City North Activation Compendium 2024

The City North Activation Challenge began with a simple but powerful idea: what if the RMIT community—students, staff, researchers, partners and neighbours—came together to imagine new ways of tackling the social challenges shaping our future?

In 2024, that idea came to life. This compendium shares the stories of more than 20 projects activated across the precinct. Some reimagined everyday spaces of City North: Our Street invited local schoolchildren to redesign Cardigan Street using VR tools, while Play the Future: Reworlding Cardigan Commons 2050 explored how games can help communities co-design greener, more inclusive spaces. Others addressed urgent social needs: Food Security for our Students Feeds our Future tackled hunger on campus; Peer Connect gave vocational education students hands-on experience running a wellbeing clinic; and The We Care Initiative used creative practice to reimagine civic health.

“Cities grow and change through movement—of people, ideas, and connections. Many important innovations happen not in grand plans, but in the everyday spaces where people come together to experiment, collaborate, and work out what’s possible.”
Tom Bentley, Vice President, Strategy & Community Impact, RMIT University

Many projects piloted emerging technologies: the PV Recycling Collaborative Workspace showcased global partnerships to create circular solutions for solar panel waste; the Digital Sustainability Index tested new approaches to asset management for sustainable buildings; and a Voice-based Diabetes Detection System applied AI to predict health risks. Cultural leadership was also at the centre, with the creation of an Indigenous Engagement Toolkit in partnership with Traditional Owners, and projects like Storying City North: From Ink to Algorithms that celebrated histories, knowledge and identity.

These initiatives were powered by collaboration. Local schools, social enterprises, cultural organisations, government agencies, health providers, industry innovators and global research networks all worked alongside RMIT’s students and staff. From the Cyber Resilience Program with South Asian student communities and the Australia India Business Council, to CollabConnect with Moral Fairground and dozens of social enterprises, the Activation Challenge highlighted what is possible when diverse communities and expertise come together in place.

Given its success, the City North Activation Challenge has continued into 2025—expanding its reach, deepening partnerships and generating a new wave of projects that keep building momentum.

Together, these stories show how RMIT’s City North Social Innovation Precinct is becoming a living laboratory for collaboration—where ideas are tested in real-world settings, and people come together to shape a shared future for the district, and for Melbourne beyond.

What’s Inside the Compendium

The compendium is both a record and an invitation—a way to celebrate progress so far and invite new partners, students, and community members to get involved. The projects highlighted span five key impact areas:

• Social Care & Wellbeing – People-centred innovation to support health equity and resilience.
• Future Engineering & Technology – Harnessing emerging tech for adaptive, inclusive urban systems.
• Indigenous Recognition & Celebration – Embedding cultural leadership and knowledge into renewal.
• Clean Economy – Advancing circular design, renewables, and regenerative development.
• International Collaboration – Building global partnerships for shared learning and local impact.

A Snapshot of Innovation in Action

Some of the featured projects include:

• Our Street: Local primary school students reimagined Cardigan Street’s future using VR tools, envisioning greener and more inclusive public spaces.
• Enhancing Cyber Resilience: South Asian students co-designed culturally tailored strategies to strengthen digital safety.
• Student Wellbeing Week & Art Trail: A creative program that blended mindfulness, art, and community connection to support mental health.
• Indigenous Engagement Toolkit: A living resource embedding Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung cultural knowledge into precinct planning.
• PV Recycling Collaborative Showroom: Showcasing global and local innovations in solar panel recycling as part of a circular economy.

Why It Matters

The compendium demonstrates the power of place-based innovation. Each project brings together diverse voices—students, researchers, community leaders, industry partners—to create real-world solutions. Already, the initiative has helped spark new collaborations, accelerate existing projects, and inspire ideas that can be scaled far beyond the precinct.