Cities get back to nature

The annual Green Cities conference, held this year in Melbourne, brought together sustainability experts and industry leaders to debate ‘Energising Communities’ in a bid to make the world’s cities ecologically rich and emotionally satisfying. Pascal Mittermaier, global managing director for cities at The Nature Conservancy, spoke on the role nature has to play in helping communities thrive. Planting more trees is important, but more nature-based strategies are required to solve issues such as climate change, rising populations, pollution and water run-off. “By mapping and understanding where rain flows, we can create a network of bioswales, rain gardens and other green infrastructure to stop and filter water where it falls,” he says.