Could Nature Led Design be a key driver for tackling climate change?
Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and the gradual urbanisation of the natural environment, we have become increasingly detached from nature. Sadly, too many of us have little or no understanding of the natural processes and cycles that surround us. It has led to a dangerous lack of understanding and care for addressing the problems we have created. For too long, we have been working against nature rather than with it.
So, what can we do as creators of the built environment? What can we do to help landowners, local authorities and statutory bodies address the awareness of climate change in today’s society and what should the landscapes of the future look like?
I believe that if we re-connect with natural process, we will enhance biodiversity, reduce flood risk, sequester carbon and create a more resilient food-producing landscape. Nature should be embedded into the design of the built environment whether it is a school, a residential street or the strategic re-wilding of a whole river catchment.
The following principles offer an important first step in helping embed nature in the future of our build environment which in turns helps to educating our communities in the importance of nature and a more sustainable future:
·The water cycle is a key component of our landscapes that needs to be addressed and fully integrated into our built environment. Enhancement of watercourses, de-culverting of drains and the creation of sustainable drainage systems are integral to healthy habitats and visible nature.
The re-establishment of ancient water management practices through rain gardens, woodland management and, critically, the siting of new development help create a resilient natural environment whilst demonstrating to people the positive value of water in our landscapes.
Planting choices need to respond to our changing climate with an evolving palette of resilient native species, alongside the introduction of species from further afield, that have adapted to our future with hotter, wetter climate conditions.
Bio-diversity enhancement can respond to this planting approach by looking at ways of creating bold and wild landscapes. Planting should enhance the bio-diversity value of the surrounding landscape whether it is podium roof’s within an urban masterplan or creating a planting palette based on ancient wild woods to enhance the setting of a glamping site.
The health of our soils has long been a forgotten component in our landscapes, but it forms the keystone of a successful rehabilitation of the natural environment and the enhanced sequestration of carbon. Linked to water management and improvements in agricultural practices, the re-wilding of our catchment areas and their soils could be used as a real-world demonstration of the healing power of nature.
Materials should be chosen to address their ethical sourcing and production alongside an evaluation of embodied carbon and life-cycle costs for their replacement. The evaluation of embodied carbon in the external environment is still in its early development but it will form a crucial tool for all those involved in the design of our future schemes
If nature is put at the heart of everything we do, we will enable people to have a better understanding of the importance of nature and therefore a greater chance of successfully tackling the challenges of our changing climate.