Congratulations to Professor Thomas Astell-Burt who has been , recognising researchers whose papers rank in the top one percent of citations for their field.听听
Congratulations to Dr Callum Parker who has been awarded a 2026 ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Dr Parker is developing a toolkit to help designers co-design and evaluate context-aware external human鈥搈achine interfaces, supporting safer communication between autonomous vehicles and pedestrians.
Congratulations to Dr Soojeong Yoo who has been awarded $55,000 through the 2026 University of Sydney Research Excellence and Inclusion Prize. This award will support building a strong network across the Western Sydney Local Health District and raise the profile of the Health & Immersive Interaction (HII) Lab as a hub for collaborative, impactful health technology research.听
Congratulations to Associate Professor Arianna Brambilla and Dr Thomas Parkinson who have been announced as investigators for an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project commencing in 2026, for the project, 鈥淢ould exposure in Australian homes: from remediation to prevention鈥.
Congratulations to Dr Aysu Kuru who as part of the Architecture, Design and Planning Sustainability Team, was recognised at the 2025 Vice-Chancellor鈥檚 Awards for Excellence. The team won the "Better Place to Work" award which commends their outstanding efforts to embed sustainable practices in architecture and design, fostering a healthier workplace and community.听
The Centre for Flourishing Cities officially launched on Friday 15 May under the leadership of Professor Thomas Astell-Burt, bringing together leaders from research, government, healthcare, industry and community organisations committed to shaping healthier, more sustainable and socially connected urban futures.听
The launch highlighted the urgent challenges facing cities globally, including climate change, biodiversity loss, chronic disease, loneliness and widening inequalities, and the need for interdisciplinary approaches to address them.
The launch reinforced the Centre鈥檚 commitment to cross-sector and international collaboration, highlighting opportunities to strengthen links between academia, government, healthcare and industry in support of evidence-informed urban futures.听
Dr Vera Xia joined her colleague Dr Emrah Baki Ulas to present their research, 鈥淲hat is nocturnal design and why does it matter?鈥 at Raising the Bar Sydney. Their talk questioned the assumption that more light is better in city spaces at night, and how design can help build a better nocturnal city.
Photo credit: Stefanie Zingsheim/ The University of Sydney
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A co-design workshop to design nature-based interventions was held in March 2026 at Westmead Hospital. The workshop was led by Dr Bow Yiying Wu and facilitated by Professor Thomas Astell-Burt, Nicole Evangelidis, Dr Raju Kanukula, Dr Lauren Del Rosario, and Dr Yvonne Tran. We talked about the ways we can enable and empower more people to reap the health and social benefits of greenspace. Participants shared personal stories that reminded us why nature and our connection with it matters so deeply across our lives.听
Professor Thomas Astell Burt was invited to speak at the Citygreen 鈥淲here Shade hits the Pavement鈥 conference. He discussed how strategic urban greening serves as a vital nature prescription for our communities. His talk focused on:
A delegation of several Korean institutions visited the Centre for Flourishing Cities. These included the Korea Forest Service, the National Institute of Forest Science, the Korea National Arboretum (Sejong), and the Korea Forest Conservation Association. Featured speakers from the Centre included Professor Thomas Astell-Burt, Associate Professor Adrienne Keane, Dr Aysu Kuru, Dr 脰zg眉r G枚莽er, and Dr Vera Xia, showing the wide-ranging benefits of restoring nature and biodiversity in our cities, buildings, and communities. Valued contributions were also provided by Professor Andrew Merchant and Associate Professor Tina Bell from Science. We spoke about implementation of the 3-30-300 rule, botanic gardens, the great potential of Building-Integrated Greenery, reductions in temperature offered by green walls, nature therapies and the moments in nature that afford us solitude.
The second workshop of the Facades in the Loop (F-LOOP) project was held at Arup Sydney. It explored how green fa莽ades shape sensory experiences, biodiversity, wellbeing, and environmental quality in our cities. Following the systems thinking workshop, CityForest guided our sensory walks through urban green spaces. The project is a collaboration between the University of Sydney Architecture, Design and Planning and UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering, supported by the Ignition Grants 2024/25.
Featured keynotes from advisory group members Professor Alex O鈥橫ara, Professor Greg Vann, Professor Trish Davidson and Associate Professor JR Baker.
City of Sydney, National Heart Foundation, and Western Sydney Local Health District.
