Roadmap for green roofs, walls and facades in Australia’s urban landscapes 2020-2030

Urban green infrastructure is the network of green space in the private and public realm and includes parks, private gardens, street trees, native remnant vegetation and more engineered forms such as rain gardens and green roofs. Increasing the extent, diversity and quality of green infrastructure is vital for ensuring the physical and mental wellbeing of Australia’s increasingly urbanised population, and for climate change adaptation. With less ground-level space available in cities to establish new parks, trees and gardens, engineered forms of green infrastructure - green roofs, walls and facades - offer opportunities to grow plants up and on top of built structures; combining grey infrastructure with green infrastructure. The multiple benefits of green roofs, walls and facades are well documented, but Australian cities are lagging behind many of their international counterparts in the rate and extent of implementation. To explore how uptake could be accelerated we ran Green Roof, Wall and Facades Summits in Sydney and Melbourne in 2019 with representatives from industry, academia, community, local government and state government agencies. Participants worked collaboratively to create a positive vision for greener Australian cities and identify the key actions needed to achieve this. The creation of a roadmap was seen as a critical first step and as a foundation document for other actions. A series of enabling actions were collectively identified to achieve a flourishing GRWF industry and more liveable future green cities. Actions fall within six overarching strategies: 1. Gather and share knowledge 2. Collaborate and advocate 3. Government coordination and national leadership 4. Develop and implement policy mechanisms 5. Enhance skills and expertise 6. Design for success This roadmap is a step towards achieving flourishing, sustainable green roofs, walls and facades in Australian cities that contribute positively to human health and wellbeing, support biodiversity and ecosystem services and that are integrated into planning, design and management. The success of this roadmap relies on the participation and coordination of the diverse range of professions and agencies involved in the design, planning, installation and maintenance of green roofs, walls and facades, along with researchers and the community.