Prof Melanie Davern has research interest and expertise in both public health and urban planning customised for direct application in policy, planning and industry. This has been developed through long standing interest and knowledge in the development of social, economic and environmental indicators, individual and community wellbeing derived from complex research investigating the connection between the social determinants of health, public health outcomes and urban planning and design. These cross disciplinary areas describe my expertise, passion, dedication and reputation for the translation of this research into practice. This knowledge is more simply communicated as liveability research combined through the learnings of public health and urban planning to create real world impact from research evidence.
Melanie is the Director of the Australian Urban Observatory (auo.org.au) located within the Centre for Urban Research that is measuring liveability at the neighbourhood level across the 21 largest cities of Australia. She was formally the Director of Community Indicators Victoria (CIV) within the Melbourne School of Population & Global Health at the University of Melbourne.
Melanie’s partnership-based approach to policy focused research has resulted in extensive successful partnerships across all tiers of government, community organisations and industry that seek to use data and research evidence as a catalyst for future action to improve liveability, health and wellbeing for all members of the community.
