Nigel is Professor of Planting Design and Vegetation Technology and Director of the Green Roof Centre at the University of Sheffield and manages research programmes in sustainable landscape planting and green roof development. He is active in design and consultancy, and writes widely for horticultural and gardening publications.
Professor Dunnett’s work revolves around innovative approaches to planting design and the integration of ecology and horticulture to achieve low-input, dynamic, diverse, ecologically-tuned designed landscapes, at small and large scale. Major areas of focus include green roofs, rain gardens, pictorial meadows and naturalistic planting design
While ecological ideas in landscape design have often been applied at the larger scale, Nigel’s focus is generally at the smaller scale: gardens, urban parks, on and around buildings and in high-density built developments. All aspects revolve around exciting and novel uses of plants, innovative planting design and application of ecological concepts to achieve low-input, dynamic, diverse, colourful and ecologically-tuned designed landscape.
Professor Dunnett, explaining his approach, said: “I start with a very simple premise. Many, if not all, of the major environmental problems facing cities can be traced back to a disconnect with nature, vegetation and green. These can be environmental, such as urban flooding, urban climate, urban biodiversity, or social well-being and health.
“A partial response to the great issues facing populations in an era of changing and unpredictable climate is to revegetate and green our cities: from the very smallest neighbourhood scale – the individual building, lot and backyard, through to the largest watershed or city-wide scale. In order for urban greening to be successful, it also has to be publicly acceptable and loved – it has to have an aesthetic aspect - there has to be a human element.”
Planting the Olympic Park organised by the Friends of the University’s Botanic Garden will take place on Thursday 15 November 2012 at 7.30 pm in the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, Room B75, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG.
Admission is £5 for non-members, free to Friends of the Garden (on production of membership card). No booking is required.
Further information is available from the Botanic Garden, tel 0117 331 4906 or email botanic-gardens@bristol.ac.uk