Institute News


Conference 2003
Greening the City:
Bringing Biodiversity Back
into the Urban Environment

Abstract:

Chris BainesThe Nature of Sustainable City Living

Chris Baines (Baines Environmental Ltd., United Kingdom)

Of all the people on the Earth today, one in 100 lives in the British Isles. In such a crowded and urbanised society it is all too easy to lose touch with nature.  Certainly there is little room for wildlife as a sentimental luxury.

This keynote lecture will emphasise the essential role which the natural life support system needs to play if the quality of life in towns and cities is to be enjoyable and sustainable.  Using his 30 year experience as one of the UK's leading environmental campaigners, Professor Baines will show how encouraging a nation of gardeners to enjoy nature on the doorstep has led to a wide-ranging recognition that wildlife in the city has a vital and far wider role to play as functional green infrastructure.  By brokering partnerships from amongst the commercial construction industry, public parks, private sector house builders, water and other utility companies, domestic garden owners, school and nature conservation charities and a host of other "strange bedfellows" it is proving possible to rebuild the green integrity of urban areas, to make creative use of a wide range of resources, and to involve a very broad cross-section of the general public.

The presentation will refer to a number of UK initiatives, and institutions, including Chelsea Flower Show, the Green Gym, the GreenLeaf Housing Awards, sustainable urban drainage, brown roofs, urban forestry, horticultural therapy, Learning Through Landscapes, The Heritage Lottery Fund, the Urban Wildlife Partnership, the Big Garden Bird Watch, International Dawn Chorus Day, the world daisy chain championships, and the Rebuilding Biodiversity initiative.

Conference sponsored by:

British Council NZ
CCC
The Community Trust
Landcare Research
ECan
PGG

Follow this link to view other organisations supportive of the conference

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Last updated: October 14, 2003