Saxon Street Development First Peoples Engagement

First Peoples Engagement

Located on the lands of the Wurundjeri People, the Saxon Street site is a significant local cultural asset in the heart of Brunswick- well known and loved as Siteworks and Blak Dot Gallery. The First Peoples engagement aimed to ground the project in a culturally relevant narrative, connecting the precinct to people and place, and ensuring a true reflection of First Peoples voices throughout the design.

Completion / 2024
Client / City of Merri-bek
Location / Wurundjeri Country / Melbourne, Victoria

Greenshoot researched the site’s pre-colonial history as well as important historical First Peoples figures and moments to develop documentation drawing out preliminary cultural themes to inform consultations with Traditional Owner and First Peoples community stakeholder groups.

Using feedback gathered through engagement with First Peoples, we developed a First Peoples Engagement Strategy and facilitated First Peoples and Traditional Owner workshops. This engagement expanded on the themes identified through our research and explored the site using our First Peoples Design Consultation Pillars.

Greenshoot mapped opportunities identified by Traditional Owners and First Peoples stakeholders to key Narrative, Design and Activation opportunities for the project to facilitate the embedding of First Peoples knowledge and culture into the redevelopment of the site.

The engagement was designed as an iterative process to support the development of meaningful and reciprocal relationships between Merri-bek City Council, Traditional Owners and First Peoples community stakeholders.