Co-Designing with Nature: How Communities Are Becoming Stewards of Urban Biodiversity
The concrete canyon of Melbourne's Degraves Street was once a stark service corridor in functional obscurity. Today, the narrow laneway now pulses with life beyond its famous café. Native grasses cascade from carefully positioned planters while small shrubs create cooling microclimates. Challenging traditional ecological design models, community-led approaches to biodiversity invite a reimagining of how architects, planners, and communities collaborate to develop biodiverse urban futures.


The concrete canyon of Melbourne's Degraves Street was once a stark service corridor in functional obscurity. Today, the narrow laneway now pulses with life beyond its famous café. Native grasses cascade from carefully positioned planters while small shrubs create cooling microclimates. Challenging traditional ecological design models, community-led approaches to biodiversity invite a reimagining of how architects, planners, and communities collaborate to develop biodiverse urban futures.