I’ve recently been to the monthly Bristol Green Mingle with Charles and Fi. It was the first time I’d been to a mingle and I didn’t know quite what to expect – but unsurprisingly, it was just people (specifically Bristol’s greenies) drinking, eating and chatting. I met an interesting mix of people including local MPs, an ecologist and the director of the Bristol Green Capital initiative (who’s become a local hero after Bristol won the European Green Capital Award earlier this year). As well as being an enjoyable, relaxed and interesting evening it was also very useful – I gained a few handy contacts who seemed to know something (if not a lot) relevant to my internship project.
I’m coming to the end of my preparatory research before starting the write up the report/ action plan framework for city ‘greening’, although I feel like there’s so much that I’ve still not uncovered – there is just so much out there on it! I just need to bring it together. In outline I’m preparing an evidenced case for the literal ‘greening’ of cities (via planting trees, installing green roofs, creating wetlands etc.) for multi-functional benefits such as increased habitat connectivity, better water management, air purification and climate amelioration. There are some truly innovative and magnificent ways to ‘green’ urban areas – vertical gardens for example (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFZn1DYCz2U), which beg the question: why aren’t our cities already greener?
