Video: CoHousing Australia & Canberra talk – working with a Development Manager

In late 2020 we were invited by Cohousing Australia and Cohousing Canberra to present on "working with a Development Manager".

In this 90 minute talk & QA session, I discuss:

• my learnings from 10 years of managing citizen-led housing projects,
• how the model works,
• the key stages in a collective development process and
• our experience in helping groups with site acquisition and securing development finance

I'm joined by fellow collaborator Andy Fergus in discussing our work on enabling larger projects and:

• international case studies of citizen-led projects
• how alternative development models can translate to local contexts in Australia

Andy Fergus is an urban designer practitioner, founding co-director of Melbourne Architours, studio leader at Melbourne School of Design and an Architecture Australia Contributing Editor. Through these roles Andy engages with the community, government, design industry, and students to advocate for more inclusive, ethical and high quality environments with a particular focus on urban housing. Andy currently works with Property Collectives, Assemble Communities, Assemble Projects, and other ethical industry disruptors. He is a winner of both the City of Sydney Alternative Housing Ideas Challenge and Lord Mayors Charitable Foundation Affordable Housing Challenge, and brings a strong understanding of the relationship between policy, design and development economics.