Published January 26, 2010
by iris_author
Living Plants, Liveable Communities Exploring Sustainable Horticulture for the 21st Century
February 16 to 19, 2010; RBG Centre
680 Plains Road West, Burlington, Ontario L7T 4H4
Interactive • Panel discussions • Workshops • Networking
What is sustainable horticulture? What can it do for Canadians? What barriers, challenges, and opportunities exist? Join horticulturists, landscape professionals, scholars and the public as they craft answers to these questions.
Featuring a diverse array of presentations and interactive participation, we are seeking to understand and promote sustainability in the design, management and use of built landscapes of all kinds in our communities.
Meet experts on everything from agriculture in urban settings to water management — and everything in between.
Hands-on workshops one day only, Tuesday, February 16: plant identification, seed saving, cooking with local produce, community partnerships & messaging
Multidisciplinary panels, keynotes, short presentations and poster sessions
Sessions: Sustainable Sites Initiative, water management, climate change, urban agriculture, native plants, green roof technologies and more
Keynote presentations: Dr. Jennifer Sumner, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Dr. David Galbraith, Royal Botanical Gardens, and
Dr. Steve Windhager, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas
Special keynote lecture Wednesday evening : Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Waterloo, Ontario Gardening for Resilience:
Climate Change and Horticulture through Mid-Century
Information / Registration
Early-bird discounts available until January 25. Special discounted rates for RBG and Landscape Ontario members, as well as students/seniors. Special hotel rates offered by the Burlington Hotel Association.
Queenie Yee, Symposium Coordinator, 1-800-694-4769, 905-527-1158 ext. 527
Information and online registration www.rbg.ca/cisb
Register by phone: Liz Rabishaw, ext. 270
Website: http://www.rbg.ca/cisb/2010symp
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The event will include a session led by IRIS Director, Prof. Dawn Bazely:
2A - Valuing the Living and Creating Natural Capital in the Built Environment - are we Doing Enough?
PANEL SESSION LEADER: Dr. Dawn Bazely
When it comes to categorizing things, many people tend to divide our world into rural and urban environments. Implicit in this, is the notion that "important" nature generally lies outside of the "burbs" and the city. An increasing number of attempts are being made to place a value on urban nature. For example, the USDA's (United States Department of Agriculture) UFORE (Urban Forest Effects) model quantifies the amount of carbon sequestered by the urban tree canopy as well as the amount of pollution that is absorbed by the trees. Nature is introduced to our built environment in many different ways, from parks green roofs and, more recently biowalls, as well as potted plants and gardens! Also, extensive research has highlighted the value of "green" for all humans: amazingly, the view of a tree from a hospital room speeds up patient recovery time, and can increase school grades for students who have views of trees from their apartments compared with those who only see concrete and bricks!
Are we doing enough to increase nature in our built environments? How could architects, planners, and builders increase the natural capital of the built environment? How are the ideas of horticulturalists, ecologists and landscape architects being incorporated into the design process?
While the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification programme definitely gives a nod to nature, the emergence of certification programmes such as the Sustainable Sites Initiative suggests that in some quarters, this is not seen as adequately addressing the need to integrate nature into the built environment. This panel brings together a diverse range of experts in a dialogue aimed at providing insight, if not the definitive answers, to these questions, in an attempt to identify what's working well, and what could be improved when bringing in more plants to make communities more liveable.
For more information please see the attached poster
