Fionnuala Collins, recently recruited landscape architect at Neo Environmental presented at the CIRIA event Getting trees right in the urban environment held last night at the Glasgow Lighthouse.

Several specialists presented on a range of topics aimed at demonstrating the benefits and costs of trees in UK urban environments.  Fionnuala’s talk focussed on the opportunity that exists for, not only reducing runoff and water quality treatment but creating amenity and biodiversity when designing drainage infrastructure. She presented a range of case studies, some failed to deliver multifunctionality, in contrast to many inspiring projects that integrated trees into the fabric of blue green infrastructure to deliver cleaner water and air, create a sense of place and a more liveable environment.  She encouraged collaboration of engineers with landscape architects from an early stage in the design process to deliver multifunctional benefits and seamless integration with the local setting.