Caroline James, an architectural designer and Harvard graduate based in Boston, Massachusetts, along with architects Farshid Moussavi and Odile Decq, and Pritzker Prize executive director Martha Thorne.

More recently, VOW was behind the protest against the Premio alla Carriera Architettura prize, following its decision to recognise architect Massimiliano Fuksas and not equal partner Doriana.
Black Females in Architecture
Black Females in Architecture is a society founded by young architects Selasi Setufe, Neba Sere, Alisha Fisher and Akua Danso. The group met by chance at a lecture and, realising how rare this was, decided to create more opportunities for black women in the industry to network.

They organise talks and workshops across London, but also offer social media support to their growing network of members.

In his review of last year, Dezeen columnist Phineas Harper said: "For those who care about diversity in architecture, the founding of BFA is one of the biggest leap forwards of 2018."
Egg Collective
Stephanie Beamer, Crystal Ellis and Hillary Petrie set up New York design gallery Egg Collective in 2011. But in 2017, spurred on by the wave of women's marches that followed the inauguration of President Trump, the trio decided to become champions for women in the industry.

With their Designing Women exhibition, they shone a light on New York's female talents, and led a surge of women-only design exhibitions across the city.

"This feels like an important moment to do something bigger, that has a cause and that supports our community, and speaks to the inequities that still exist," said Beamer at the time.

They followed up with a second show a year later, widening the net to include women designers from all around the world.
Chief
Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan set up Chief to help more women into positions of power. The network, which launched earlier this year, operates out of a clubhouse in TriBeCa, where members are invited to network with other women in leadership positions.

Childers and Kaplan hope the company will help to drive change in a wide range of industries, from technology and enterprise, to media and retail.

"By linking women who collectively hold court across boardrooms, Chief members are able to keep their seats while ushering in the next generation of female leaders," said Childers.

"Our goal is to get more women in the C-suite and keep them there, and accelerate positive change as quickly as possible," added Kaplan.
Part W
Part W is an action group that aims to counteract gender inequality in the UK architecture industry.

Founded by architect Zöe Berman, one half of London-based Studio Berman, the group recently set up a campaign to highlight the lack of female winners of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. They crowdsourced suggestions of worthy women, to show how many prolific figures are still unrecognised.

"We believe what is good for women is good for everyone," reads their manifesto.

"We want to change the conversation around what leadership and notions of success look like."
Harriet Harriss
As well as being a member of Part W, architect and Royal College of Art tutor Harriet Harriss has started a number of initiatives to bring about change in the architecture industry.

Following the release of her 2016 publication A Gendered Profession, which explored ways to combat gender inequality in architecture, she compiled a list of important architectural texts written by women, in a bid to discourage universities from giving students male-dominated reading lists.

She is pushing this idea even further with her latest project, Women Architects of the World Top Trumps, a learning tool for students of architectural history. Backed by Winning Moves, the company that own Top Trumps, she wants to get the project into schools across the UK.
The Wing
The Wing is a growing network of co-working facilities and social spaces designed to make it easier for women to thrive in both their work and social lives. As well as workspaces, its facilities include dressings rooms where members can change clothes ahead of evening events, as well as pump rooms for new mothers.

Founders Lauren Kassan and Audrey Gelman see the business as a revival of the women's club movement of the late-19th and early-20th centuries. There are now six branches across the US, and five new venues set to open in the next two years.
Beverly Willis
Architect and filmmaker Beverly Willis, 91, hasn't let age slow down her efforts to raise awareness of women working in the architecture industry. Her recent film, Unknown New York: The City that Women Built, sought to draw attention to the hundreds of female architects and engineers involved in the construction of Manhattan.

"I became very distressed at the age of 75 that women were not in the architectural history books, or any architectural references," Willis told Dezeen in an interview.

"If you were in high school or college and were reading architectural history you saw no mention of women instead perhaps of Jane Jacobs," she added. "That type of mission undermines women and their reputations."
Missing in Architecture
UK-based collective Missing in Architecture, founded by Isabel Deakin, Kathy Li and Miranda Webster, focuses on equality in architecture education.

To mark International Women's Day this year, they are hosting a symposium at the Glasgow School of Art, hosted by architect Patty Hopkins. They will look at the significance of female architects in education and explore lessons for the future.

"We are interested in filling in the gaps in architecture that we care about," said the trio.
Parlour
The Parlour website has become a huge online resource for women architects in Australia and beyond.

It was borne out of a university research project led by academic Naomi Stead but, with the help of a team that included editor Justine Clark, the platform has grown into something much bigger, posting regular articles and and information, and hosting events.

What sets Parlour aside from similar organisations is that its work is underpinned by research. In 2015, it published The Parlour Guides to Equitable Practice, a series of reference guides for business, covering everything from pay equity to discouraging long-hours cultures.

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10 champions for women in architecture and design

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On International Women's Day, here's a look at some of the individuals, collectives and organisations that are working hard to raise the profile of female architects and designers around the world.

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Intrigued to know what the gender balance of students is within the units in PRAXXIS?

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Lack of experience?!
I’ve been told multiple times the reason there are no women tutors in upper years is that all the available women lack experience. This is patently untrue AND less experienced young men are given that teaching opportunity.

How can we challenge this, beyond highlighting it to the people in charge who seen to lack the understanding of this being a problem...

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Great to see a full house for the Equal Architect symposium

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Great to see a full house for the Equal Architect symposium

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A packed house for a great day of sharing and learning

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"toilets are posh but they didn't work, don't think it's experienced that many flushes in one day"

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Everyone has a right to enjoy access to the spaces we create. We may not all have a disability but we will all get old and navigating spaces will become more of a struggle through time

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Perhaps going forward though our education we should ask disordinary people ourselves on what they want from design. Rather than relying on research or just guessing what they require, speak to them directly.

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spatial justice is so much better a concept than feeling that you have to address regulations for disabled access

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Girls Aloud in Action!!!

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And even fewer people have been educated by someone with a disability

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Hi!

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The number of people in the room who have been educated by a black person....!

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Hello! It's quick and easy!

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M I A are in the building

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Repping the badges!

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The Equal Architect Symposium seems like a perfect way to celebrate!

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Excited to be at the equal architect symposium !

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Good morning everyone!! Welcome to the Equal Architect Symposium and International Women’s Day 2019!!!!

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Network between schools of Architecture 

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Network between schools of Architecture 

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A network between schools of Architecture to support diversity and equality within academia + education.

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