Greener cities for all: creating urban spaces that work for people and biodiversity

London | 20 March 2025, 14:30-16:30 (GMT)

The Sustainable Development Research Cluster (SDRC) and the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) are pleased to invite you to a panel discussion exploring the role of nature in cities and the challenges and opportunities of urban nature recovery.

While nature underpins all societal functions, our cities and economies have conventionally been built and managed to fulfil the needs of economic growth and communities over those of nature. Amidst multiple environmental crises, urban decision-makers, planners and businesses now increasingly look to nature-based solutions. These approaches attempt to recover nature’s essential functions in supporting and regulating healthy living environments, habitats and biodiversity, and providing resilience against the growing impacts of climate change ranging from flood regulation to temperature management.

Join us for an insightful discussion with three expert speakers on the future of urban nature and how cities can integrate ecological recovery into their development.

Our guest speakers undertake research at the cutting edge of this ‘green turn’. Dr Liza Griffin (UCL) explores the capacity of urban parks to contribute to the health and wellbeing of residents within the constraints of the prevalent planning apparatus. Dr Eleanor Ratcliffe (University of Surrey) considers what urban stakeholders can do to patch the lost nature-connection of urban communities. Research Professor Juha Hiedanpaa (LUKE, Finland) considers the changes needed in the planning apparatus itself in order to reorient the rationale of urban planning around the essential role that nature in its multi-species richness needs to play in thriving cities of the future.

T I C K E T S

The event will take place at Middlesex University (London). The event will not be recorded but we will support a hybrid connection for those that wish to listen in but cannot attend in person. For registration and further details, please see Eventbrite.