BackgroundThe City of Melbourne’s Ageing Well in Melbourne 2025 Report highlighted that priority areas for older adults were:physical and mental wellbeing,support and services, andfeeling comfortable to get around.This inspired RMIT Prof and Shaping Connections Director Bernardo Figueiredo to form an interdisciplinary, collaborative, community-oriented research project.Funded by the 2025 City North Activation Challenge, the project was an ideal opportunity to better understand the lived experiences of older adults showcase RMIT’s collaborative, transdisciplinary approach to renewing the City North Social Innovation Precinct while addressing societal challenges but it was also an opportunity to implement Stanford University's Our Voice Initiative - a methodology and resource developed to activate the power of people as change agents to build healthier and more vibrant communities. PreparationThe research team worked with the City of Melbourne, U3A Network Victoria and the broader community to recruit a diverse cohort of 23 older adults living in and around Melbourne's City North Precinct to become 'Citizen-scientists'. What is a Citizen-scientist? Watch the Our Voice Overview (1:52) The team then organised multidisciplinary facilitators, and conducted onboarding workshops before moving to Stage 2: Discover.City North Precinct

Community Discovery WalksSeven community walks took place where Research Facilitators teamed up with Citizen-scientists to explore and ‘audit’ the neighbourhood streets around the City North precinct. Goal: for Citizen-scientists (older adults) to identify and document any barriers and enablers to living and ageing well in their neighbourhood.Digital Data Collection ToolUsing the Stanford-developed Discovery Tool app, Citizen-scientists uploaded photos and audio note recordings of what they found on their walk — from uneven pavements and abandoned e-bikes to community gardens and green space. Data Tracking: each finding was geo-tagged to track the locationData Rating: Citizen-scientists rated their findings during the walk with a smiley or sad face, capturing not just problems but what was already working well.Data Collected7 community walks350 photos270 voice notes55 written notesExample of data recorded on the Discovery Tool:

The Discuss stage incorporated researcher facilitated co-analysis workshops where Citizen-scientists worked together in groups to make sense of what they'd found on the walks.Workshop Outcomes: High priority neighbourhood issues identified with eight key themes emerging.Stakeholders mapped to key themes.One Citizen-scientist from each group volunteered to present these priorities at a showcase stakeholder event. Eight Key Themes that Emerged:1.      Infrastructure and Maintenance2.      Regulation and Enforcement3.      Safety and Accessibility4.      Community Engagement and Education5.      Collaboration and Partnerships6.      Environmental and Urban Design7.      Sustainability and Green Infrastructure8.      Equity and Inclusion in Public Spaces

Citizen-scientists took their findings directly to the people who could act on them. An initial online session briefed City of Melbourne representatives, followed by a stakeholder event where Citizen-scientists presented their priorities in person to 65 attendees including researchers, council staff, and community partners. The outputs: a Civic Brief documenting the event, and a Policy Brief translating findings into actionable recommendations.

The most important stage — where agreed actions actually start to happen, and where the project reflects on what it's achieved. Citizen-scientists reported real personal impact across four areas:greater awarenessa sense of empowermentstronger social connection, and reassurance from having their experience validated by others."[The project] aligns well with the work we're doing to review our Community Engagement Policy." — City of Melbourne representative"It's made me so aware — everywhere I go, I think about this project."

Looking ahead, the team is developing a Framework for Sustainable Civic Participation — a plan to embed what's been learned into future work with older adults, covering ethics, data governance and ongoing citizen engagement. A card-based futures game, adapted from The Thing from the Future by RMIT's Dist Prof Larissa Hjorth and Shahee Ilyas, has been developed to keep these conversations going with new cohorts.