Ecobuild - Tuesday 02 March

Urban planning & the public realm

As a concise update and programme for planners, designers, managers and developers, this series of seminars explored the principles, policies, new research and practical ways of making more sustainable places. This ranges from visions of tomorrow’s cities, green infrastructure, transition towns, making space for food, better streets for people, designing for health and liveable microclimates, through to retrofitting green roofs, effective environmental design measures and the continued importance of trees.

All sessions were held in the Marlborough Room, sponsored by SarnaVert

Content sponsor Media partners

10.30 – 12.00

Getting green infrastructure right

With the right strategic green infrastructure, creating environmental advantages and delivering greener places is far easier. This seminar looks at ideas and urban areas which turn environmental constraints into opportunities for greater environmental advantages, identity and liveability.

chair: Lynne Ceeney, Head of Sustainability, Parsons Brinckerhoff

10.30 – 11.00	Green infrastructure – naturally a good thing
	Lynne Ceeney, Head of Sustainability, Parsons Brinckerhoff

11.00 – 11.20	From green space to green infrastructure – greening a green city
	Peter Massini, Environment Programme Officer – Urban Greening, Greater London Authority

11.20 – 11.40	Green infrastructure and climate change adaption – a European perspective
	Diane Smith, Corporate Affairs Manager, Town and Country Planning Association

11.40 – 12.00	Environmental infrastructure in London and the Thames Gateway
	Eugene Dreyer, Urban Design Director, Terry Farrell and Partners

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12.30 – 14.00

Retrofitting green roofs and walls

Overlooked and undervalued, the hard surfaces of our buildings offer opportunities, benefits and ways of reusing lost space for more ecology, less resource waste, better microclimates, more spaces for people and new possibilities for urban aesthetics.

chair: Gary Grant, Director of Ecology, AECOM Design + Planning

12.30 – 13.00	Living walls
	Gary Grant, Director of Ecology, AECOM Design + Planning

13.00 – 13.20	The commercial benefits and policy context
	Dr Nick Buck, Sustainability Consultant, Drivers Jonas LLP

13.20 – 13.40	10 years of retrofitting green roofs in London – design considerations and the need for large scale retrofitting
	Dusty Gedge, President, European Federation of Green Roof Associations and Founder of livingroofs.org

13.40 – 14.00	The Green Roof Code – we need to know what you think
	Jeff Sorrill, Centre Manager, The Green Roof Centre, University of Sheffield

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14.30 – 16.00

Sustaining Transition Town initiatives

With grass roots, the Transition Towns Initiative is now several years old, and this seminar considers the lessons learned so far, how to build and sustain public awareness and adoption, and its critics’ views.

chair: Liz Cox, Head of Connected Economies, New Economics Foundation

14.30 – 14.50	Transition Towns today and in the future
	Rob Hopkins, Co-founder Transition Network and Co-founder Transition Towns Totnes, Transition Network and Transition Towns Totnes

14.50 – 15.20	Transition – the role for local economies and communities
	Liz Cox, Head of Connected Economies, New Economics Foundation

15.20 – 15.40	Lessons from a Transition Town
	Mark Brown, Chairman, Transition Town High Wycombe

15.40 – 16.00	Population growth, economic expansion, increased energy use: are they really a problem?
	Alastair Donald, Urban Designer, mantownhuman

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16.30 – 18.00

Streets for people

As streets are no longer just for cars, this seminar reviews initiatives to make shared spaces, naked streets, blanket speed restrictions across our cities and towns, and revisit the HomeZone ideal.

chair: Ben Hamilton-Baillie, Director, Hamilton-Baillie Associates

16.30 – 17.00	New opportunities for streets, safety and civility
	Ben Hamilton-Baillie, Director, Hamilton-Baillie Associates

17.00 – 17.20	Lessons from Ashford
	Lindsey Whitelaw, Director, Whitelaw Turkington

17.20 – 17.40	20's plenty for us where people live – how everybody wins
	Rod King, Founder, 20's Plenty For Us

17.40 – 18.00	Redesigning London's major public spaces, Oxford Circus
	Elspeth Finch, Director, Atkins Martin Low, City Commissioner of Transportation, Westminster City Council