Arts Northern Rivers respectfully acknowledges Bundjalung, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr and Githabul Country, the lands we work and create on. We appreciate the unique and vibrant array of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders artists and cultural practitioners from here and living here. We strive to strengthen self-determination, promote presence, and support cultural continuation.
What happens when the old rules of city-making no longer apply?
In October 2026, Arts Northern Rivers and Living Lab Northern Rivers presented The City We Make, a public conversation exploring the future of cities, regions and communities in a time of rapid change.
Across Australia, communities are grappling with the impacts of climate change, economic transition and shifting social needs. As traditional models of urban development come under increasing pressure, new opportunities are emerging to imagine different futures for our cities and regions.
This conversation was inspired by Dan Etheridge’s essay Our biggest challenge AND our greatest opportunity, a blue-sky exploration of Lismore’s future potential and the role art and artists can play in shaping place, defining identity and strengthening community.
Hosted at NORPA's emerging new home, The Joinery, the event brought together Angharad Wynne-Jones, Tristan Schultz, Mark Cora, Emma Ridings, Dan Etheridge and Rosie Dennis, for a conversation exploring how constraints can become catalysts for innovation and what conditions are needed for creative industries, businesses, service organisations and communities to thrive. The session opened with reflections from NORPA Artistic Director Julian Louis.
Looking beyond adaptation and rebuilding, the conversation considered what Australian cities and regional centres could become by 2050, and the role artists, designers, thinkers and communities can play in shaping that future.
Photography Elise Derwin
The Event
Date: Friday 2 October 2026 Location: NORPA's The Joinery, 6 Hampton Lane, Lismore NSW
The City We Make was a free, inclusive and locally hosted event that welcomed artists, community members, business leaders, planners and thinkers into a shared conversation about the future of place-making in regional Australia.
Mark Cora is a proud Minjungbal man who is based in the Tweed Shire. He is an independent artist and cultural educator who seeks to develop his art pieces that represent his country which takes in the mountains, rainforests, the beach, and its shoreline. He creates art about natural systems that occur in particular seasons to remind viewers of nature’s workings and how our involvement with the environment contributes to the ongoing workings of these systems or the destruction of these systems. Mark is also nursery manager of First Nations-led Bundjalung Alliance Native Nursery growing bush foods and creating Indigenous employment, training pathways, food sovereignty, and cultural knowledge sharing for future generations.
Rosie Dennis, Executive Director, Arts Northern Rivers
Rosie Dennis is Executive Director of Arts Northern Rivers and a cultural leader with more than two decades' experience initiating and creating place-based arts and cultural programs. Her career spans festival direction, contemporary performance, public art and gallery leadership, including senior roles with BLEACH Festival, LiveWorks Festival, Urban Theatre Projects, Campbelltown Arts Centre, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and most recently the Bank Art Museum Moree. Through her work, Rosie has brought artists, communities, government and industry together to shape places, strengthen local identity and create meaningful cultural experiences. Rosie is recognised for her collaborative leadership style and her commitment to the role art and culture play in building vibrant, connected communities.
Dan Etheridge, Engagement Director, Living Lab Northern Rivers
Dan Etheridge is Engagement Director at Living Lab Northern Rivers, a cooperative initiative established in response to the 2022 Lismore floods that combines lived experience, academic research and policy engagement to support community-centred climate adaptation. After Hurricane Katrina, he helped establish the Tulane City Center (now the Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design) in New Orleans, a nationally recognised community design centre supporting resident-driven recovery. He has spent two decades bridging government, research and community practice in post-disaster settings.
Emma Ridings, Director, MAEVE Collective
Emma Ridings is the founder and Director of MAEVE Collective, a Gold Coast based place strategy and design studio. She works on the belief that places matter because people do - that the most successful places create value because they create connection. A registered architect with over two decades of experience across mixed-use precincts, cultural institutions and community infrastructure, Emma founded MAEVE to work at the intersection of design, strategy and placemaking, treating architecture as a tool for building belonging rather than an end in itself.
Tristan Schultz, Founder and Director, Relative Creative
Dr Tristan Schultz is an interdisciplinary designer, researcher and strategist focussed on communication, strategies, services, places, experiences and events that help people think, talk and mobilise sustainable futures. Director of Relative Creative, he works across government, communities and international partners, translating complexity into strategy, services and stories of more just futures. His practice spans systems thinking, futures and foresight, intercultural contexts, visual communication and co-design, most often applied to climate adaptation and decolonising contexts. He holds a PhD in Design Futures, is an Honorary Adjunct Fellow with RMIT and UTS, and publishes widely. He is based on the Gold Coast, Australia.
Angharad Wynne-Jones (she/her) is Cymry (Welsh) Australian and lives on the unceded lands of Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung in Naarm (Melbourne). She is Facilitator of Creative Climate, the culture and arts climate action peak body, delivering sector support, engagement, participation and systemic transformation, funded by Creative Australia 2025-2029. She is an independent curator and creative consultant following her leadership roles as Head of Audience Engagement at State Library Victoria (2021-2024) and Head of Creative Engagement at Arts Centre Melbourne (2018-2021). From 2011- 2017 she was Artistic Director at Arts House Melbourne where she initiated Refuge – a six year publicly engaged investigation into the role of cultural institutions in climate catastrophes. She was co founder of Chunky Move, Associate Director of Adelaide Festival, Artistic Director and CEO of London International Festival of Theatre and Founder Director of Tipping Point Australia - energising the cultural response to climate change. She designed and delivered the Cultural Leadership MFA course at NIDA and leadership programs with Creative Australia. She is Co-Chair of Aphids and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Green Room award in 2026.
Photography Elise Derwin
We respectfully acknowledge Bundjalung, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr and Githabul Country, the lands we work and create on. We appreciate the unique and vibrant array of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders artists and cultural practitioners from here and living here. We strive to strengthen self-determination, promote presence, and support cultural continuation.
This event was presented by Living Lab Northern Rivers and Arts Northern Rivers as part of The Festival of Urbanism, presented by the Henry Halloran Urban & Regional Research Initiative, The University of Sydney. The annual Festival is a series of conversations where researchers, practitioners, community advocates and industry leaders come together to debate the threats and opportunities facing our cities. Proudly supported by NORPA
Arts Northern Rivers respectfully acknowledges Bundjalung, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr and Githabul Country, the lands we work and create on. We appreciate the unique and vibrant array of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders artists and cultural practitioners from here and living here. We strive to strengthen self-determination, promote presence, and support cultural continuation.
Arts Northern Rivers respectfully acknowledges Bundjalung, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr and Githabul Country, the lands we work and create on. We appreciate the unique and vibrant array of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders artists and cultural practitioners from here and living here. We strive to strengthen self-determination, promote presence, and support cultural continuation.
