Summary

Join Dr Nigel Dunnett and a panel of expert as they debate planning, designing and managing plant health through the lens of climate adaptation. This session will consider  priorities  for a new approach to urban greening and a visual overview of a toolkit of urban interventions and new vegetation layers. We will gain understanding of pest and pathogen threats to tree health, a better understanding of the role and responsibilities of the UK Plant Health Service and increased awareness of government’s new tree planting targets and Defra’s Tree Health Resilience Strategy.

11a. Greening the grey: a new way forward – Dr Nigel Dunnett

Large-scale, transformational greening is required to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis, and yet, despite decades of discussion of ‘nature in cities’, ‘urban greening’ and ‘Green Infrastructure, this has yet to be the mainstream, default position.  A new approach is needed that focuses on visual appeal  and aesthetics; ease of implementation, establishment and maintenance; and that has proven and demonstrated ecological function. Nigel briefly discusses examples of his work with this approach, including urban roof gardens and podiums, SuDS and Green Streets, and Urban Meadows, and gives details of Sheffield’s landmark ‘Grey to Green’ scheme (Phase 1, 2016; Phase 2, 2020)

11b. The biosecurity crisis and tree health – Lisa Smith, DEFRA

Threats to tree health are increasing, due to the globalisation of trade and travel and climate change. There is unlikely to be any reduction in this biosecurity pressure and government works across the biosecurity continuum to screen for risks from abroad and conduct surveillance at the border and inland, to prevent the entry of pests and diseases or to detect and respond to outbreaks swiftly. Government ambitions to plant more trees to meet Net Zero targets, provide an opportunity to improve the resilience of our treescape by increasing UK production and enhancing the quality and diversity of our planting stock.

11c. Seeded landscapes: A more resilient solution? – Sue France, Pictorial Meadows

In this session, Sue France will share her unique experience from 20 years of developing ‘designed meadows’ specifically for urban landscapes, through  the use of direct seeding and intelligent management. After gaining extensive insight into what makes them fail and what makes them succeed over the long term, Sue’s current focus is how these techniques might be rolled out much more widely. How can the insights of the last 20 years be used to create more resilient flower and species-rich environments for the future?

11d. Panel discussion

Planning, designing and managing plant health through the lens of climate adaptation