Following on from last year's Water Sensitive Urban Design session with Kim Markwell and due to popular demand, Sally Boer will be taking the reigns to offer this overview course again for AILA members and allied professionals. 

This LATITUTE session will provide an overview of water sensitive urban design (WSUD) in Australia. Delivered by Sally Boer, an expert in WSUD who has authored several Queensland and national-level guidelines, the session will equip landscape architects, urban designers, and similar professionals with useful knowledge and understanding they can apply in their day-to-day professional lives to achieve better outcomes in their projects. 

Focus of the Session

This online session will focus on the basics of WSUD including what it is, why it’s important, the important roles for landscape architects and urban designers, and the use of different WSUD practices. Case studies will demonstrate how WSUD is undertaken in the real world including how different WSUD practices can be used to achieve different design outcomes in different landscape scenarios. 

Objectives of the Workshop

•  Provide participants with a real world understanding of WSUD including its benefits and common practices (e.g., bioretention systems, wetlands, passive irrigation). 
• Provide participants with knowledge they can apply in their day-to-day professional lives including how to apply different WSUD practices and influence design to achieve good integrated outcomes in their projects.

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding what WSUD is, why it’s important, and its history up to now. 
• Understand the benefits WSUD can provide in urban development. 
• Be aware of the policy drivers and requirements for WSUD in Australia. 
• Understand the role landscape architects, urban designers, and similar professionals play in the WSUD process and project teams. 
• Be aware of common WSUD practices, their different applications, and the benefits they can provide, including climate change resilience.  
• Be aware of common design pitfalls and how to avoid them.
• Be aware of different language used to refer to WSUD in Australia. 
• Understand how to choose between and approach the design of different management practices to advocate for and achieve good design outcomes in projects.

Audience

This workshop is relevant to landscape architects, town planners, urban designers, and similar professionals looking to work on WSUD, integrated water management or total water cycle management projects in Australia. 

Format

The session will be divided into three parts. The first part will focus on introducing WSUD, the approach and the roles participants can play in the design process. The second part will focus on common WSUD practices, their design intents, and suitability for use in different landscape scenarios. The last part will provide opportunities for questions and answers, open discussions, and networking between participants and the speaker. Session materials will be shared with participants unless otherwise advised due to copyright protections.

Speaker

Sally Boer

Sally Boer is a founding Director of E2Designlab, a passionate group of ecologists and engineers specialising in integrated water management.  Sally’s professional career has been dedicated to using science to guide strategic planning and design to inform decisions that shape the creation of healthier and more sustainable cities. 

With a background in aquatic ecology and over 20 years’ experience working with developers and local government authorities in water sensitive urban design, Sally understands the drivers and sometimes competing interests shaping on-ground outcomes.

She was awarded the UDIA Women in Development Excellence Award – Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in Creating a Sustainable Environment, 2009, and has co-authored many WSUD and passive irrigation guidelines. Her passion is in sharing knowledge and achieving multiple benefits through collaborative and integrated planning and design processes. 

Registration