Building Resilience: Sustainable Homes and Gardens

Event Details

Are you a homeowner or renter who is looking to make your home more comfortable, reduce your bills, and live more sustainably? Join us for the Building Resilience: Homes and Gardens Seminar, a highlight of the Sustainable House Day program. This event will equip you with practical strategies to transform your home and garden into a sustainable haven.

Why Attend?

• Discover how small changes can lead to big savings on your energy bills.
• Gain expert insights into retrofitting your home or planning your new build for sustainability.
• Explore the connection between your garden and food security.
• Learn how to increase your home comfort with simple tips.
  Understand how you can reduce your home’s carbon footprint and build resilience to climate change.
  Get access to a free online learning course which can support you in your journey toward a greener home.

We’ve lined up four inspiring speakers to guide you through simple yet impactful steps to make your home more efficient and your garden more productive:

• Tom Keel and Ameeta Jain from Deakin University will provide a step-by-step guide to creating a more sustainable home. Drawing on their extensive experience in the sustainable building industry, they’ll also offer practical tips on how these changes can improve your home’s comfort, boost your health, and reduce energy bills.
• David Arnold, a permaculture teacher will explore how you can turn your property into a thriving food-growing space. Learn how permaculture principles can enhance food security while promoting a resilient, self-sustaining lifestyle.
• Georgina De Beaujeu will introduce the Gardens for Wildlife, sharing how your outdoor space can support and grow local biodiversity.

This event is proudly run in partnership with the City of Greater Geelong and supported by the Geelong Regional Libraries.

The Seminar will also launch MOTIIVES:

MOTIIVES is an online simple assessment tool that any homeowner and occupant can use to help understand the design and sustainability of their home and learn how to make improvements. Developed by Deakin University, MOTIIVES is an 8-step process that covers both Energy Efficiency as well as all other aspects of sustainability including orientation, materials and occupant behaviour.  In the seminar we’ll explain how the eight steps of MOTIIVES can help to make positive changes to your home.

Speaker Bios:

Tom Keel: Sustainable Design and Retrofit

Tom Keel is a dedicated academic at Deakin University and co-creator of MOTIIVES, specialising in sustainable property design and development. With a Masters degree and extensive field experience, he strives to improve the built environment so that homes are more comfortable, more energy efficient and have a smaller carbon footprint.
At Deakin University, Tom Keel plays a crucial role in both teaching and research. His lectures are known for their engaging style and insightful perspectives, inspiring students to critically analyse property related environmental issues and develop practical solutions. His research focuses on sustainable land use practices, and sustainable living conditions.
Tom’s commitment extends beyond academia; he’s an active practitioner of sustainable building, most recently completing an 8.4 star NatHERS rated house, proving that his taught principles can effectively and successfully be put into practice.
Beyond his professional achievements, Tom Keel is admired for his passion for nature and his advocacy for environmental stewardship. He strives to inspire future generations by emphasising the importance of individual and collective responsibility in preserving our planet for future generations.

Associate Professor Ameeta Jain: Co-developer of MOTIIVES

Ameeta Jain is the co-developer of the MOTIIVES resource and will be available for questions and discussion. Dr. Ameeta Jain is an Associate Professor in Property & Real Estate in the Department of Finance at Deakin Business School. With over 15 years of teaching experience in Economics, Property, and Finance, she has led unit teams in developing and enhancing various courses. Ameeta is passionate about teaching and has consistently been rewarded for her excellence. Her primary research interests are in resilience and sustainability, focusing on business and stakeholder approaches to advancing sustainable organizations and cities. She has received numerous government and industry grants for applying the United Nations; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in national and regional settings. Ameeta has published in highly ranked international peer-reviewed journals and is regularly invited by media to discuss current trends in the property market.

David Arnold: Sustainable Properties and food systems

David Arnold is a tree crop farmer, designer and teacher based in North East Victoria. His Murrnong Permaculture Design Course particularly focuses on home and garden retrofit, and behavioural changes that help us to move from consumers to producers, creating a world that we want along the way. murrnong.com     

Georgina De Beaujeu: Gardens for Wildlife.

Georgina is the Chair of Geelong Gardens for Wildlife. Georgina has a Master of Landscape Architecture and a PhD under examination that considers how to create win-wins for urban nature and people in our suburbs. Georgina has also been on the Board of a cooperative indigenous plant nursery in Melbourne. Georgina lives in the Otway’s where she works on a creek regeneration project with five neighbours and indulges in her passion,  wildlife gardening!

This event is proudly run in partnership with the City of Greater Geelong, Deakin University and presented in partnership with Geelong Regional Libraries.