Urban Future Exchange
Over the past 10 months the Board has undertaken a comprehensive review of the organisation. Our findings can be summarised as:
The organisation has an extensive and proud legacy and has positively shaped many lives and careers over the past 50+ years.
In recent years the organisation has moved away from its original purpose and has experimented with new directions and ways to engage.
The organisation no longer has any linkages to any national or interstate Urban Studies bodies and is an independent organisation that can chart its own course.
The idea of an organisation that explores Adelaide and South Australia’s urban and regional future in a non-partisan, progressive and trustworthy way is still highly relevant and perhaps even more important than ever.
The organisation should embrace new ways to engage with members and the broader public.
In our review, the Board concluded that whilst our current name - the Australian Institute of Urban Studies - South Australia holds significant value and has an incredible legacy, it doesn't best represent the new direction of the organisation.
Following research and discussion, the organisation has adopted a new name, the Urban Future Exchange (UFX). The new name perfectly aligns with our new Vision and Mission. In conversation we will go by our acronym UFX.
The new Vision
The UFX is a provocative and politically savvy social enterprise, leading progressive discussion in urban studies and related disciplines, in pursuit of an urban future for South Australia that is healthy, confident, equitable, and sustainable.
The new Mission
UFX cultivates a diverse membership in order to inform independent advocacy activity and empower professional communities across disciplines. We do this by bringing people together in a trustworthy, safe, and non-partisan environment.
We provoke mature discussion by discovering and exploring nuances within issues that have otherwise been glossed over or accepted as ‘knowns.’ We challenge ideas and test assumptions. We distinguish between politics and partisanship, and encourage political psychology as being integral to the public decision-making that governs urban futures.