10 February 2016

In conjunction with a number of key ministers – Hon Fletcher MP, Hon Albanese MP and Mr Bandt MP- and advocacy body, the Australian Institute for Landscape Architects, they will be announcing today the new Living Cities Alliance.

In addition, there will be a workshop hosted with a range of industry representatives to develop, and then submit an Action Plan and Report to Minister Hunt's department to inform, in advance, the Government's Cities Policy Forum Position Paper and Summit being released early this year.

Each Minister will be speaking at the event in the morning, including conducting Q&A sessions post speech.

The Living Cities Alliance announcement will call on key organisations working across all urban planning, infrastructure, utilities and greening sectors to join the alliance to unite in providing a consultative framework to inform Government policy development, and make recommendations on target setting to make our cities greener and more liveable.

The report that will be delivered to Minister Hunt's department post-workshop is expected to outline the economic, health and environmental benefits of a raft of innovative, greener city initiatives that could be implemented in Australia's urban centres.

Event Details:

Date:Wednesday, Feb 10 2016

Location:Private Dining Room, Parliament House Canberra

Event details:

09:50 - 10:40am: Living Cities Alliance Announced and Minister Fletcher speech / Q&A

11:00 - 11:30am: Minister Bandt speech / Q&A

11:30 - Noon: Minister Albanese speech / Q&A

Noon - 13:00: Lunch (Media invited)

Followed by closed / private workshop

-ends-

For all media enquiries contact Claire Maloney, The Bravery, 0431 279 785 or [email protected]

Interview Opportunities:

Shahana McKenzie, CEO, AILA- can speak to:

• What the newLiving Cities Allianceexpects to deliver and consult to Government and what impact this could have
• Some areas include; the development of a National Green Infrastructure Strategy to catalyse Federal investments, opportunities for national / state / local tree canopy target setting, sustainable rating systems for all Federal infrastructure projects and so on

Adam Beck, Director of Innovation, EcoDistricts- can speak to:

• What Australian urban policy and planning can learn from overseas best practice (Adam has recently returned from Portland, Oregon where he has been delivering public private partnerships to regenerate urban centres)
• The opportunities that could come out of the Government's new Cities position for private sector collaboration, and how this could contribute significantly to the country's economic potential

About AILA

AILA is the growing national advocacy body representing 2,500 active and engaged landscape architects, promoting the importance of the profession today and for the future. Committed to designing and creating a better Australia, landscape architects shape the world around us. They conceive, reimagine and transform the outside world from streetscapes to parks and playgrounds, transport solutions to tourism strategies, new suburbs and even cities. aila.org.au