A new project is encouraging Fremantle residents to embrace living walls and rooftop gardens.
Freo Greenskins is a collaborative initiative between Curtin University’s Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute, City of Fremantle, University of Western Australia and Murdoch University.
Earlier this month, City of Fremantle unveiled a series of concept diagrams produced by University of Western Australia students identifying possible locations for living walls in the Fremantle city centre.
Professor Peter Newman, CUSP Director, said this initiative encourages people in urban spaces to connect with our natural environment.
“Cities no longer have to hold the tag of ‘concrete jungles’,” Professor Newman said.
“We now know that we can integrate living walls and natural elements into our cityscape.
“The term used to describe the integration of our built environment and the living gardens is biophilia.
“We are seeing biophilia incorporated into many new projects and the City of Fremantle should be congratulated for taking initiative.
“The benefits of living walls include increasing bio-diversity, providing a source for food production and improving the aesthetics of a building.
“Singapore, with living walls now incorporated into hospitals and large corporate buildings, is a great case study of a biophilic city.
“In Australia we have some catching up to do, however there is definitely an appetite amongst the community to see these projects grow, both figuratively and literally speaking.”
The City of Fremantle plans to trial a selection of the concepts towards the end of the year.
CUSP will hold workshops in the coming months to offer advice on how residents can create their own living walls and rooftop gardens.
For more information on Freo Greenskins please contact Jana Soderlund at CUSP on 9266 9030 or at Jana.Soderlund@curtin.edu.au.
