The City of Fremantle is the first city in Australia to join the Biophilic Cities network and will officially do so on Thursday 28 June from 4-5.30pm in the Garden Room of the City of Fremantle at Fremantle Oval.
The Biophilic Cities Project is an umbrella term that refers to research and policy work on biophilic cities, both domestically and internationally, by Professor Tim Beatley and his team at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture. Its principal aim is to advance the theory and practice of planning for biophilic cities, through a combination of collaborative research, dialogue and exchange, and teaching. Researchers at UVA partner with city collaborators, to assess and monitor biophilic urban qualities and conditions, to identify obstacles and impediments to achieving more biophilic cities, and to identify and document best practices in biophilic urban design and planning. The Project helps to foster discussion and dialogue between and among researchers (and planners and policymakers in case study cities), periodically convenes researchers and practitioners, and publishes working papers, reports and other publications that disseminate the project’s findings. Work on Biophilic Cities at UVA is supported through a generous grant from the Summit Foundation, based in Washington, DC.
Now you may ask, as I did, what biophilia is; Humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life.
This blog post was originally posted on 22 June 2018 at Freo’s View.