Biodiversity and Built Environment: Webinar Series

Nature loss, like climate change, is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, with significant impacts on people’s health and well-being. While our sector is highly reliant on biodiversity and ecosystem services, current spatial patterns of development and methods of construction often have a negative impact on biodiversity in Ireland and further afield.

As policies and legislation such as the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities introduce stronger requirements around biodiversity and the built environment, this webinar series aims at sharing best practices to protect and enhance biodiversity in the construction and use phases, and through the value chain.

Please register at least 30 minutes before the webinar to ensure you receive the link. You only need to register once.

WEBINAR 1: BIODIVERSITY & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT – AN INTRODUCTION
Date: Wednesday, 15^th February

Time: 1 to 2pm

This webinar explores the links between the construction and built environment sectors and the five main sources of biodiversity loss identified by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Through case studies, the webinar explores why biodiversity enhancement should be at the heart of your projects and showcases how it can be done.

Speakers & Panellists

• Morgan Taylor, Director, Ecology lead, Greengage
• Siobhan Kennedy, Co-Author , Engineers Ireland’s “Protecting Biodiversity, the role of engineers: Issues paper”
• Catriona Duggan, Steering Group Member, Architects Declare Ireland
• Eloise Heron, immediate outgoing chair of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Sustainability Group, SCSI

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WEBINAR 2: BIODIVERSITY & CLIMATE RESILIENCE
Date: Wednesday, 22^nd February

Time: 1 to 2pm

Over the last two years, the lockdowns have highlighted the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing. Interactions with plants and nature reduce psychological and physiological stress. Trees and other plants also contribute to improving air and water quality in our cities, preventing floods, and cooling our environment during heat waves. As extreme weather events increase in frequency and severity as a result of climate chance, the webinar explores the role of nature-based solutions in enhancing resilience and in improving people’s health and wellbeing.

Speakers & Panellists

• Marcus Collier, Associate Professor, Trinity College Dublin – An Introduction to Nature-based solutions
• Hans Visser, Biodiversity Officer, Fingal County Council – Nature-based solutions and Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDs) in housing development projects (Case studies)
• Francesco Pilla, Professor, University College Dublin – Dublin City Council’s Green roofs pilot programme – Preliminary results

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WEBINAR 3: ACTING FOR BIODIVERSITY – NEW BUILDS & MAJOR RENOVATIONS
Date: Wednesday, 1^st March

Time: 1 to 2pm

With a growing population, a significant number of new homes and infrastructure must be built in Ireland by 2030. The webinar looks at the strategies that can be implemented to deliver the homes and infrastructures we need while tackling biodiversity loss.

Speakers & Panellists

• Ricky Whelan, Project Officer, Birdwatch Ireland – Developing a strategy for biodiversity
• Michael Goan, Urban Design & Sustainability Manager, Land Development Agency – Case Study
• Susan Vickers, National Sustainability Manager, Cluid Housing – Case Study
• Lewis Deacon, Technical Director, Aecom – Biodiversity Net Gain: the UK experience
• John Fingleton, Technical Project Manager, IGBC – Home Performance Index

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WEBINAR 4: ACTING FOR BIODIVERSITY – BUILDINGS-IN-USE
Date: Wednesday, 8^th March

Time: 1 to 2pm

The greenest building is often the one that already exists. This webinar explores how biodiversity can be enhanced in existing commercial and residential buildings across Ireland.

Speakers & Panellists

• Tony Williams, Landscape Architect, Transport Infrastructure Ireland – Enhancing biodiversity from city level to building level
• Paul Giles, Director, SAP Landscapes – Landscaping and Maintenance in Commercial buildings
• Dr Una Fitzpatrick, Senior ecologist, National Biodiversity Data Centre – Enhancing biodiversity in existing homes
• John Lusby, Project Officer, Birdwatch Ireland – Wildlife in Buildings – Linking our built and natural heritage

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WEBINAR 5: ACTING FOR BIODIVERSITY – BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION WASTE

Date: Wednesday, 15^th March

Time: 1 to 2pm

Although most of the focus to date has been on enhancing biodiversity on site, raw materials extraction and the production of construction materials impact biodiversity further afield. The last webinar of the series looks at “embodied biodiversity loss” and how it can be addressed through practical examples.

Speakers & Panellists

• Greg Nolan, Professor, University of Tasmania’s School of Architecture and Design – Embodied Biodiversity Loss: An Introduction
• Carolyn Jewell, Global Biodiversity Senior Manager, Heidelberg Materials – Developing a Biodiversity Strategy: A Case Study
• Dermot Foley, DFLA – Biodiversity & Circularity: Case Studies

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

	Marcus Collier is an Associate Professor of Sustainability Science in the School of Natural Sciences in Trinity College Dublin, where he is also Director of Research and a Principal Investigator in the Science Foundation Ireland ADAPT Centre. He was the coordinator and is now leading the high leveled advisory board of the Horizon 2020 nature-based solutions project Connecting Nature. He also has leading positions in two other EU nature-based solutions projects – GoGreenRoutes and ReNature.
	John Fingleton has been managing the IGBC’s Home Performance Index Certification since 2019. John is an architect and has worked in private practice in Ireland, England, Spain and the US. John obtained a Masters in Low Energy Building Design and most recently worked in the Sustainability team of Ethos Engineering. John is a LEED Accredited Professional, ID+C and BD+C.
	Úna FitzPatrick works in the National Biodiversity Data Centre, which is responsible for the collection, collation, management, analysis, and dissemination of data on Ireland’s biological diversity. As Senior Ecologist, she oversees the plant, vegetation, and pollinator work programmes of the Centre. In 2015, she co-founded the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. She is Chair of the Steering Group and project manages the initiative.
	Dermot Foley is a practising landscape architect and an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at University College Dublin. The work of DFLA, formally Dermot Foley Landscape Architects, has been recognised internationally. Dermot was awarded Europe 40-Under-40 in 2010 and was an ADAPT-r scholar during his PhD candidature with RMIT University. He published Artifice in 2011 and has contributed to several publications on landscape architecture, most recently Revealing change in cultural landscapes, edited by Catherine Heatherington, and a second practice book, DFLA: Chronologies of practice at Dermot Foley Landscape Architects (2022).
	Michael Goan is a registered Architect with 25 years professional experience and also holds an MSc in Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies. He is a former Chair of the RIAI Sustainability Task Force and is currently the Urban Design and Sustainability Lead with the Land Development Agency.
	Eloise Heron is a Chartered Surveyor at the Society of Chartered Surveyors. She is the outgoing chair of the Sustainability Group in the Society of Chartered Surveyors. In 2021, SCSI Sustainability Group declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency and invited their members to stand behind this declaration, take practical steps to reduce the carbon emissions of their own operations and improve the biodiversity of their own and their client businesses. The SCSI Sustainability Group issued this practical guide.
	Carolyn Jewell is the Biodiversity Senior Manager at HeidelbergCement, where her role includes developing and implementing a Company-wide strategy for biodiversity, thereby maintaining HeidelbergCement’s leadership position in biodiversity management. She is active on Industry biodiversity working groups at European and Global level and engages with a number of business and biodiversity initiatives. Prior to joining HeidelbergCement in 2016, she managed the Nature After Minerals partnership programme between RSPB and Natural England which afforded the opportunity to gain valuable experience in mineral site restoration and stakeholder engagement.
	Siobhán Kennedy is a Chartered Engineer with Engineers Ireland, currently working with An Taisce in Galway and Mayo on the Safe Routes to School programme. Siobhán previously spent a number of years working on post-disaster recovery in Haiti and Nepal. Siobhán is an elected member of the Council of Engineers Ireland and has been involved in a number of Engineers Ireland sustainability initiatives including the Sustainability Grand Tour webinar series and the Protecting Biodiversity issues paper published in July 2021.
	Greg Nolan is Professor of Architecture at the University of Tasmania’s Discipline of Architecture and Design in its School of Technology, Environment and Design. He is the Director of the University’s Centre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood, a broad, multidisciplinary research and education group that aspires to be a national leader in sustainable architectural design, building and applications with wood. Since 1994, Greg has been involved with teaching in Architecture and Design and with research, development and extension aimed at improving both the use of wood and timber products in sustainable building, and the recovery of wood products from the available renewable resource.
	Prof. Francesco Pilla is a Professor in Smart Cities and Urban Environment in UCD. He holds a PhD in civil engineering and his work lies at the intersection between cities and technologies. His goal is to build better cities through technology, innovation and citizen participation. He focuses on empowering local communities with cutting-edge technology and enabling them to act on pressing environmental issues in their local environment. He has been active in environmental research for 15 years and to date has attracted over €30 Million in research funding from International and National funding sources.
	Morgan Taylor leads the Ecology Team at Greengage, providing ecological and green infrastructure design input into projects enabling biodiversity net gains, complementing wider climate change adaptation measures. He provides clear and concise advice on how to manage ecology throughout planning and development. Morgan is a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), CIEEM Awards 2018 Member’s Award Winner, CIRIA BIG Biodiversity Champion 2018 Finalist and a member of the Essex Design Review Panel and Havering Design Review Panel.
	Susan Vickers is currently the National Sustainability Manager with Clúid Housing. She is responsible for the co-creation and implementation of Clúid’s Greening/Sustainability Strategy across the organization. This involves advising the business, leading initiatives, and developing programmes to drive environmental improvements and sustainable development across the organization, with climate mitigation and climate action key considerations to deliver sustainable climate resilient housing and low carbon culture in all aspects of procurement, maintenance and operation of housing stock. This work is leading the environmental aspects of the ESG strategy for the organization.
	Hans Visser has been a biodiversity officer with the Parks and Green Infrastructure Division at Fingal County Council for the last 20 years. During this time he has been involved in a wide variety of park development and nature conservation projects. Hans has a big interest in nature based solutions and ecosystem restoration and how these approaches can be used to address the challenges posed by climate change and urbanisation.
	Ricky Whelan has worked in wildlife conservation since graduating in the late 2000’s from NUI Galway. He’s early career was spent working on RSPB bird reserves in the UK before returning home to work with BirdWatch Ireland (BWI) since 2014. Ricky is currently Project Officer with BWI with responsibility for urban birds. Ricky is a Co-host of the popular In Your Nature podcast with his BWI colleague Niall Hatch. Ricky is heavily involved in all thing’s biodiversity in County Laois, is founder of the Irish Wildlife Trust Laois-Offaly Branch and Chairperson at The Abbeyleix Bog Project.

This webinar series is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s National Policy on Architecture, Places for People. The National Policy on Architecture promotes the power of architecture and design to bring about a more sustainable society.