Deadline: 19 September 2025
Workshop dates: 3-4 December 2025
Location: Melbourne Centre for Cities, University of Melbourne, Australia
This is the first of three events in the Urban Studies Foundation seminar series “Walls speak. Are you listening? A research agenda for urban surfaces”. The following workshops will take place in Nicosia, Cyprus (May 2026) and Uppsala, Sweden (August 2026).
The Urban Surfaces Research Network (USRN) is an international multi-disciplinary group of scholars, artists, and practitioners interested in the roles of surfaces as spaces of urban communication, governance, and political contestation. We explore how surfaces are designed, managed, valued, and contested as public assets, to enrich the diversity of public expression in global cities.
Are you a researcher or practitioner in the public or private sector whose work engages with urban surfaces? We are inviting expressions of interest to attend our 1.5-day workshop in Melbourne, Australia, on 3-4 December 2025. Please send your EOI through this Google form by Friday 19 September. Outcomes will be announced no later than 29 September.
Drawing on the mandate of the Urban Surfaces Research Network, the workshop will establish communication and awareness of the multiple research agendas that operate with urban surfaces; foreground surfaces as a central research concept and field of study pertinent to numerous political, legal, social, architectural, and cultural concerns; and create a space for research exchange as well as consultation with non-academic actors (eg outdoor advertising companies, graffiti removal practitioners, street artists, and conservators).
Workshop details:
- The workshop will take place at the University of Melbourne’s Parkville campus on Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 December 2025 and is in-person only.
- Day 1 (full day) consists of presentation panels and roundtables focused on sharing research and practice, and exploring methodological tools to understand urban surfaces. Day 2 (half day) is designed as a site-visit working session focused on the governance of urban images and graffiti removal as creative practice.
- The event is conceived as a small scale, deep study session for approximately 20 participants. There will not be an audience for the event and all participants are expected to contribute to the discussion and research activities. There is no registration fee; and lunches and a dinner on the first evening will be catered.
- Early career colleagues are particularly encouraged to apply. Four regional travel and accommodation bursaries are available from interstate Australia and New Zealand. We will consider subsidising travel costs for colleagues coming from further afield on a case by case basis. NB full time employed colleagues are unlikely to be considered for bursaries.
This workshop is funded by the Urban Studies Foundation Seminar Series Award “Walls speak. Are you listening? A research agenda for urban surfaces” (USF-SSA-250602). Calls for the next two workshops in Nicosia, Cyprus (May 2026) and Uppsala, Sweden (August 2026) will be circulated in due course. Please email sabina.andron@unimelb.edu.au with any questions.
Link to the Google form: https://forms.gle/yUsdeEVWusaXfECH7
SABINA ANDRON 