It’s possible to make buildings and places where wildlife can live alongside humans and there are plenty of good examples available. Rab Bennetts (Founding Director of Bennetts Associates ) joins Melissa Sterry (Bionic City) and Mike Roberts (HAB Housing) to debate how architecture can help create a nature-rich city. Chaired by John Alker, UK Green Building Council.

In association with Avon Wildlife Trust

Speaker biographies:

Design scientist Melissa Sterry is a world-leading authority on the science, technology and thinking that could help build a better world. Since 2010 she has been investigating the novel ways in which flora and fauna species build resilience to extreme meteorological and geological events. She is the creator and director of Bionic City, which seeks to answer the question 'how would nature design a city?', and a PhD Researcher at the Advanced Virtual and Technological Architecture Research group at the University of Greenwich.

Having held senior positions in major firms of chartered surveyors, Mike Roberts formed Vertigo Sustainable Development Consultants in 2007. He is now Managing Director for HAB Housing, the residential development company established by Kevin McCloud to deliver beautifully designed, sustainable places where communities can flourish. He also has an interest in a company with an advanced thermal technology for application in the energy from waste arena. He is an ambassador of the UK Green Building Council and was a member of its Advisory Committee for the first three years.

John Alker is Director of Policy and Communications at the UK Green Building Council, and leads on programme strategy, policy, government relations, campaigns and communications. He sits on the Board of WorldGBC and regularly works in conjunction with the international network of GBCs. He authored the high-profile 2014 global report Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices: The Next Chapter for Green Building.Prior to joining UK-GBC in 2007, he led political communications on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and sustainable homes campaign for the environmental charity WWF-UK. He has also previously worked as an MP's researcher in the House of Commons and in commercial public affairs.

Rab Bennetts is Founding Director of Bennetts Associates, an award-winning architectural practice, and provides overall design direction to the firm. He is also involved in research projects, professional committees and construction education outside the firm. He is a Board Member of the UK Green Building Council, a Trustee of the Design Council and a Trustee of the Sadler’s Wells Foundation. In 2003, he received an OBE for services to Architecture.

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