The 10th instalment of the Making Cities Liveable Conference will open in Brisbane this July.

The conference is a platform for a range of government, academic and industry professionals to discuss public health, sustainability, natural resource management, transport, climate change, urban design and biosecurity among many other topics. The theme chosen for the 10th Making Cities Liveable Conference is ‘Collaborate, Innovate, Mitigate and Connect’.

Over a decade of the conference, more than 3000 delegates have engaged with 450 presenters on the challenges and opportunities in building liveable and healthy cities.

From 10-11 July 2017 at Brisbane's Hotel Grand Chancellor, 12 keynote speeches and 60 expert presentations will be held. Concurrent sessions, study tours and poster presentations round out the program.

Some of the evolving topics to be covered this year include the new urban agenda, liveable neighbourhoods, regional placemaking, and heritage infrastructure. Speakers on these topics come from a diverse range of backgrounds, and will no doubt showcase a variety of perspectives.

The first keynote speaker of the event, Peter Ellyard is a Melbourne-based futurist, strategist, speaker and author, with a long involvement in public policy and in the development and implementation of long term strategies. He will speak on ‘Imagining and Constructing a Liveable Planet 2050’.

Another keynote, Dr Melanie Lowe from the Healthy Liveable Cities Research Group at RMIT, truly sets the agenda for the conference with the topic ‘The New Urban Agenda: Pursuing a sustainable, healthy and liveable urban future’. The topic will be further explored through a series of presentations, including one by Ms Lucinda Hartley, an adjunct senior fellow at The University of Melbourne. Hartley believes the key to implementing the new urban agenda is through incremental change.

Concurrent sessions will also focus on air pollution, the importance of going green, age and dementia-friendly streetscapes, sustainable living in inner cities, rooftop food gardens, smart precincts, and urban transport among others.