Smart Villages
Growing capacity in value-based rural construction and development,
leading to 60-40 Urban-Rural shared living and a climate-positive future.
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The Smart Villages Research Program focuses on growing capacity in value-based rural construction and development. This work is a Sustainable Planet Initiative (SPI) targeting the '40 percent' rural community globally, promoting the healthy 'urban-rural share' as a contrast to the 'urban-rural divide'.
COSVARD 2026 (Hybrid Mode)
The 9th International Conference on Smart Villages and Rural Development will provide a global platform for researchers, policy makers and industry professionals. They will share knowledge and examples from practice associated with new forms of rural development, targeting the 40% rural population in the globe and contributing towards a climate-positive planet.
Partner with us
We are interested in the following forms of collaboration:
- Research: Joint research projects, especially those involving cross-disciplinary collaborations
- Prototyping: Developing prototype buildings and processes in rural communities, to test the implementation of research in practice
- Capacity Building: Assisting with training of government, professionals and villagers in new forms and techniques
- Finance: Grants either for research by the University of Melbourne, for prototyping, capacity building in local institutions and communities.