August 2022 Newsletter
August 2022 Newsletter
A 2032 legacy:
Brisbane as the world’s most accessible city?
Committee for Brisbane CEO Barton Green recently had an experience he was glad to have and would prefer to never have again.
As an initiative of the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association, (on 29 July) I spent a day in a wheelchair – along with about 20 other CEOs and senior executives.
It was confronting, frightening, sobering, informative and worthwhile. And exhausting.
My colleagues and I each had to raise $5000 to be given a wheelchair for a day, so in total about $100,000 was raised for a worthy organisation.
But it was less about the money and more about the experiences.
And we had them. (And I stress, my naïve experiences are incomparable to the daily reality for many).
I nearly missed lifts when the doors closed before I could wheel through (I had to cheat by sticking out a leg to stop the door).
It was frustrating, and slow, having to catch a lift to a different floor every time I wanted to go to the toilet – my floor has no ambulant toilets.
I needed a push to get up a slight slope to a coffee shop. I am a pretty big guy, but I just didn’t have the strength. That really surprised me – my friends in wheelchairs make it look so easy.
Next time you walk around our city, any city, look down.
The footpaths that able-bodied citizens use to easily navigate a city are warzones for those with mobility or vision challenges.
Footpaths (necessarily) have a camber, which acts like a black hole dragging you relentlessly towards the road. (Note: roads also, necessarily, have a camber which drags you toward the gutter).
Footpaths are where the city’s utilities are buried, so there are access holes, grates, subsidence where maintenance works have been done. Just the slightest lift of a paver can be a challenge.
There is no blame here. This is simply an observation about cities across the globe.
I had a short, temporary experience. My esteem and admiration for those who don’t have a choice has skyrocketed.
Why, as a modern, wealthy society, can’t we make it as easy as possible for all members of our community to move about?
Last year, the Committee for Brisbane published a suite of potential legacies from hosting the 2032 Games. Link: Brisbane 2033: Legacy Project – The Committee for Brisbane
One of the ideas was an “Access All Areas” universal-access mobility Vision for SEQ.
We believe governments and communities should adopt a first-principles approach that ensures any new or refurbished development or infrastructure project must design for those members of our community with visual, mobility and/or mental challenges so they can enjoy the same accessibility rights as the rest of us.
What about this for a 2032 legacy: visitors to the Olympic and Paralympic Games return home raving about Brisbane as the world’s most accessible city?
The future of tertiary education in SEQ
Griffith University Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Carolyn Evans, will be the guest speaker at our next members-only Corporate Leader briefing, discussing the future of tertiary education.
The event is being hosted by Corporate Leader member Urbis.
Professor Evans graduated with degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Melbourne and a doctorate from Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and taught law at Oxford and Melbourne Universities.
Prior to commencing at Griffith, she held the positions of Dean of Law, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Graduate and International) at the University of Melbourne.
Professor Evans works in the areas of law and religion and human rights and was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship in 2010 to work on comparative religious freedom.
In 2019, she was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and became a member of Chief Executive Women. In 2020, she became Chair of the Innovative Research Universities and President of the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association, and is also a board member of Open Universities Australia.
Date: Thursday, 18th August 2022, 12:30pm – 2.00pm
Corporate Leader members interested in attending the briefing can contact the Committee: admin@committeeforbrisbane.org.au
A First Nations first
“I think that’s the first time I’ve seen a panel relating to Aboriginal matters include Aboriginal people only. Well done.”
This is one of many positive and supportive comments the Committee for Brisbane received after its successful panel event in late July.
“Growing SEQ: First Nations leadership in enterprise and opportunity” was a chance for successful businesspeople to tell their stories – good and bad – about doing business in south east Queensland.
Deftly facilitated by MC Cameron Costello – a founding member of the Committee’s First Nations Advisory Group – the guests heard from a panel of four:
- Adam Williams, CEO, SupplyAUS
- Karen Seage, Franchise Owner, Snap Underwood
- Jack Reis, Co-founder and Owner, Baidam Solutions
- Shannon Ruska, Managing Director, Tribal Experiences
The event enabled Committee for Brisbane members and guests to hear, first-hand, from some of SEQ’s successful First Nations business owners and learn about opportunities to support younger members of the First Nations community through employment and mentoring.
We hope to continue these sorts of discussions as part of our commitment under the Committee’s Reconciliation Action Plan (Respect).
Digital Built Britain – learnings for Brisbane
The Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) will be in Brisbane in September and will make a special presentation to a joint Committee for Brisbane/Infrastructure Association of Queensland event.
CDBB is an eminent industry body that has created much of the thought leadership around digital transformation in the infrastructure sector.
With the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics acting as a catalyst to transform SEQ, the presentation will provide world-leading insights into the issues industry should be considering, now and in the future.
The keynote speakers will be:
- Alexandra Bolton, former CDBB Executive Director who founded, ran and grew the unique socio-technical change program that was home to the UK’s Building Information Modelling, National Digital Twin and Global BIM programs
- Mark Coates, International Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at Bentley, where he helps to inform and guide government, policymakers, business leaders and decision-makers globally on the benefits of digital transformation. Mark is under secondment to CDBB where he is the Industry lead for the Digital Twin Hub.
The event will be hosted by Aurecon at 25 King Street, Bowen Hills on Tuesday 6 September from 5pm – 7.30pm.
Registrations will open soon.
Establishing a governance framework for the Creative Brisbane Collaboration
An inaugural Management Committee has been established to develop a Charter for the new Creative Brisbane Collaboration.
- Bec Pini, Managing and Creative Director, M4M Agency
- Chris Watson, Partner – Risk Consulting, Grant Thornton
- Gavan Ranger, Board Member, Artisan
- Jo Thomas, CEO and Creative Director, Metro Arts
- Liz Golding, Director, Fashion Council Queensland
- Mike Hill, Partner, McGrath Nicol
- Steve Sleswick, Director, The Tivoli and The Princess Theatre
- Barton Green, CEO, Committee for Brisbane
- Liana Heath, Chief Partnership Officer, Committee for Brisbane
The Management Committee’s initial tasks are to:
- Discuss and develop the architecture (model and structure) for the Creative Brisbane Collaboration
- Agree on 3-4 key projects to develop
- Discuss a launch event
More than 70 organisations and individuals have now joined this project which is delivering on the Creative Brisbane Vision adopted in late 2021:
Brisbane: the place to be.
A global city where creativity is valued and imagination empowered. Where innovation and collaboration drive a thriving economy and vibrant communities. Dream boldly.
The Creative Brisbane Collaboration will enable structured and ongoing engagement between industry and creativity – as a way to improve communication and understanding and, ultimately, provide a shared platform for advocacy to the community and governments on the importance of creativity to health and wellbeing, to the regional economy, for talent attraction and retention, and for city/regional reputation.
New members
The Committee has welcomed six new Members and one new Affiliate.
Corporate Member
- Australian Unity
- DBI Design
Enterprise
- Grow Collective
Associate
- Michael Chong
- Claire Huxley
- Annie Macnaughton
Affiliate
- Brisbane Living Heritage
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