Title of the symposium:
Green Infrastructure as a way to rethink Ecological Landscape Planning
Detail of organizer(s):
Responsible
| Name: | Camila |
| Surname: | Sant’ Anna |
| cgomessantanna@gmail.com | |
| Organisation/Affiliation: | University of Brasília / University of Goiás |
| Telephone: | + 44 07935619831 |
| Country: | Brasil |
| Address: | 82 Princess Street – The Asia House apt 203 –M1 6BD Manchester – UK |
Co-organizer(s)
Co-organizer
| Name: | Maria do Carmo |
| Surname: | De Lima Bezerra |
| Email: | mdclbezerra@gmail.com |
| Organisation/Affiliation: | UnB – University of Brasilia |
| Address: | SQS 208 – BLOCO A APT 201 – Asa Sul Brasília |
| Country: | Brasil |
Symposium abstract
Green infrastructure (GI) has emerged as a way to put into practice the discourse of the sustainable city in its ecological dimension, which is also related to the vision of a resilient city. The concept is still not considered as a consensus, as there are several views depending on the point of departure of the researchers. However, it includes principles that refer to interventions associated with the formation of a set of green water-sensitive structures that would articulate sociocultural and natural interests, emphasizing their ecological potential while solving operational problems in cities. Another challenge to be faced in the implementation of the concept is the spatial translation of the green infrastructure ideology that today still predominates in the performance of specific actions associated with open space systems (SELs).
Thus, the tension among the realms that debate green infrastructure involves a discussion linked to the urban project arising from the traditional field of landscape architecture, mainly in the Ecological Landscape Design. It is also influenced by activities in the structuring of open space systems and, more recently, by the view of green infrastructure as departing from land planning, which in turn stems from environmental planning and expands its action to put urban management into practice.
Thus, the tension among the realms that debate green infrastructure involves a discussion linked to the urban project arising from the traditional field of landscape architecture. It is also influenced by activities in the structuring of open space systems and, more recently, by the view of green infrastructure as departing from land planning, which in turn stems from environmental planning and expands its action to put urban management into practice.
The proposal of greater visibility for the solutions applied to urban land planning has been made by means of a new Plan added to the existing ones, the Green Infrastructure Plan. This Plan is a way of reviewing the resistance of the practice of urban planning in incorporating an ecological dimension in its decision-making on spatial planning. These plans have been created and implemented at an international level, United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, but not in Brazil, which, on the other hand, already has several other plans with legal backing but involving some articulation difficulties for effective urban management.
A number of questions arise: What is the scope of the Green Infrastructure Plan? How does it articulate with the traditional Urban Master Plans to generate the necessary answers to produce resilient, sustainable and ecological landscapes in the cities? And, in addition to the ecological promotion of green areas, what is their contribution to ecosystem service, for example?
The symposium put together researches with different approaches in order to examines the concept of green infrastructure, identifying its relations with the concepts of ecology, as well as the strategies in different scales of planning and typology of interventions that characterize the concept. It pinpoints contributions toward the protection of urban ecosystem services, emphasizing the issue of drainage and the balance of the water cycle. It will be presented the application of plans for some cities in the international arena and the discussion of their contribution in the context of the legal framework of Brazilian urban management. These established correlations are intended to demonstrate the relevance of incorporating green infrastructure plans based on Ecological Landscape Planning. The structure of the symposia is a opening the Symposia (15 minutes; by the organizers) with six talks (15 minutes +3 questions) and, after a closing of fifteen minutes by the organizers.
How your symposia will improve landscape ecology science?
Policy makers, planners and designers in addressing must address issues of sustainable, resilient and inclusive urban development. The green/blue framework is useful to explore planning and urban design tools that promote the articulation between human actions and the support capacity of the environment. It contributes to achieve comprehensive and inclusive urban planning within the concept of environmental and spatial justice.
The green and blue infrastructure that is central to the issue is a set of green, water-sensitive structures composed of sites, links and hubs that articulate socio-economic and natural interests, emphasizing their ecological potential while solving the operational problems of urban areas, such as water resources management and the inclusion of sustainable green areas. With different shapes and sizes, the hubs would translate into elements of the public use landscape in areas of preservation or recreational value (integral or partial conservation units, parks, woods, gardens, squares) or private landscapes, gardens, parks, clubs, among others. Landscape links are composed of landscape elements such as valleys, water bodies, flood plains, retention ponds, streets, cycle paths, greenways and greenbelts. (BENEDICT; MCMAHON, 2006)
The application of these solutions to the structuring of urban space has been done by a new type of strategic and structural plan, namely the Green Infrastructure Plan, which joins other types of plans and frameworks in urban planning. However, as there is no consensus regarding the definition of the concept of green infrastructure and its principles, progress in terms of the spatial translation of the framework has been through one-off actions, associated with open space systems (SELs). It cannot be denied that the establishment of this framework has generated benefits for urban areas that have used it, as there are now a greater number of interventions of an ecological character and the landscape of science can contribute for that. To understand to what extent can blue-green strategic and infrastructural plans contribute to Ecological Landscape? What are studies undertaken to support their elaboration, intervention scale and main proposals? How are their interventions associated with the protection of ecosystem services, focusing on the balance of the water cycle?
Broad thematic areas
Broad thematic areas 1st choice: Green and blue infrastructures
Broad thematic areas 2nd choice: Landscape ecosystem functions and services
Free Keywords
Green blue infrastructure, ecosystem service, landscape ecology, Landscape Planning.
Outcomes of symposium
Special issue in a scientific journal (to be negotiated)
Notes
Outcomes of symposium
The symposion will deliver a series of professional, academic and career-focussed outcomes that will aid both the development and dissemination of finds from the event. This will be achieved through the promotion of collaborative activities (publishing, research and bid development, and teaching) between participants.
