Riverview Projects has announced an innovative partnership with Australia's national science agency, the CSIRO, to ensure best practice bushfire management is maintained for all stages of the Ginninderry project. The two organisations have signed a Collaborative Arrangement Agreement which will see leading bushfire expert and researcher Justin Leonard – who oversees the CSIRO Bushfire Adaptation team – bring the latest research and worldwide professional contacts to Ginninderry.
The collaboration also brings on board the Australian Red Cross and EcoLogical Australia, to support the project's aims in developing, implementing, monitoring and continuously improving, performance-based design methodologies to manage bushfire risk.
The collaboration recognises that whilst bushfire management standards set by ACT and NSW agencies are currently world's best practice, there is always room for improvement. This is particularly the case at Ginninderry, where the long 40-year timeframe of the project will provide a pioneering model for research studies.
The partnership will involve important research to support fire management measures for the protection of both the conservation corridor and urban areas. This includes articulating the nature of bushfire risks posed for locations within Ginninderry and the tailoring of integrated and robust risk management design solutions to meet and exceed the expectations of both the community and government regulators, for every stage of the development.
Mr Leonard, who is regularly engaged in field research such as at Tathra in 2018 where he led the CSIRO research on the site immediately after the bushfire, is enthusiastic to work on a project of Ginninderry's scale.
"Our team is excited to use this collaborative opportunity to showcase the latest scientific knowledge to push the boundaries of science integration directly into urban design outcomes and community adaptation to bushfire," he says.
"We will be working closely with the Ginninderry project team to design approaches that draw upon current understanding of building and infrastructure responses to bushfire. This will give us an evidence base to support performance-based design."
Stephen Harding, Ginninderry Project Director believes this partnership further reinforces a commitment to worlds' best practice and continuous learning.
"Ginninderry will be the vehicle for a 'learning journey' for both the joint venture and CSIRO and allow research projects to occur over the lifetime of the 40-year project to explore and deliver best practice thinking and management over time." he says.
