This studio was run in tandem to Brolga Lakes eco-development studio, the first placemaking studios for University of Queensland as part of the nationwide Place Agency Consortium for tertiary students. The purpose of this studio was to take students through a place-based community engagement process; People, Program, Process, Product.

People: working alongside the community project champion EG2020 Community Connectors working group, Brisbane City Council community development and community safety officers, industry partner John Mongard, and 30 local community members who participated in the co-design engagement activities.

Process: delivered a half day community engagement intervention designed by Laurel Johnson and John Mongard and delivered by the students. Student’s worked in groups of 3 with specific roles of facilitator of the process, scribe and drawer.

Program: partnered with industry professional John Mongard to help facilitate, support and upskill students

Product: students delivered a set of designs for the revitalisation of the shopping centre and its precinct as informed by the community.

Over the course of a 12 week semester, the class consisted of 3 hr session and a 5 hr community engagement day involving 50 second year planning students. Industry partner, John Mongard assisted students in developing their skills as facilitators for the engagement day. The subject emphasised the learning of soft-skills, of both ‘hand’ and ‘heart’, by giving the opportunity to students to learn how to approach, talk to, listen to, and engage with local residents and shop owners.

The table below outlines each learning activity and exercise as designed by the studio leader(s) to guide the students in their placemaking learning journey. It provides the activity type, a short description and links to one or more key learning objectives as aligned by the Learning Outcome Sunflower. This information is actively used to enhance our knowledge and evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching strategies to aid placemakers. For more information about this research, go to our ongoing research project: Place Agency – Impact and Outcomes. 

If you are a teacher, we invite you to use this studio outline to craft your own teaching experiences.

Activity	Description	Key dates for activities	Key learning objectives
Week 1	Introduction to co-design planning approaches	26 Jul 18	Placemaking and co-design theory
Week 2	Introduction to assignment	2 Aug 18	N/A
Week 3	Preparation and skills development	9 Aug 18	Developing soft skills
Week 4	community co-design engagement day	11 Aug 18	Community engagement day
Week 5	Community Co-design debrief	16 Aug 18	Community engagement
Week 6	Introduction to team placemaking report	23 Aug 18	Reflective skills
Week 7	Implementation strategies	30 Aug 18	Critical thinking
Week 8	Limits of precinct planning	6 Sep 18	Critical thinking
Week 9	Facilitated team work on Place-Making Report	13 Sep 18	Teamwork and humility
Week 10	Facilitated team work	20 Sep 18	Team work
Week 11	Feedback and presentations preparation	4 Oct 18	Humility
Week 12	Presentations	4 Oct 18	Verbal communication
Post subject	Professional report compiled for council	submitted December	Legacy