Yurt Empire

"Setups / Situations / Institutions "

"The 2014 Mapping Meaning workshop will utilize the concept of a BioBlitz as a model for thinking about what it means to holistically "experience", "assess", "know" and "teach" place. We will expand this model to create an abcBLITZ, where abc stands for arts, biology and culture, as well as the metaphorical building blocks of "life/language". In essence, the abcBLITZ will be a focused way to think about interdisciplinary pedagogy - recognizing not only the importance of biodiversity but also the cultural and artistic histories central to any holistic understanding of a place."

At one level, this is a community story about a development application for a childcare centre on Crown land in the inner-Sydney suburb of Paddington. On another, it's a story about how state authorities and corporate regulators failed residents and local councillors who struggled to hold politicians, developers and public servants accountable for dealings with publicly owned open space.