Masterclass with Dr Damien Puddle: POpTED: Play Opportunities Through Environmental Design

POpTED: Play Opportunities Through Environmental Design

Masterclass with Dr Damien Puddle

Date: Tuesday June 24, 2025       

Time:    9:00am - 1:00pm

Cost:  $375  ( if you are attending the IPA Asia Pacific Conference 25-26 June,  you can book this masterclass for discounted rate of $295  at the time of your conference booking –  go to Conference Information                

Venue:  Location

Melbourne City Marina Lounge

The address is Waterfront City, Level 1 120/439 Docklands Dr, Docklands VIC 3008.

Located  at the end of Glenti Place, first flight of stairs and marked with a blue banner marked “Melbourne City Marina”.

Closest tram stop is D11-Waterfront City/Docklands Dr.

POpTED: Play Opportunities Through Environmental Design

Join Dr Damien Puddle to explore a new multidisciplinary approach to embedding play into city planning and design, from district plans and technical regulations to plans and design guides, and for use across project timelines and professional boundaries (e.g. local government to landscape architecture) to take play beyond the playground and into the whole city. This masterclass is built for collaboration and critique and will enable attendees to learn the POpTED model and test it using some real-world examples.

Profile:Damien Puddle, affectionately known as "Dr. Play," is a playful academic and urban mischief-maker on a mission to turn cities into vibrant playgrounds. Based in Invercargill, New Zealand, he’s a play enthusiast with a PhD in parkour—yes, really. Damien’s diverse career spans academia, local government, and non-profits, where he challenges the status quo of what cities—and their people—can be. Whether he’s advising councils, calling out those who hide behind health and safety excuses, or dreaming up bold ways to inject play into urban life, Damien blends research, provocation, and fun to spark change. He’s not afraid to ask hard questions, break the mould of traditional planning, and remind us all that the biggest risk might just be a childhood without adventure.