Welcome back to all of our members for what I believe will be another year of energy and new thinking. There are plenty of events and activities on the horizon in which hopefully everyone can participate in some form.

Firstly, elections are now on and closing next Tuesday 16 February 2pm AEDT, so please jump online and vote. We have a great field of candidates, nine overall for five positions on the SA Chapter Council.

In April, Adelaide will host the National Architecture Conference for the first time in twenty years. As well as a hearing from a great lineup of speakers put together by the creative directors, the SA Chapter is be running a series of precinct tours to showcase the best of Adelaide. Tickets are now on sale at www.architecture.com.au/howsoonisnow/

The new Development Act is currently being debated in Parliament. Although it hasn’t progressed as quickly as Minister Rau had hoped, there’s a lot to like about the new bill, and it deserves our support. You will be seeing more public advocacy for the bill from the Institute.

Our Planning Task group has met and is gearing up to provide input into the myriad of regulations, design guides and development plan changes that will inevitably follow the passage of the bill. We would welcome your support in whatever way you might be able to contribute.

The next trade mission to Shandong Province in China is scheduled for early April this year. We are currently working with the City of Charles Sturt to develop a Health and Aging industry group with a focus on Aged Care. It comprises providers and operators, designers and architects, contractors and those who manufacture equipment and mobility devices among others. If you would like to get involved in that group, please contact Chapter Manager, Nicolette Di Lernia on 8402 5900 or nicolette.dilernia@architecture.com.au for more details.

Allied to this, last Thursday evening we announced the formation of the Adelaide Design Alliance (ADA), a broad co-operative of allied businesses in the design sector. The event included the Presidents and Chapter Council members of the peak bodies in our sector (AIA, AILA, DIA, PIA and AGDA).

It was great to hear that all of us have a common aim in increasing the relevance of design here in South Australia, and the ADA will be an important aspect of this. It will initially be overseen by the Presidents or Chapter Council members, but the aim is for it to be a co-operative of businesses who can come together and collaborate around export opportunities. More on this as it develops.

At the same event, The Adelaide Review announced a series of great new initiatives to promote design in the broader Adelaide community, including an annual dedicated FORM publication to be launched in October. The alignment between our organisations and what the Review is seeking to promote is strong, and I believe they will continue to be great supporters of design in 2016.

On Friday afternoon, I met with the design schools from both the University of SA and the University of Adelaide to discuss how we might forge better ties between practice and academia. We agreed to hold a series of events to hear from both groups as to how we might work together more effectively. Watch this space…

So as you can see, there’s a lot that has already happened this year, and we’re only just past January. Much of the work relies on the voluntary contribution of members, supported by our dedicated Chapter staff.

David Homburg, SA Chapter President