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Category Archives: Green space

Liveable Communities Through Engagement, Culture & Connection

It is every conservationist’s goal to bring nature back to urban areas. Life begins with nature, yet sometimes it needs a little help to keep thriving. Our current economic crisis is not deterring organisations in continuing vital conservationist work, and many are teaming up together to push forward with finding the best ways to achieve environmental and cultural sustainability. Webinar 3 of the Liveable Cities Conference: Webinar Series 2020 will take this focus on Tuesday 23rd of June, with three keynote speakers delivering an incredible line-up. CLICK HERE for the program details and read below for a glimpse of what …

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Spotlight On: GreenCareer

GreenCareer provides the latest jobs, news, conferences, events and education listings for environmental, NRM and sustainability professionals around the country. Part of the CareerSpot suite of 18 connected information portals – we tap the active and passive jobs seekers and career professionals – placing the latest information for their industry – directly into their inbox.  GreenCareer is part of the CareerSpot suite of industry specific jobs and information portals. With more than 150,000 subscriptions across the suite – we’re fast becoming the go to place for industry information, conferences, events, education opportunities, news and jobs. With sites in the suite …

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Philanthropy’s Role in Creating Sustainable Cities

Philanthropy has an important role to play in creating “time and space” for cities to become sustainable, according to the program director for the sustainable development grantmaking program at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Michael Northrop is set to give the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation’s annual Inspiring Philanthropy oration discussing the role of philanthropy in creating sustainable cities. Northrop, who also serves on New York City’s Sustainability Advisory Board, told Pro Bono News philanthropy had created soft capital that allowed cities to innovate. “The most important actors in a city are going to be your mayors and your city councils and …

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Green Space – How Much Is Enough, And What’s The Best Way to Deliver It?

Half of the world’s people now live in urban areas. This creates competition for resources and increases pressure on already limited green space. Many urban areas are still experiencing active degradation or removal of green space. To reverse this trend and ensure the multiple benefits of green space are realised, we urgently need to move toward on-ground action. However, there is no clear guidance on how to translate the evidence base on green space into action. There is limited information to guide green-space practitioners on how much is “green enough”, or on how to manage and maintain green space. There …

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How green is our infrastructure? Helping cities assess its value for long-term liveability.

The Conversation Australian cities score high in liveability awards. Melbourne has topped The Economist’s most liveable cities ranking five years in a row, with Adelaide, Sydney and Perth not far behind and Brisbane in the top 20. Australian cities rank well in other liveability surveys, too, if not so highly. Environment is one of the key factors that these surveys measure, but the data and methods being used are not very sophisticated. Green infrastructure is a key contributor to these rankings. The networks of green and blue – taking in rivers and streams, parks, green wedges, gardens and tree-lined roads …

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Do trees really help clear the air in our cities?

The Conversation It may sound like a no-brainer to say that trees improve air quality. After all, we know that trees absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂), and that their leaves can trap the toxic pollutants nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone, and harmful microscopic particles produced by diesel vehicles, cooking and wood burning. Yet some recent studies have suggested that trees may in fact worsen urban air quality by trapping pollutants at street level. A closer look at the evidence – and how it was collected – reveals the root of this dispute, and can help us come to a …

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Green Visions: Nature as infrastructure

Architecture AU A number of recent industry campaigns and major policy documents from both state and local government levels promote nature’s critical role in supporting economic prosperity, health and wellbeing. Although much has been written about a green infrastructure design-led approach for urban environments, it was not until recently that major policy documents have included measures that promote nature as a key driver for the built environment. On both state and local government levels, policy and planning directives increasingly reflect the acceptance of nature-as-infrastructure’s critical role in underpinning economic prosperity, health and wellbeing. The Sydney Green Grid project Sydney’s population is forecast …

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How Can We Make our Cities More Liveable?

Sourceable Living architecture is part of a broader notion of green infrastructure that also encompasses water sensitive urban design, integrated water cycle management, green streets, urban food, and the urban forest. When combined, these elements can reduce the negative impacts of urbanisation to make our cities more liveable. The challenges of establishing living architecture in Australia Green roofs, walls, and facades are more common in other countries than in Australia. In the northern hemisphere, the climate is generally cooler and they have fewer extremely hot days with rainfall distributed relatively evenly across the year. Living architecture is particularly prevalent in Singapore. …

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WA Indigenous Elders apartments win at 2015 Sustainability Awards

Architecture and Design The Walumba Elders Centre by iredale pedersen hook architects (ipha) was the winner of the Multi-Density Category prize and the Best of the Best award at the 2015 Sustainability Awards. ipha received the prestigious honour at the awards ahead of 68 finalists and a record number of entries.   On 13 March, 2011 the Giga people’s home town of Warmun was devastated by a catastrophic one in 300 year flood event. Three hundred people were displaced for 12 months while new houses were built. Working directly with the community Elders and the Home and Community Care staff, …

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Sustainable living put to the test in Bondor-QUT study partnership

Sustainable housing is increasingly sought-after by Australians – but how effective are current strategies and products used in sustainable construction? A study, which sees Queensland University of Technology (QUT) team up with Bondor, aims to find out. Residential homes in each state constructed using Bondor’s innovative InsulLiving® building products, InsulWall® and SolarSpan®, will be monitored over an extended period of time to evaluate how Bondor’s high performance thermal building system meets the needs of the residents in relation to both energy cost savings and comfort. QUT’s Dr Wendy Miller and Bondor have been working closely since 2009 when Bondor first …

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