Meeting the Challenge of a Sustainable Urban Future: the contribution of green walls
Anyone concerned with the quality of life in urban areas will find the conference of interest.
Green walls are an important component of Green Infrastructure – possibly the only cost-effective approach to coping with some of the immense challenges currently facing urban areas:
Climate change (coping with extreme events, e.g. heat waves, flooding),
Pollution (including health impacts),
Lack of wildlife habitat,
Social problems (including mental health) resulting from high-density urban living.
Green walls are easier to retrofit than many alternatives, take up less space, and can be rapidly deployed.
The Green Wall Centre
At Staffordshire University researchers have been studying the environmental and biodiversity values of green facades and different living wall systems in Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Birmingham, London and the Greater London area.
Taking advantage of this expertise, and experience with different commercial systems, a Green Wall Centre has been set up within Staffordshire University to publicise the multiple values of green walls, to carry out research, and to offer advice.
Patrick Blanc (CNRS\Patrick Blanc), the man who did more than anyone to kick-start interest in Living Walls with his dramatic ‘Mur Vegetal ‘installations
Gary Grant (the Green Roof Consultancy), one of the leading advocates of green walls in the UK
Alongside talks, manufactures will be displaying their products in the atrium.
The programme is now complete but if you would like to offer a poster or have a stand, please contact Prof. John Dover j.w.dover@staffs.ac.uk, or Caroline Chiquet c.chiquet@staffs.ac.uk.
We invite posters on research, technical innovations, and case studies.
Location
The Conference will be held at Staffordshire University’s new £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent. The campus is well served by major communication routes, with a train station a short walk away from the Science Centre and road access via the M6 motorway; the closest airport is Birmingham International.
