LIVING CITIES ALLIANCE
05 Feb 2016
The LNA Master Landscapers Association is pleased to announce they will be participating in an important workshop for the proposed 'Living Cities Alliance' Federal Government initiative.
The LNA Master Landscapers Association is pleased to announce they will be participating in an important workshop for the proposed 'Living Cities Alliance' Federal Government initiative. The Living Cities Alliance is a proposed new body consisting of organisations who wish to collaborate in advocating to government, at Federal, State and Local levels, on areas of urban greening in Australian cities.
The Living Cities Workshop, to be held at Parliament House in Canberra on 10 February 2016, will include contributions from over forty organisations such as Engineers Australia, The Planning Institute of Australia, The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and the Green Building Council of Australia, among others. The LNA membership will be very passionately and ably represented by its CEO, Joanne Aquilina, and President of the Board, Matt Leacy. The invitation to attend the workshop was extended by Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) and was gratefully received.
This event will be hosted and addressed by the Honourable Greg Hunt MP, Federal Minister for the Environment, as part of the Government's consultation process for long-term planning strategies to provide productive, accessible and liveable cities for the next 20, 50 and 100 years of Australia's future. As part of that planning, the Government is focusing on a number of areas, such as infrastructure, housing affordability, city layout and green, sustainable environments.
Other important keynote speakers on the day are Kate Lynch from the Commonwealth Government's Cities Taskforce; Adam Bandt, Federal Member for Melbourne; and Anthony Albanese, Shadow Minister for Cities and Infrastructure.
In his recent speech to the Sydney Business Chamber, Greg Hunt outlined some of his Government's reasons for focusing on providing greener environments as part of the strategic plans for Australian cities. Among those reasons he demonstrated an awareness of the benefits of greener cities through improved air quality, lower city temperature levels, reduced soil erosion and minimised water runoff. The Minister also cited the example of Singapore's recent successes and the advantages offered by their introduction of rooftops with green cover. But, perhaps most importantly, greener cities provided more accessible cities that contributed greatly to the standard of living of residents.
It is hoped that the Living Cities Workshop will achieve a number of crucial goals:
- Advise Government on policies, investments and regulatory decisions
- Make arrangements for the operation of the proposed 'Living Cities Alliance'
- Assess the current state of Australian cities and consider the needs of cities into the future
- Create a collaborative plan for the Australian community, private sector organisations and Federal, State and Local Government bodies to initiate agreed strategic plans for Australian cities.
As you can see, the Living Cities Workshop has an ambitious agenda, but a crucial one. As one of the largest contributors to the green environment in Australia, Landscaper Professionals have a vital role to play in ensuring positive outcomes from planning the greening of Australian cities and delivering sustainable, productive and accessible environments. Planning on this scale can prove challenging but also offers significant opportunities. All Australian cities are forecasting significant growth over the next 50 years and it is hoped that proper planning will allow for new technologies and approaches that will see the standard of living in Australian cities prosper.