Our Activities & Events
We bring people together through co-design, consultation, and innovation. Explore what we’re working on right now, what’s coming up, and what we’ve achieved together.
Jump to: Happening Now | Upcoming Activities | Past Activities
Happening Now
These are initiatives currently in progress. Pilots, programs, and collaborations shaping health and wellbeing across the Central Coast and Hunter Region.
Living Well After Hospital
The Living Well After Hospital project, led by researchers at the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute, is testing new ways to reduce hospital readmissions for older adults. Before the trial begins, the research team engaged the Living Lab to lead a two-step co-design process to shape the intervention with older people and their support persons.
How we are working together
The CCLL team is supporting the research team to design and deliver two co-design workshops grounded in participatory and inclusive principles. We are working collaboratively to ensure that older people and their support persons are recognised as experts in their own experiences, through paid participation, relaxed and welcoming environments, and open-ended activities that encourage conversation, reflection, and shared insight.
In July 2025, fifteen older people and support persons with recent hospital experience from across the Hunter New England LHD participated in the first workshop. They shared experiences of discharge and worked with the team to identify the kinds of supports that could make recovery at home safer and easier. These insights directly informed the next stage of design.
A second workshop will be held on 10 October 2025, where participants will further shape early prototypes that have been informed by the first workshop, before the interventions move into trial.
👉 Learn more about the Living Well After Hospital research program
Shaping Lifelong Health
The Shaping Lifelong Health Challenge is the Central Coast Health & Wellbeing Living Lab’s newest initiative, focused on prevention from midlife onwards. Together with our community, we are exploring three themes: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds and Healthy Participation. The Challenge is about creating opportunities for people to live well into later life, drawing on community insights to guide practical projects.
Learn more about the Challenge
Community Workshop – 30 September 2025
Join us for a relaxed and interactive community conversation in Gosford. In small group discussions, you’ll have the chance to share ideas, listen to others and reflect on what matters most for staying well into later life. Insights from this session will directly shape the projects we support through the Challenge.
Date: 30 September 2025
Time: 10.00 AM - 12.00 PM
Location: Level 9, Central Coast Clinical School & Research Insititute, 77a Holden St, Gosford.
Upcoming Activities
Here are activities scheduled to take place soon.
Carer Support Workshops
We're partnering with the CCLHD Carer Support Unit to explore how we can better support carer self-identification within our community. Many people provide care and support to family members, friends, or neighbours without recognising themselves as "carers" – a barrier that can prevent them from accessing vital support services and resources.
Our two collaborative workshops will bring together current carers, community members who may not yet be providing informal care, service providers, and health professionals to share experiences, insights, and practical ideas. Through these sessions, we aim develop strategies to help people recognise their caring role earlier, ultimately connecting them with the support they need.
This initiative recognises that caring happens across all walks of life, and by fostering dialogue between those with lived experience and those providing services, we can create more effective pathways to support.
Workshop 1: 15 October 2025 – Gosford
Workshop 2: 17 October 2025 – Mardi
More details coming soon. Please email ccll@newcastle.edu.au if you are interested in participating.
Intergenerational Collaborative Music Making
In partnership with the University of Newcastle, we're exploring how music can bring people together across generations and strengthen community connections. These co-design workshops will examine what makes community music valuable, inclusive, and sustainable, with findings that could inform the future implementation of these community music initiatives.
We're inviting people of all backgrounds – from those with specialist musical knowledge to community members simply interested in making music together – to help shape what intergenerational music-making could look like on the Central Coast.
Our interactive workshop will explore three key areas: understanding current musical engagement in our community, examining different collaborative possibilities, and co-designing solutions that work for our region. Through moderated discussions and creative exercises, participants will have genuine agency in shaping how we might create new opportunities and build on existing networks and resources.
Date: 30 October 2025 (TBC)
Location: Level 9, Central Coast Clinical School & Research Insititute, 77a Holden St, Gosford.
More details coming soon. Please email ccll@newcastle.edu.au if you are interested in participating.
Past Activities
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2025 Activities
See what we've delivered so far in 2025 — events, workshops, showcases and consultations.
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2024 Activities
Explore the events and activities we delivered in 2024.