City of London Green City Briefings – Nature-based solutions for water management in cities

AIPH, in collaboration with the Worshipful Company of Gardeners, presents the City of London Green City Briefings – a series of 8 webinars that present compelling evidence and examples of the power of ‘living green’ in delivering multiple solutions to city challenges.

​Expansion of city infrastructure places pressure on traditional engineered water systems, particularly during extreme weather events that are increasing in frequency. Nature-based-solutions that address issues of flooding and water pollution in cities work contribute aesthetic, biodiversity, leisure and health benefits alongside their functional capacity. This briefing explores how planning that encourages nature-based-solutions to water management co-delivers on creating spaces that are part of the city’s future as a greener city.

Watch the webinar on demand

MC: M’Lisa Lee Colbert, Associate Director of The Nature of Cities

M’Lisa is a social researcher, creative professional, community organizer, writer, and project director dedicated to exploring and better understanding complex urban environments. M’Lisa co-directs The Nature of Cities, an international not-for-profit based in New York, where she works to design collaborative experiences and projects for collaborative action and thought on livability, justice, resilience, and sustainability in cities.

Robert Brears, Founder of Our Future Water

Robert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Palgrave Handbook of Climate Resilient Societies and the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures, both Major Reference Works published with Springer Nature. He is the author of a variety of books including Blue and Green Cities: The Role of Blue-Green Infrastructure in Managing Urban Water Resources and Nature-Based Solutions to 21st Century Challenges among others. Robert is the Founder of Our Future Water, which has a Knowledge Partnership with the World Bank’s Connect4Climate Program to take on climate change as well as with the UNEP/World Bank/OECD-hosted Green Growth Knowledge Platform.

Prof. James Hitchmough, University of Sheffield

James Hitchmough is Professor of Horticultural Ecology at the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield, the largest and most prestigious Dept in the UK. He was Head of Department from 2014-18.

James is best known for his research and practice into how to make and manage ecologically based designed plant communities, and how people emotionally respond to this type of vegetation.  In the process of doing this he has become increasingly interested in much broader contexts, such as how to re-nature both urban and rural landscapes to offer richer experiences for people and better habitats to support biodiversity.  He does not see these commodities as mutually exclusive.

James has worked extensively in practice and has concentrated on do so in China. Over the past decade he has visited China more than 50 times. He is an advisor to the cities of Beijing and Chengdu, and is a passionate advocate for the greater use of local native species in more ecologically responsive projects.  He has travelled very extensively and used knowledge gained from expeditions to study vegetation in the wild to pursue his ecological design agenda.

13:00 – Welcome

13:05 – Robert Brears

Greening our grey cities with nature-based solutions 

Tour virtually around the world and learn how leading cities are using innovative, multifunctional NBS for mitigating urban flooding and improving water quality while providing multiple co-benefits, including enhancing resilience to climate change, creating green jobs, and providing a habitat for wildlife.

13:25 – Prof. James Hitchmough

Re-imagining urban landscapes from a water management perspective.

James will present examples of how other cities have met challenges in rethinking integration of water management to deliver multifunctional benefits with design and plant selection.

13:45 – Q&A

14:00 – Close

Session 3: Green Roofs and Walls – an extra-dimensional approach to city greening – 15th June

Innovative thinking of horizontal and vertical spaces enables retrofitting living green into city infrastructure, delivering solutions to the impacts of climate change, supporting local biodiversity, and improving the visual urban landscape. This briefing reports on implementation and planning of green roof and walls in response to legislation and financial incentives that support greater uptake. Find out more.

Session 4: The intersection between built infrastructure, wellbeing, and nature – 13th July

​Quantifiable benefits of incorporating plants in office interior and exterior landscapes are revealed in neurological and physiological studies. Economic studies illustrate significant savings through enhanced productivity and creativity, and reduced absenteeism. In this briefing the opportunities, benefits, and processes of creating an effective, highly desirable built urban environment are discussed in the context of cities as a healthy human environment. Find out more.

Session 5: Urban Heat Island Effect and Urban Forests – 14th September

Planting trees in cities is a high profile activity reported around the globe. Trees certainly have a significant contribution to make in reducing the UHI effect, and reducing the serious health impacts of this phenomenon that has resulted from converging issues of climate change and increased built infrastructure. In this briefing the merits of trees are presented with attention to the importance of design, construction and maintenance in delivering benefits. Find out more.

Session 6: The Critical Dynamics of City Biodiversity and Global Conservation – 20th October

​Cities are gaining recognition as identifiable ecosystems, and play an increasingly important role in global conservation. This briefing considers local action to enhance biodiversity, links with city-wide ecological corridors, and interactions with the wider landscape that direct city planning and growth. Find out more.

Session 7: Air Quality in Cities: the realistic and real benefits of plants  – 9th November

Local improvements in air quality delivered by urban greening as climate change adaptation measures run alongside climate change mitigation strategies to reduce air pollution from emissions. This briefing focusses on providing clarity on what can be expected from living green within a multi-faceted approach to managing air pollution in cities. Find out more.

Session 8: London Report on Climate Action – 7th December

Find out more.