Innovation Talks
MAVlab Innovation Talks is a new event series that will act like innovation acupuncture by showcasing inspirational public sector work and the extraordinary practitioners leading it.
Monthly events will be hosted online, convening a collection of international luminaries with leading local practitioners sharing work from around Victoria and the world.
Talks will focus on themes of community health & wellbeing, climate futures, future gen, connected places, tomorrow’s infrastructure, local leadership and emerging tech and data practices.
Upcoming event
MAVlab Innovation Talks #9: Prevention Through Connection - Council-led Wellbeing Iinitiatives
- Date: Wednesday, 29 October 2025; 5:00pm to 6:00pm (Online via Teams)
This Mental Health Month, we’re highlighting the important – often invisible – work being done by local councils to lay the groundwork for better mental health and wellbeing in our communities.
As part of our Leading Healthy Communities partnership with VicHealth, MAVlab Innovation Talks is spotlighting two Victorian councils with place-based approaches to mental wellbeing and social connection.
- Wyndham City Council’s Community Connectors program brings a dedicated team of Community Connectors into the community to support residents, their carers and those that work and play in Wyndham access and navigate local services and support. By improving service connection, the program helps build a more informed, connected, and supported community.
- The Grit and Resilience Program from the Rural City of Wangaratta, started as a wellbeing and support program to address the reasons and ongoing impacts of suicide in their community. It has now morphed into the Social Inclusion Action Group (SIAG), taking a community-led approach to improving wellbeing and support for those in the Wangaratta municipality. By mobilising local groups to foster strength, courage, and connection, the program aims to build lasting, self-sustaining networks of support.
Join us to hear how these programs are working on the ground, what’s been learned along the way, and how local councils can play a quiet but powerful role in improving mental health outcomes through community connection.
Past events
MAVlab Innovation Talks #8 Building Homes, Strengthening Communities
- Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Catch up on a conversation we hosted on Wednesday 24 September, spotlighting the finalists in the MAVlab Innovation Awards – The Refuge Award.
Join us as we dive into three incredible projects:
- Make Room, City of Melbourne
- The Harbour – Social Housing Pilot, Darebin City Council
- Safe Haven, Mornington Peninsula Shire.
MAVlab Innovation Talks #7: Library-Con: Pop Culture, Participation & Possibilities
- Date: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Catch up on a conversation we hosted in August, exploring three examples across the state where libraries are delivering an extraordinary Comic-Con style event.
You’ll hear about:
- Lib-Con at Mill Park Library, by Yarra Plenty Regional Libraries
- Dandy-Con, by the City of Greater Dandenong, and
- King-Con by the City of Kingston.
MAVlab Innovation Talks #6: Future Voices in Local Government
- Date: Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Catch up on a conversation we hosted in July, exploring two powerful examples of youth-led innovation in local government. Learn about The Young Mayors Program, run by the Foundation for Young Australians, an initiative that empowers youth councils with real budgets, mentoring, and the tools to deliver local projects. You'll also hear how the Maribyrnong Youth Hub, a vibrant online platform created by and for young people aged 12–25, is helping young people shape programs, share ideas, and take part in council life.
MAVlab Innovation Talks #5: Emerging Roles for Trials and Transformation
- Date: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Catch up on a conversation we hosted in June, exploring the critical enablement roles we’re seeing emerge in our local councils. You’ll hear from Mandy O'Toole and Alireza Toran Pour at the City of Melbourne who will share insights from their newly created City Sensing Lead role, and Justin Daly, the Emerging Technologies Lead at Mornington Peninsula Shire, who has helped pilot a variety of new digital and AI tools, showing what’s possible when councils create space for experimentation.
MAVlab Innovation Talks #4: Beyond the Survey
- Date: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Catch up on a conversation we hosted in May with Michael Beattie, Community Engagement Coordinator at Banyule City Council, Pip Smith, Coordinator of Community Engagement and Sujayne Downie, Community Engagement Officer at Yarra Ranges Council. You’ll learn how they are leveraging a variety of tactics and tools, experimenting and innovating with community engagement methods beyond the survey, enabling rich community engagement to help drive more resilience, inclusive and thriving communities.
MAVlab Innovation Talks #3: AI Innovation in Local Government
- Date: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Catch up on a conversation we hosted in April with Lisa Ippolito, Continuous Improvement Project Specialist at Whitehorse City Council and Sahar Farzanfar, Project Lead for MAVlab’s AI in Planning project. You’ll hear about an example of creative AI adoption at Whitehorse City Council as well as get a sneak peak into the highly collaborative AI in Planning project led by MAVlab.
MAVlab Innovation Talks #2: Digital Storytelling for Community Conversations
- Date: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Catch up on an exciting discussion we facilitated with Kelly Henderson, Team Leader Digital Innovation at City of Wellington and Helen Walpole, who leads a data design studio at City of Melbourne, exploring innovative examples of digital tools for storytelling to drive community trust and involvement with council projects.
See the Our Changing City video that was shared during Kelly Henderson’s presentation:
MAVlab Innovation Talks #1: Connected Places with Nathalie de Vries and Jocelyn Chiew
- Date: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Catch up on a conversation we hosted between two living legends of public sector design, visionary architect Nathalie de Vries (the DV from the world-renowned Dutch architecture practice MVRDV) in conversation with Jocelyn Chiew, Director of City Design at the City of Melbourne.