paul mallett advocates for building a city where creativity is civic infrastructure. A place where art, design, storytelling, and public expression sit alongside movement, belonging, and economic life. Creativity is not a luxury. It is how people make sense of their lives, strengthen community, and imagine better futures together.

Imagine a city where mural trails guide you through neighbourhoods. Where laneways are canvases, bridges are galleries, and blank walls become invitations. Picture local artists supported through a rolling fifteen-year mural program, with three or four new works added each year. Picture shared studios, maker spaces, digital labs, and citizen science zones where young people can test ideas, build prototypes, and work with mentors. Picture a Launceston that hosts a Five Minute Thesis night each season, giving people a stage to share bright ideas in simple language for everyone.

Creative infrastructure makes this possible. Paint-ready walls. Safe lighting. Public art funds. Micro-grants for pop-up exhibitions. School and community partnerships that turn creativity into a daily habit. A simple rule: if an idea adds colour, delight, or meaning, the city helps remove barriers.

The aim is simple: a city that feels alive, confident, and curious. A place where local talent is visible. Where visitors feel the energy of something being made. Where creativity is not only encouraged, but expected.

Let’s build a boldly creative city. Let’s bring colour to the everyday, including

1. Launceston Mural Program

Transition from reactive graffiti removal to a proactive, city-supported public art program.
• Commission local artists in partnership with schools, community groups, and First Nations creatives.
• Fund materials, access equipment, insurance, and maintenance so artworks can endure.
• Replace downstream cleaning costs with civic pride, talent development, and visual storytelling across neighbourhoods.
• Turn blank walls into platforms for identity, culture, memory, and community connection.

2. Mural Trail and Guided Tours

Develop a citywide mural trail with clear signage, digital maps, and year-round guided tours.
• Offer school tour packages and youth participation opportunities.
• Create pathways for emerging, young, and visiting artists through open calls and mentorships.
• Strengthen Launceston’s cultural brand, attract visitors, and build reasons for locals to walk, linger, and explore.
• Integrate arts education into everyday public life.

3. CitizenEcho for Place-Tied Storytelling

Enable optional, consent-based audio storytelling at public artworks and cultural sites.
• Provide context, history, and community voices without surveillance or data extraction.
• Anchor public memory, truth-telling, and cultural interpretation directly in place.
• Support school learning, heritage education, and reflection through locally owned content.

4. Changemaker High: Tasmania’s First Vertical Public High School

Establish a multi-storey urban high school designed as a civic innovation lab.
• Provide project-based learning, shared labs and workshops, multidisciplinary studios, and community mentorship.
• Give students real-world briefs from council, industry, and community organisations.
• Treat young people as full civic contributors and build capability, confidence, and STEAM pathways.
• Keep talent local by making purpose-driven learning the norm.

5. Citizen Science in the City

Embed citizen science into environmental monitoring, planning, and problem-solving.
• Support student and community-led sensing and monitoring projects — including algal bloom sensors, environmental rafts, drones, and biodiversity mapping.
• Connect data to an open public dashboard for transparency and collective learning.
• Use findings to guide planning decisions at sites like Carr Villa and the Lilydale wildlife corridor.
• Turn STEM engagement into real contribution and faster, more trusted responses to local issues.

6. Annual Student Design Competition

Run a citywide competition inviting students from primary to senior secondary to respond to an annual civic brief.
• Exhibit shortlisted work in libraries, civic buildings, and public spaces.
• Provide practitioner feedback from architects, designers, planners, and engineers.
• Normalise co-design with young people and create pathways from curiosity to professional practice.
• Celebrate youth imagination as part of the city’s decision-making culture.

7. Five Minute Thesis (Youth Edition)

Host a short-form presentation showcase where students present research, prototypes, and proposals to community and industry audiences.
• Build communication, critical-thinking, and public-speaking skills.
• Bring youth voice directly into civic debates and council planning.
• Foster habits of participation, collaboration, and constructive public engagement.