futurescapes 2025
Highlights from futurescapes
The placemaking stage at futurescapes was awash with chatter about biodiversity yesterday afternoon. Dr Gemma Jerome from Sintali, along with R-LA’s very own Director, Cristina Refolo, and Ryan Mills, Director of Planscape Consultants captivated the audience as they discussed building better places for people and nature.
Dr Jerome spoke passionately about designing for the benefit of people and the natural world and called on the audience to turn up the volume when it comes to nature within designs if we want a resilient future. Gemma is the visionary behind the Building with Nature (BwN), the first Green Infrastructure accreditation in the UK.
Ryan Mills outlined his pragmatic approach to Building with Nature and warned that overly regimented maintenance schedules can mean that schemes barely make it past the establishment phase; he urged the audience to create practical guidelines that consider all users to ensure longevity.
Cristina emphasised the importance of early engagement and encouraged developers not to consider nature in isolation, ‘We have to look at the whole equation and involve all stakeholders from the very begining of the design phrase.’ As an approved Building with Nature assessor, Cristina highlighted the core standards involved in the design process which sit alongside standards in wellbeing, water and wildlife. This context-oriented strategy fosters the creation of sustainable landscapes that are accessible to water, nature, and people alike
Over in the Arena stage, conversations about placemaking continued and were at times heated as the panel and audience exchanged views on conflicting housing and net zero targets.
Professor Matthew Carmona, Professor of Planning and Urban Design at The Bartlett, UCL, warned against favouring short term profit at the expense of place. He quoted Oscar Wilde’s view of a cynic, 'A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.' Carmona outlined his ‘ladder of place qualities,’ which starts with what to avoid (car dependency, absence of green space) and what to be wary of (cul de sacs, high rise), and ends with what to aspire to (architectural quality, low traffic speed) and what is required (mix use, green, low level traffic). He encouraged the audience to read the evidence and climb the ladder!
Michael Copleston, Director For England at RSPB reminded the audience that we are pushing ecosystems to the brink and that it is shortsighted not to consider the economic implications this will have on our existence.
James Stevens, Director of Cities, Home Builders Federation (HBF) talked about building on the Green Belt, planning blockers, affordable housing and the huge sums being spent on temporary housing across the UK.
Richard Partington, Founder of Studio Partington, brought some hope to the conversation by demonstrating how it is possible to build compact developments that offer affordable housing and yet make space for landscape. He conceded that government subsidies were needed but warned against favouring quantity over quality. ‘It doesn’t really cost more to build well designed homes. Building has become all about avoiding risks and in the process, we have lost our imagination.’
In a later session that afternoon the subject concentrated on a low carbon future and around Version 1 of Net Zero Carbon Building Standard due to be published by the UKGBC in late 2025.
Matthew Webster, Head of Environmental Sustainability at British Land talked about pockets of progress when it comes to technology and material innovation but stressed the importance of ‘skills, education, green infrastructure and collaboration’ if we want to reduce our emissions and have any chance of reaching the government’s 2050 targets.
Julie Godefroy, Head of Net Zero at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), who chaired the conversation, said that it shouldn’t be either growth or net zero, but that growth should pay the way so that we can achieve net zero successfully.
Yetunde Abdul, Director of Industry Transformation at UK Green Building Council agreed that collaboration across industries is key if we are to achieve something that is realistic.
When Cristina Refolo asked the panel whether there were any plans to extend the scorecard to include the landscape as well as buildings, the short answer was: not yet. The built environment sector is responsible for approximately 25% of greenhouse gas emissions; however, efforts thus far have predominantly concentrated on the decarbonisation of buildings. The areas surrounding these structures represent a considerable oversight that warrants attention. The landscape plays a vital role in reducing both embodied and whole-life carbon emissions through the implementation of low-carbon materials, the reduction of operational carbon and soil disruption, as well as the carbon offsets provided by green infrastructure. Soil disturbance plays a crucial role in carbon emissions, as soils store vast amounts of carbon in the form of organic
matter. When disturbed, this carbon can be released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Obviously, there are lots of moving parts and significant gaps in government policy doesn’t help, but you don’t need to be a climate scientist to recognise the role of landscape.
After the presentations and debates had come to an end, speakers and audience members congregated to discuss issues further and exchange ideas on how to drive change in the built environment. We must remain optimistic. The solutions are within our reach, we just need to work out how to implement them in a practical and sustainable way. At R-LA, we believe there’s always a straightforward solution: turn to nature for guidance.
Contact us to see how we can help you create a truly sustainable landscape.