Experts share their policy and planning tools for Greening the Private Realm
In this second part of the CitiesWithNature Greening Private Property webinar series, ICLEI Oceania was joined by policy and academic experts from across Australia to share the strategies they use for urban environmental stewardship.
All cities depend on healthy interconnected ecosystems within and around them, so nature must be fully integrated into urban planning and development. There is a growing urgency for collective and large-scale action to protect the biodiversity in and around cities to prevent irreversible loss and damage to the natural systems we depend on. We asked experts who have been doing this critical work to join us and share their policy and planning strategies for urban greening.
Bonnie Hall, the senior strategic planning officer for the City of Nedlands, kicked off the discussion by sharing Nedlands Urban Forestry Strategy. She outlined the approach that she and her team used to develop the City of Nedlands Urban Forestry Strategy of 2018-2023 to protect the quality of the living environment in their city by retaining and maintaining tree canopy
Citing the foundational work that his council’s IT staff did to accurately assess tree canopy using Geographical Information Systems and LIDAR technology, City of Unley Mayor Micheal Hewitson AC, offered insight on the city's proposed incentive program which would be used to secure the future of tree cover through the implementation of a “Development Offset Fund.”
Dr Judy Bush, lecturer in Urban Planning from the University of Melbourne, provided an outline of the academic perspective on policy mechanisms for private land and the role of incentives, awards and grants, and regulations and how a combination of these measures can facilitate and maximize greening in the private realm. Dr Bush also spoke about the evidence-based Green Factor Tool, a valuable tool that the City of Melbourne has used in some of its planning processes.
If you’d like to know more about how you and your local council can get involved in our CitiesWithNature program contact Steve.Gawler@ICLEI.org
You can check out the event slides from our speakers here: