The value of nature in cities - a different kind of conversation

About The value of nature in cities - a different kind of conversation

Join us for a conversation during London Climate Action Week - one we hope will be a bit different from the usual panel format. Wednesday 24 June 2026 | 9am–10.30am | Empress Place, SW6 1TT The case for urban nature is well made. The evidence on health, climate resilience, biodiversity and wellbeing is strong, and most people in the built environment field already believe it. What we want to do is move past the advocacy and the marketing language and explore the harder questions. Where does nature genuinely create value - and where do the trade-offs with cost, viability and delivery pressure get difficult? What actually works on the ground, what doesn't, and what have we learned the hard way? How is that value monetised, and how does green infrastructure add asset value by de-risking the impacts of climate change? And - who actually captures that value and the benefits? We'll use the Earls Court masterplan as a starting point - a landscape-led brownfield development with a 4.5-acre urban park at its heart, a network of green and wooded spaces running through the site, and a +85% biodiversity net gain target. Not to present it as a model, but to open up the more difficult debates about where nature creates genuine value, and have an honest conversation about where the tensions lie. The format is deliberately informal: a short panel to set the scene, then a conversation involving everyone in the room. We are keen to to hear from planners, landscape architects, developers, scientists, advocates, community groups, academics and local residents, with the event being a a genuine exchange of views rather than a set of presentations. Places are limited. If you'd like to join us, please register here. The Earls Court Development Company