City of London Green City Briefings – The intersection between built infrastructure, wellbeing, and nature

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.

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.

Watch the briefing on demand

MC: Toronto Councillor Jennifer McKelvie

Jennifer McKelvie is the Toronto City Councillor for Ward 25, Scarborough Rouge-Park, representing over 100,000 constituents in the City’s most eastern riding. Before being elected in 2018, Jennifer worked as a professional Geoscientist and managed research partnerships at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).

At Toronto City Council, Jennifer serves as Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee. In that capacity, she is taking an active role in the City of Toronto’s climate change, resilience and ravine strategies.

Dr Curtis Gubb, Environmental Consultant at Cundall, London, UK

Curtis holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham — focusing on environmental quality and biophilia within the built environment. He has worked at Cundall since graduation, where he is an environmental consultant in the sustainability team in London.  He is the curator of the health and wellbeing workstream, focusing on bespoke reviews, certifications, biophilia, POE and indoor environmental quality and additionally delivers sustainable development frameworks and materiality reviews for various clients across numerous sectors. Curtis is also a member of both the CIBSE knowledge generation panel and air quality working group.

Curtis will talk about monitoring and assessment of wellness in the workplace and economic benefits of including plants inside and around city buildings and offices.

Ms Marion Waller, advisor to the Mayor of Paris

Marion Waller is Advisor to the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, in charge of architecture, patrimony, urban landscape, green spaces and funerary issues. She has previously worked for the Deputy Mayor in charge of urban planning Jean-Louis Missika and has helped deploy “Reinventing Paris”, the international call for innovative urban projects that was then exported to other European cities. She is an urbanist and a philosopher specialized in environmental studies and has published her first book in 2016, “Artefacts Naturels”, about ecological restoration and ways of “reinhabiting” nature. She teaches urban controversies at Sciences Po Paris and Environmental Philosophy at the Université Paris Est. In 2021 she has received the European Talent Award for real estate professionals aged 40 or under by the Urban Land Institute.

13:00 – Welcome

13:05 – Dr Curtis Gubb

The synergistic relationship between biophilia, indoor environmental quality and productivity

13:25 – Marion Waller

Reinventing Paris: toward an ecological restoration of Paris

13:45 – Q&A

14:00– Session close

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.