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.
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.
