Shaping the Future: RMIT’s City North Social Innovation Precinct Proposal

A vision for social innovation
The City North Social Innovation Precinct will bring together the best minds and skills from different disciplines, organisations and backgrounds to engage with the major social challenges of our times. The precinct will train tens of thousands of highly skilled workers for the Victorian economy over the next two decades, connecting them with career pathways and industry networks, contributing to major workforce challenges such as electrification, mental health and social care.

The proposed approach will deepen the productivity and international engagement of key sectors, collaborate and complement existing capabilities across City North, and widen these opportunities to people across Melbourne’s metropolitan area.

The precinct will draw learners, workers and the wider community to the area, encouraging participation and engagement. This will take many forms – gaining skills and micro-credentials through vocational and higher education, attending the precinct’s community events, or simply enjoying the area’s revitalised public spaces and hospitality.

Start-ups, entrepreneurs and social innovators will take advantage of the precinct’s networks, affordable prototyping and workspaces.

RMIT will act as an anchor to attract industry and academics to work with the community to address social issues, generating skills solutions and enterprises. Learning and innovation will be visible, sparking curiosity and participation.

The Social Innovation Precinct will be a place where the future of social care and wellbeing is reimagined, where smart and sustainable city-shaping is brought to life, where the next generation of engineering and manufacturing leaves the lab and enters the workplace, and the potential of deep technology is put to work in solving complex problems ranging from mental health and medical implants to cyber-security and inter-cultural understanding.

The precinct will be connected to Asia, and the world, by leveraging decades of Asia engagement and expertise developed by RMIT, along with our partners including the University of Melbourne and the Asia Society.