During Term 3, in our InnovatED, Humanities and English classes we started a real-life project. Nicole Lockwood visited the Year 7 cohort and discussed the idea with us, the redesigning of the Fremantle Port, which is being redeveloped into a more sustainable and liveable area. Mrs. Lockwood is in charge of presenting to a committee some ideas for the redesign of the Port, and asked us as a year group, to submit our thoughts on housing, recreational facilities and dining options.

We chose the residential component to work on for the project because it interested us. We had to design a sustainable way to include housing once the Fremantle Port was relocated. I worked with Maya, Alex and Tejas. We discussed different ideas in our group, such as: using shipping containers to construct housing. After discussing a few different options, we decided to plan a residential area at the Northern end of the existing Fremantle Port location, not using sea containers but using many sustainable materials.

One element that l improved on in this project was my communication skills. I improved these skills by listening to and discussing everyone’s ideas. If we did not agree with an idea, we discussed the pros and cons and decided on the best outcome. An example of this is when we were designing our vision board, we all had different ideas on how to decorate the board. Some ideas were paint, felt, pencil, cardboard and tape. After discussing these options, we decided that tape was the best outcome for the vision board.  Another example that helped my communication skills were when we were presenting our project, we had many questions from our guests who were asking more in-depth questions. We were able to answer these questions with the knowledge we learned and took turns in answering the guests’ questions.

Problem-solving was another skill l improved during this project. We used brainstorming, discussion and voting to problem solve. My group brainstormed many ideas for the Fremantle Port area, but we had to think outside the box and try to come up with an idea that was unique. We discussed as a group which one was the best idea to include in our project and then how we would construct the houses. For example, some members of the group wanted to include wood, bricks, unsustainable paints, garages, bike storage and gardens. We tried voting but it was a tie, so we tried another method, discussion. By problem-solving, we were able to reach an agreement which helped us to make our project better.

I also improved my collaboration skills by working together as a team and encouraging everyone to contribute their opinions to the project. This was achieved by giving group members the confidence to put their ideas forward and making them feel included in our discussions. As a result, they added more ideas to the project because they felt more confident. We also researched different elements of the project as a group. For example, Tejas researched different Architecture Styles, Maya researched Eco–friendly ideas when building a house, I researched different designs around the Perth and Fremantle area and Alex investigated legal rules and requirements for housing. Then we shared our ideas and combined them to come up with our overall project, which was a better result.

My group and l discussed and understood that sustainability was an important part of the Utopia project. Sustainability in the building industry is expected by the people who will move into the Fremantle Port community. Recycled materials and solar panels are now looked for when buying a house. We took these facts into consideration when thinking about the sustainability of the residential part of the project. In addition, we decided to incorporate the use of hire bikes as a sustainable form of transportation. Our houses will meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (number 9), Sustainable Cities and Communities (number 11),. This will make our houses eco-friendly and more sustainable for people to live in. The ASC Capabilities were also an important part of this project because they are going to lead me in the right direction and guide me with life.

This project was a learning opportunity that helped me improve my work skills with my group. Throughout this project l personally developed my communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills. I also learned a lot about two important ASC Capabilities Sustainability and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.                                                                    

This was one of my favorite projects that l have been involved in as l feel that l have improved many important skills. I am very grateful that l had this amazing opportunity to be part of a real-life project