GreenBlue Urban develops products that help create sustainable urban landscapes for future generations by providing green and blue infrastructure solutions. On Tuesday 19th July 22, they celebrated their 30th Birthday in Manchester…and I managed to bag an invite!
As always there was a focus on protecting water as well as promoting SuDS and to help them celebrate, they invited a number of fantastic speakers, including:
To open the event we heard from the Founder of GreenBlue, Dean Bowie, who explained why the company was founded, its mission and values and its further aspirations.
Next, we heard from Sophie Parker-Loftus who provided an overview of some of the projects Exterior Architecture have been involved in and how on one of them they impressively made a 316% improvement to Biodiversity Net Gain.
‘It was a pleasure to contribute.’ Sophie parker-Loftus
Following Exterior, Michaela Howell from the fantastic not-for-profit Groundwork Greater Manchester explained how the organisation works with local communities to create a greener economy and improved public space.
Samuel Evans from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority provided details of the Ignition Project, a ground-breaking project that aims to develop innovative financing solutions for investment in Greater Manchester’s natural environment.
After a break of tea/coffee and munching on some delish Danish pastries networking with insightful exhibitors such as Ladybrook Nurseries, Civic Engineers and City of Trees we listened to Simon Gilliland from WSP who discussed the benefits as well as the importance of reaching water net zero as well as some ideas on how this could be achieved, before touching on the importance of knowing our flood risk and why we should consider it in our future designs.
‘GBU is doing some great work, so really happy to support.’ Simon Gilliland
Jo Bradley from Stormwater Shepherds challenged those of us who work in the sector to design ‘SuDS with Knobs on’ and take our designs one step further to include edible vegetation to tackle the world’s food crises.
‘I really enjoyed the event and meeting up with industry friends’ Jo Bradley
And of course, no GreenBlue Urban event would be complete without a presentation from Howard Gray who provided a passionate overview of the benefit of trees as well as providing a sneaky peek into some of the upcoming products that will shortly be released. No spoilers from me before the official launch, however, it is worth keeping an eye out as they are certainly going to be beneficial and a great addition to the GreenBlue Urban Catalogue. (Register for the brand new Edition 10 here).
It was a fantastic morning event followed by a beautifully catered lunch, a tree pit demonstration and a case study tour around Manchester in an air-conditioned coach that was a pleasant welcome in the extortionate heat and a great opportunity to catch up with fellow SuDS professionals past, present and new.
Thanks for the invite and wishing GreenBlue a very happy 30th birthday… looking forward to seeing what you guys have planned for the next 30 years!!!
Faye Gennard, Founder of Rennard Consulting Limited.
