Trees in the townscape

I have changed up my posting schedule a little bit by adding a new category. I live with the hope that I will eventually become a proper blogger and uphold my schedule.

So first urban brief.

Let’s talk about trees. I love the city. I’m a city girl born and bred. That doesn’t stop me loving nature too. I find the countryside gorgeous, but I don’t know if I’d be able to live there. So some of my favourite places are parks and city beaches and hills, generally all sorts of places that bring nature into the city.

And I really really adore trees. Have you hugged a tree lately? Go do it! You know you want to! You know that your life would be poorer without your friendly neighbourhood trees.

I mentioned going to Ecobuild and attending a number of talks and thinking thoughts and taking notes about subjects to talk about at a later date.

One of the talks was about the Trees and Design Action Group and the work they do. Let’s just take a moment to pause at how brilliant that group sounds.

Taken straight from their about page:

The Trees and Design Action Group (TDAG) is an open collaborative facilitating cross-sector and cross-disciplinary dialogue and projects promoting the role of the urban forest throughout the United Kingdom.

The group shares the collective vision that the location of trees, and all the benefits they bring, can be secured for future generations by influencing the planning, design, construction and management of our urban infrastructure and spaces.

Established in 2007, it is not-for-profit and apolitical. Its membership, online publications and information are free. This approach enables TDAG to assimilate ideas and knowledge independently of organisational hierarchy, profit or commercial interests.

Just a lot of fancy talk to say that they are a bunch of people who don’t care about politics and money, just about spreading the word about how amazing trees are and helping cities become better and healthier places by including them.

Also they recognise that designing trees into the urban landscape is not as simple as all that. There are all sorts of things to take into account. Which is why they conduct research and write guides that you can download for free from their website. The latest guide is the awesomely named Trees in the Townscape, A Guide for Decision Makers and they have yet another one coming soon.

And you know, they are not the only ones who think trees are amazing.