As cities grapple with rising temperatures, increasingly intense storms, biodiversity loss and the environmental pressures of continued development, nature-based solutions (NbS) are moving from the margins of sustainability conversations to the centre of urban design.

The upcoming Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Resilience panel will examine how natural systems can be integrated into established urban environments to deliver tangible environmental and social benefits, from cooling our cities and managing stormwater to restoring biodiversity and reconnecting people with nature.

But the conversation will go beyond the ambition of simply adding more greenery to our cities. The panel will explore what it takes to make nature-positive strategies feasible, measurable and impactful, particularly within complex, existing urban contexts.

Designing with nature, not around it

For Matt Irvine, Project Director / Architect at Snøhetta, the relationship between architecture and the natural environment is fundamental to the way we should approach development.

“We find our work is often in dialogue with nature. As buildings can be a damaging undertaking on the environment, our work should always aim to have a positive outcome for the natural environment. An understanding of the place and respect of the existing ecology and history should be evident in our work.”

That philosophy is being put into practice at Harbourside, where nature is being integrated into a major urban development at an ambitious scale.

The project incorporates approximately 4,700 sqm of green roofs, complemented by landscaped terraces that will deliver more than 115,000 native and endemic plants. More than 250 mature trees will form part of the landscape, with species carefully selected in consultation with First Nations designers.

Beyond the immediate environmental benefits, Harbourside will also provide an opportunity to generate new knowledge. The project is set to become a testbed for a University of Technology Sydney research team, which will investigate the performance of nature-positive urban design and development, with implications that could extend well beyond Australia.

For Irvine, projects such as Harbourside demonstrate how architecture and development can become active contributors to ecological outcomes rather than simply minimising their environmental impact.

Thinking beyond the site boundary

While projects can demonstrate what is possible, Ella Mudie, Senior Engagement Lead at the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), will challenge the industry to think at a much broader scale.

Mudie plans to focus on “thinking beyond the site boundary”, examining how buildings and the built environment can contribute to nature-positive outcomes across entire ecosystems.

“I’m planning to focus on ‘thinking beyond the site boundary’ to consider how industry can drive nature's positive outcomes at scale by focusing on the role of buildings within broader ecosystems, alongside leveraging opportunities to participate in the emerging nature repair market and high-quality NbS offset schemes.”

It is a perspective that shifts the nature-positive conversation from individual developments towards the cumulative impact of an entire industry.

What happens when every project considers not just its own footprint but also its relationship with surrounding waterways, habitats, landscapes and ecological systems? And how can the built environment help unlock investment in nature repair and high-quality nature-based solutions beyond the boundaries of individual sites?

These questions are becoming increasingly important as Australia’s emerging nature repair market creates new opportunities for organisations to invest in measurable biodiversity and ecological outcomes.

From green infrastructure to resilient cities

The panel will bring these perspectives together to explore how nature-based solutions can become a practical part of the way cities are planned, designed, built and regenerated.

The discussion will consider strategies such as urban waterway restoration, green roofs, urban forests, green infrastructure and biodiversity-focused landscape design, while addressing the realities of delivering these interventions in established cities where space, infrastructure, competing priorities and legacy development can present significant challenges.

Importantly, the session will also ask what success looks like.

Nature-based solutions are not simply about making cities look greener. Done well, they can provide critical infrastructure functions, helping manage stormwater, reduce urban heat, support biodiversity, and improve the resilience of communities, while creating healthier and more engaging places for people.

The opportunity is to move towards cities where ecological performance is considered alongside architectural, social and economic outcomes from the outset.

A conversation about what comes next

As the built environment industry moves towards a more ambitious understanding of sustainability, the question is no longer simply how to reduce the environmental impact of development. It is how development can actively contribute to restoring and strengthening the natural systems on which cities depend.

From Harbourside’s ambitious integration of native planting, mature trees and green roofs to the industry-wide potential of nature repair markets and ecosystem-scale thinking, Nature-Based Solutions For Urban Resilience promises to be a forward-looking conversation about what a genuinely nature-positive city could look like.

For anyone involved in architecture, development, landscape design, sustainability, urban planning, or the future of the built environment, this session promises to move the conversation from aspiration to implementation and from individual sites to resilient urban ecosystems.

Image: Sustainability Summit 2025 / Supplied.

Click here to join Matt Irvine and Ella Mudie at the 2026 Sustainability Summit for a timely discussion on how we can design, develop, and regenerate cities that don’t simply coexist with nature but actively help it thrive.

Architecture & Design Team

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