The Nursery & Garden Industry is hosting the inaugural 2009 Urban Greenscapes Symposium at the National Convention Centre in Canberra on February 17, to unveil the benefits of plants and green-life in the urban landscape and bring together all stakeholder groups to drive unity of message and create a stronger platform on which to engage government.

The aim of the 2009 Urban GreenScapes Symposium is to bring together all stakeholder groups that have an interest in the environment and urban planning to work together to create a stronger unity of message about the benefits of urban greening.

The stakeholder groups include, but are not restrictive to:
• Nursery industry
• Federal, state and local government
• Arboriculture industry
• Landscape industry
• Urban planning
• Developers
• Academics/students
• Environmental sector
• Interested NGO’s

Keynote Speakers

Dr Greg McPherson, project leader for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Centre for Urban Forest Research, will be discussing research regarding urban forestry in relation to carbon, water and heater island effect.

Research in the USA has identified the benefits or urban planting in relation to:
• Control of water flow after rain events
• Reduced temperatures in car parks with reduced fuel volatisation etc
• Shading of bitumen on roads reduces damage
• Community pride
• Carbon sequestration that can be of benefit to local councils

USDA has developed tools to support this research and provide local government with real $ values to justify increased expenditure.

Adam Schwerner, Director of the Department of Natural Resources for Chicago Park District (CDNR) will discuss how to get regulatory approval for increased urban greening.

Adam will talk about how Chicago embraced green space as a key component of its image and the driving factors behind the city going green. He will discuss what barriers were faced and how they were overcome, what the costs are for beautifying streetscapes with major plantings and what the economic paybacks are.

Professor Tony Hall of Griffith University will discuss Australian backyards and how development space is being limited by building regulations.

In Australia, many legislators are looking to increase population densities at the expense of environmental aspects considered by some to be the essence of the Australian lifestyle.

Plants are now competing for space with paved hard surfaces, home theatres and other developer led “must haves”.

Professor Hall will present a summary of Griffith University research into the loss of backyards and the impact this has on space for planting.

For more information visit the Symposium Website: http://www.ngiaevents.com.au/sympo2009/