Part of Main Road, Ballarat in 1859 (Source: State Library of Victoria)

HUL Toolkit

I am a researcher

In working with the HUL approach the City of Ballarat and its partners have developed a range of tools to map and document the city’s rich and complex histories and explored how the approach can be adapted for Ballarat to address complex city challenges. This will help researchers interested in the HUL approach and those interested in our city. 

• To explore Ballarat’s methods and tools developed for the HUL approach see Review the HUL research 
• To find out about our city’s stories see Explore Ballarat’s Histories, Map the Connections and Understand our current values 
• To seek further information see Make connections

Review the HUL research to-date

• Read the story of how Ballarat became a leading pilot city for UNESCO's HUL approach
• Access the research reports, case studies, methods and tools used to implement the HUL approach in Ballarat
• Find out more about the global communities work with the HUL with the Global Observatory on HUL (GO-HUL), the global HUL pilot and at UNESCO

Explore Ballarat's histories

• Get the overview of Ballarat’s history, with a timeline spanning pre-contact times to the present day 

• Explore our city with the self-guided, historic walking tours outlined on Ballarat Revealed
• Uncover local Indigenous perspectives of the gold rush through Hidden Histories: The Wadawurrung People 
• Compare historic and present-day Ballarat through the Cityscapes and Artscapes through time tools
• Survey Ballarat’s musical heritage with the interactive Songways Music Map  
• Hear stories of unique characters and events that shaped Ballarat in the Tales from Rat City podcast series
• TimeCapsule Ballarat provides a continuously evolving and interactive map of places valued and remembered in Ballarat
• The Ballarat Photo Map offers a window into the past and present of the city
• Read the stories and memories of people in the Ballarat community and see their link to places in Ballarat and around the world on The Memory Atlas  
• Learn how to research your home’s history with our research guide and find out what our heritage studies tell you about Ballarat’s historic areas in the Ballarat Heritage Database (searchable by property)

You can find out more about Ballarat and research your own history with our city’s local history groups and organisations

Map the connections

• The Visualising Ballarat mapping tool is an interactive way to explore the city’s landscape, ecology, history and regulatory frameworks and use this information to support decisions about change in Ballarat and its evolving so watch this space!

Understand our current values

• The Ballarat Imagine community consultation uncovered what the community loves, values and imagines for the future of Ballarat

• Uncover community values for specific areas around our city through consultation summaries [link to MySay archive – FORTHCOMING] and community engagement reports [link to collection online – FORTHCOMING]

Make connections

If you would like to be put in touch with local researchers or specialist community groups, the Community Development team can connect you. Contact them on info@ballarat.vic.gov.au or call 5320 5500.

If you would like to find out more about Ballarat’s HUL pilot program the City of Ballarat’s Heritage and Cultural Landscapes team can help. Contact them directly on heritage@ballarat.vic.gov.au or call +61 3 5320 5500.