How to place reconciliation at the centre of placemaking

How to place reconciliation at the centre of placemakingHow can we re-integrate the traditional thinking of our first people to create modern resilient cities? KPMG’s Catherine Hunter says our industry can be at the forefront of both symbolic and practical action.Hunter (pictured), who heads corporate citizenship for KPMG, will be speaking at Green Cities 2017. She says the property industry has an extraordinary opportunity to place reconciliation at the heart of our place-making.KPMG recently settled into new headquarters at Lendlease’s Barangaroo South on Sydney’s Darling Harbour – a move Hunter says “gave us a unique opportunity to emphasise our firm’s decade-long commitment to reconciliation”.Australia’s Indigenous culture is celebrated throughout the precinct, and Hunter says the “fact that we are in a place named Barangaroo has sparked interest in our people. Most of our staff didn’t know Barangaroo was an Aboriginal person, much less an amazing female Aboriginal leader.”This bare fact alone has enabled staff to engage more deeply with a rich but often invisible part of Australia’s history, Hunter says.Before moving into its new building, KPMG hosted workshops to educate employees on the cultural significance of the site, and to kick-start the reconciliation conversation.”The day we moved in, a traditional smoking ceremony was performed by an elder, along with dancers and performers, to welcome us to the new building.”Acknowledgements of country are now displayed on digital screens throughout KPMG’s offices. “This reminds us that we are on Aboriginal land.”Some meeting rooms have been named after Aboriginal places and people, and an “Indigenous lawyer worked with us to obtain the cultural permissions to use these names in a respectful way”.”There are both practical and symbolic things that we can all do. But what’s been most powerful for us is the name Barangaroo itself. Hearing Barangaroo’s story has made many people feel more comfortable when giving their own acknowledgement of country or to talk about what reconciliation means to them. It’s that sense of place that makes this possible.”While she acknowledges the many “honourable attempts” of the property industry to date, Hunter says we can do better.”The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People outlines early participation in decision-making, and I think we need to get better at including Aboriginal people in the consultation process from the very beginning.”So often consultation is done for the sake of ticking a box. But we need to be consulting with traditional owners, elders and land councils to see how we can respect and honour the 60,000 plus years of cultural heritage and connection to place that is so special. We need to build that in from the outset.”The relationship that first Australians have with environment is “so deep, cultural and spiritual” that “we would come up with very different designs for buildings and unique ways to highlight Australian culture that aren’t currently evident in our cities”.Hunter points to Auckland as an example of how to successfully integrate Indigenous values into place.”As soon as visitors land, they are greeted not just with beautiful Maori sculptures and art. Maori language is written into the very carpet in the airport. Last time I was there, I gained a strong impression that this was a city that had embedded traditional Maori culture into its contemporary buildings.”Hunter would like to see more Indigenous art grace our cities, and for a stand-alone national institution to honour the rich cultural heritage found in Australia. But there are simple things we can do now, she says. The key is to start the conversations.”The process of reconciliation is about coming together. It’s about sitting down with first Australians, understanding and recognising the special place they have in our nation.”Only then will reconciliation be a central part of placemaking, Hunter says.Catherine Hunter joins Josephine Cashman from the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust and Michael Combs, Founder & CEO of CareerTrackers in the ‘Resilience through reconciliation’ session at Green Cities 2017. Tickets are still available now.