Harnessing Indigenous knowledge

A NEW exhibition at the Living Lab explores how Indigenous knowledge and cultural land management can help shape a more sustainable future.

Tracing the past, shaping the future, is the latest in a series of exhibitions staged at the Lab’s Woodlark Street shopfront.

The projects have drawn on expertise and experience from around the world to find solutions to issues such as flood mitigation and safe housing.

The latest exhibition was developed collaboratively with Jagun Alliance, Zion Engagement and Planning, Agency In Design and ReconEco.

It grew from feedback gathered from workshops held earlier in the year that asked the community to share its vision for the future of Lismore.

A consistent theme across these discussions was the opportunity to learn from Indigenous knowledge and culture. It dovetails with the NSW Government’s commitment to ensuring that all built environment projects in the state are developed with a Country-centred approach, guided by Aboriginal people.

The exhibit explores what it means to work with Indigenous Knowledges, what cultural land management is, and how, and should, Indigenous custodianship integrate with European concepts of land ownership, planning and management systems.

It examines how the physical environment and the plants that grow in them have changed from pre-colonial times to the present day.

The exhibition will run until February 6, 2025 at the Living Lab Northern Rivers shopfront, 11 Woodlark Street, Lismore.

It is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4pm. The shopfront will be closed from December 20 to January 13.