Who I am...
A Pile of Methods

Reimagining the Yarra River

This project explores the culture and ecological relationships along the Yarra River corridor. It studies how people in Melbourne currently relate to the Birrarung. and how public engagement could support a stronger cultural and ecological connection to the river. The project examined opportunities for deeper stewardship. Through research, visual mapping and community workshops at RiverFest, multiple layers of environmental movement by urban data were synthesised to reveal patterns that connections along the river landscape.

Role
 Design strategist
 Engagement facilitator
 Visual designer

Key Tasks
 Analysed river flow and movement patterns
• Synthesised spatial and ecological data
• Developed layered visual systems for analysis

Key Outputs
 Research summaries
 Workshop engagement
 Visual frameworks

Collaborator
 RMIT University
 The Yarra Riverkeeper Association
 Melbourne Water

River corridor mapping used to understand spatial relationships along the Birrarung

Ecological overlay diagram used to visualise environmental systems and interactions

Community Engagement

At RiverFest, community engagement activities were used to understand how people currently relate to the Birrarung. Through interactive prompts and mapping activities, levels of awareness and engagement were observed, highlighting opportunities for deeper cultural connection and stewardship.

Findings:
 Melburnians seem to have a passive relationship with the Birrarung.
 They walk their dog or row along it’s banks but there’s no depth to their feelings towards it. Shallow personal connection
 Individuals claim that Melbourne has a river culture. When asked to show how, listed activities, rater then emotional connection.
 Individuals have very little knowledge of the rivers history, pre or post colonisation.
 Businesses promote their proximity to the river but nothing about their own stewardship towards it.

Community engagement mapping activities at RiverFest

Design Strategy

This project adopted mail-art and public engagement workshops as its design strategy, using the personification of the Birrarung to create a more emotional and relational form of communication between the river and the public.

The visual language was developed from the movement of water itself. Using the suminagashi technique, tracing of flowing water were translated into visual forms and applied across the mail pieces and workshop activities to support public engagement and discussion.

Mail-art visual system derived from water movement, applied across public engagement materials.

What’s Next...

We are not seeking aiming for immediate behaviour change, the project supports gradual awareness and responsibility. Design operates here as a connective tool for improving social relations. Future actions including the mail pieces to a wider group of river-adjacent stakeholders, placing printed materials at additional access points along the Birrarung. Collecting public responses becomes part of the project record, forming a foundation for future large-scale public programs focused on river care.

A shared pile. A held story. A shifting system. A lived corner.

A Pile of Work

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tracy.apowork@gmail.com
+852 6310 9922 HK