Office, house, street, cafe—rainbow lorikeet corridor?

How did it come to pass that we normalised the idea of our cities as separate from the ‘natural’ world? It should not surprise us that this drift has corresponded neatly with a stark decline in the wellbeing of our planet, and in turn our species. Does the idea that our urban existence can somehow be isolated from the bioregion—the flow of water and the movement of insects and birds—represent innocent ignorance, or a kind of collective insanity?

As we enter an era dominated by urban areas facing the imminent threats of heat waves, floods, toxic air quality, and declining biodiversity, surely we must understand that our seemingly preferred form of habitat is no longer serving our interests.

With so much of our urban areas already built, we ask what tactics are available to us to regenerate the natural systems of our urban environment in a way that provides benefits to humans and other species?

From small practical ideas of garden corridors for pollinating insects to habitat boxes on apartment balconies through to rewilding the Birrarung, Urban Design Forum will facilitate a workshop with leading practitioners, activists and attendees exploring practical, small scale through to more ambitious moves of urban repair that reposition natural systems as central to our city lives.