Established in 2015 by architect Dino Vrynios in partnership with the South Australian chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, Future Forum is a platform for exploration and innovation between designers, professionals, all tiers of the government and members of the public.

The next Future Forum will discuss how being open to new processes could be big business for Adelaide.

Held on Wednesday 28 July at Adelaide Town Hall, the forum will explore how Adelaide could become a ProtoCity to test new boundaries and create a new way of how citizens live, participate and form community in the city.

“Such a city would create an environment that invites the world to come and play in a city-scale ‘sandbox’ which supports innovation, efficiencies and improvements for how all cities function, support commerce and be well,” said Vrynios, who is an InDaily 40 Under 40 alumnus from 2020 and host of the 20 Minute City podcast produced with CityMag.

Leading the conversation will be Ross Harding, the founder of Finding Infinity, an organisation dedicated to speeding up the world’s transition to self-sufficient cities through creativity and consulting.

Harding said our cities need to transform from being consumers to being producers, a subject he has illustrated in the “A New Normal” project in Melbourne.

Prepared by Finding Infinity, A New Normal collaborates the physical infrastructure that makes the city work with the cultural infrastructure which enables citizens to thrive.

With 15 projects to initiate the transition, the project hopes to transform Melbourne from a consumer city to a producer city by 2030.

“The transition is profitable,” Harding said.

“The longer we wait the more it will cost us and future generations. Now is the time for us to accelerate the transition. Every city in the world is in a race to get there, the question is can Adelaide be the first?”

After Harding’s keynote, a panel of some of South Australia’s leading thinkers will discuss how Adelaide can become a magnet for innovation.

Joining Ross on the panel will be Katherine Bennell, Director of Space Capability and Robotic Automation at the Australian Space Agency, Julianne Parkinson, CEO of the Global Centre for Modern Aging, Daniel Moore, Director and Building Services Manager of WSP SA, Louka Parry, CEO of the Learning Future, and Karl Telfer, Co-Director of YELLAKA.

The audience will be able to discuss and contribute through a platform on their mobile phones.

The forum wraps up at a networking event across the street at Electra House.

ProtoCity is partnered by Sensum SA, 10 Gigabit Adelaide, WSP and Innovis.

InDaily readers can enjoy a 30 per cent discount on tickets by clicking here. Or use the code: FF_INDAILY at Eventbrite.