NEWS
Report { WELSH PLANNER LIVE
Sustainable placemaking and ecosystem restoration are twin foundations to tackling climate change
Julie James said planners, developers, policymakers and communities must think about places “holistically”
By Simon Wicks Welsh Planner Live: How planning and planners can take climate action 21-25 September 2020 What happened? Eleven online events over five days, more than 25 participants and topics studying planning’s response to climate change from angles including: n ecosystem restoration; n green and zero-carbon
development; n behaviour change; n national planning policy and guidance; n local development planning; n sustainable placemaking; and n renewable energy.
placemaking in Wales would drive the creation of betterdesigned, more “integrated” developments, according to the Welsh Government minister for housing and local government. Launching a new Placemaking Wales Charter at the Welsh Planner Live virtual conference, Julie James MS said its six principles would guide planners, developers, policymakers and communities to think about places “holistically”, rather than “in isolation”. Read the full story on The Planner website: bit.ly/planner1120-wales n Planning policy needs to shift
Among the speakers were planners, politicians, environmentalists, QCs and a psychologist.
The headlines n New principles for
6
away from a “linear” approach to measuring net gain and towards a broader concept of “ecosystem restoration” if the profession is to help to arrest biodiversity loss and support its role in adapting to climate
change. Taking a whole system approach to restoring nature would allow nature itself to drive natural recovery while also providing a foundation for slowing and mitigating climate change and its effects. Read the full story on The Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-biodiversity
addressing climate change in the built environment. Low-carbon principles need to be at the heart of placemaking and embedded in local development plans, former RTPI president and board of trustees climate action champion Ian Tant told the conference in a session entitled ‘Where is policy now? A practical approach to local development plans’.
n Development that puts
people first and which is shaped by the need to reduce emissions is the key to
“WE CANNOT REVERT TO BUILDING POORQUALITY DEVELOPMENT ON SITES THAT ARE NOT SUSTAINABLE” JULIE JAMES MS, WELSH GOVERNMENT MINISTER FOR HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Read the full story on The Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-climate n The RTPI is aiming to be the world’s first ‘net-zero’ membership body by 2025. The move, revealed by past president Ian Tant at the Welsh Planner Live, follows the RTPI’s Plan The World We Need report and campaign launched in July.
Read the full story on The Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-netzero
TH E P L AN N E R \ N O V E MB E R 2 0 2 0
6-7 News_November 2020_The Planner.indd 6
14/10/2020 13:11
