SciCafe: Wild in the City

Part of SciCafe

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

A multi-story, modern concrete building, with sleek horizontal lines, and generous amounts of shrubbery flowing from multiple balconies. Danist Soh via Unsplash
Ecological design enhances the bond between humans and nature, enabling the integration of the natural world into our daily lives and fostering climate resilience in a rapidly changing environment. 

Join us for the first SciCafe of the season with Nina-Marie Lister, professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University and visiting professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Lister, an expert in landscape architecture, will explore applications of ecological design that draw on biodiversity science to reconnect people in cities to nature. Centered on “rewilding” strategies—from green infrastructure to habitat gardens—this dialogue will interrogate the concept of “wild” in urban environments, questioning who and what is wild in the city and why connectivity matters.  

We’ll discuss the functional aspects of creating these connections, uncovering the hidden elements that can be rewilded and considering cosmopolitan ecologies that challenge our understanding of urban nature. How do we rewild personal landscapes while overcoming barriers on personal property? This conversation aims to provoke thought on the challenges of designing a climate-resilient future and what’s hidden in plain sight within our urban landscapes. 

Resources for SciCafe’s Frequent Geeks  

Quick Pick: What is Rewilding?

Big Bite: They Fought the Lawn. And the Lawn’s Done.

Deep Dive: Resilience: Desiging the New Sustainabilty