Join us for a workshop

• Are you a homeowner in Castlemaine but unable to access appropriate housing (ex. unable to downsize, to age in place, etc.)?

• Are you have income and hope to continue living in Castlemaine but are unable to access affordable housing?

• Are you a local employer who struggles to find employees because of the cost of housing?

• Are you interested in alternative, resident-led housing approaches that could unlock collective benefits through the sharing of individual resources?

If so, we invite you to consider taking part in an RMIT-led workshop exploring collective housing and development models Castlemaine.

What: Workshop exploring resident-led approaches to housing

Where: Northern Arts Hotel, Castlemaine

When: Wednesday, 8 November, 6:30-9:00pm

Part of the Castlemaine Free University series and in collaboration with the Saltgrass podcast (Allie Hanly)

Workshop Overview

There is a shortage of affordable housing in regional areas. The need for innovative solutions has been identified by Mount Alexander Shire Council and the My Home Network. Small-scale, collective, muti-residential developments by – and for - groups of Castlemaine residents may be one solution. However, there is currently little advice or support available to guide such projects, despite a growing number of real-life Victorian examples.

In response to these needs, the workshop, led by researchers Jen Lynch and Andrea Sharam (RMIT, provides the opportunity for residents of Castlemaine imagine resident-led housing futures for the region.

It will:

• Introduce participants to a range of resident-led development models through short presentations of case studies by people who have undertaken such projects.

• Invite participants interested in potentially joining a housing development project as a means of obtaining the housing they need to reflect upon and visualise the resources and skills they might contribute to a group. Each participant will produce a drawing/visualisation to document their resources.

• Invite participants to form into groups to speculate on development scenarios that might be realised collectively in Castlemaine by combining their individual resources and skills. Each group will map their individual drawings/visualisations onto a storyboard to create a story of how their development might be realised. This storytelling may also be documented by each group through short written responses to a series prompts that will be provided.

More information on participating and consent

To express interest in participating in the workshop and receive more information, please complete this short survey form https://forms.office.com/r/vAv4zgniCz

Participating in this research project will involve participating in a 150-minute workshop held at the Northern Arts Hotel in Castlemaine on Wednesday, 8 November, 6:30-9:00pm.

Upon receiving your email, the research team will share a Participant Information Sheet/Consent Form that tells you more about the research project, the processes involved with taking part and what the data collected will be used for.

Thank you for considering being involved in this project and contributing to the research!