Mercury rising: Australia faces an even hotter future

Last night, the ABC's 7:30 Report featured a piece on climate change and climate adaptation, following the recent news from the Bureau of Meteorology that 2017 was the third hottest year on record.

Libby and one of our Cool Streets Pilot Project residents, Bala, were interviewed to talk about Cool Streets and the ways it is helping to tackle climate change at a local level. It is wonderful to see how the residents have embraced the new trees on their street, and that the trees are growing well with all the love and care from residents like Bala. 

To watch the segment, click through to the 7:30 Report's webpage here.

The Daily Drive

Libby recently joined Sam Stove and Brigitte Duclos on 'The Daily Drive' to chat about the benefits of trees and the Cool Streets initiative. It's great to get the message out there about the benefits of trees in our cities - especially whilst we're in the midst of a heatwave here in Sydney!

To take a listen to the segment, click here.

Or, to visit The Daily Drive's page, click here.

Global problems, local actions: Cool Streets Pilot Project awarded with a National Award of Excellence

The 2017 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) National Landscape Awards were held last Friday night at The Grounds of Alexandria in Sydney. Gallagher Studio is very proud to have received an Award of Excellence for our Cool Streets Pilot Project, in the Community Contribution category. It was a fantastic night of celebration and we warmly congratulate all the nominees and award winners. 

Foreground published a review of the National Landscape Awards, writing;

“It’s hard to sum up a year’s work in a single comment, but it’s really the work of the landscape architect to promote liveability and to get people out in the landscape interacting with one another,” says [Linda] Corkery. “When you look across the categories, across all 81 projects, the large majority of them spoke to public space, active community engagement, and getting people out into nature – especially in dense urban areas."

To read more and view the full list of award recipients, go here. 

Urban island heat effect: Rising temperatures in Aussie cities could create death traps

Did you know that our cities are 5C hotter compared to surrounding areas because of the ‘Urban Heat Island'?

Megan Palin shared an article on News.com.au today about the Urban Heat Island and the effect that is having on our cities. The article quotes some alarming statistics, including that "the annual air temperature of a city with one million people can be 1—3C warmer than its surroundings". However the article isn't all doom and gloom - it also details several Australian initiatives that are helping to tackle this significant problem, including our own Cool Streets™ initiative. We're very proud of our Cool Streets™ project, and believe that we all need to play a part in tackling climate change. You can find more information on the Cool Streets™ initative over at www.coolstreets.com.au .

Cool Streets is featured on ABC Radio Sydney!

Yesterday, ABC Radio Sydney published an article "Sydney squeeze: Lower your electricity bills and reduce the heat island effect by planting more trees" as part of their week-long investigation into Sydney's future. The coverage includes everything from the cost of living to the impact on the environment, and our own Dr Libby Gallagher was contacted to provide insight as to how trees can help cool our cities, reduce CO2 emissions and reduce resident's power bills. 

Amanda Hoh wrote: 

Last year Blacktown City Council received State Government funding to trial a pilot program that saw more trees planted in Boonderoo Avenue in Glenwood.

The council partnered with the Cool Streets initiative that was developed by landscape architect Dr Libby Gallagher, whose PhD found changes to street design could reduce CO2 emissions, cool neighbourhoods and reduce power bills for residents.

"I found that you could basically achieve much higher levels of reduced energy consumption by planting effective trees on their street," Dr Gallagher said.

"As the trees grow, the projected outcome for these streets was that when [the trees] were at maturity they could achieve really significant benefits ... provide shading, shaving electricity bills by up to $400 per annum."

To read the full article, click here: 
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-23/tackling-heat-with-trees-one-street-at-a-time/8380306

To visit the Cool Streets website click here: 
www.coolstreets.com.au

The first press coverage of Cool Streets!

Today, the Rouse Hill Courier published an article entitled 'Glenwood goes green' on their website. Meg Francis wrote:

A Glenwood street has brought down the temperature but turned up the heat on tackling climate change.

The Cool Streets project, hosted by Boonderoo Avenue, was recognised in the 2016 Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Awards when it won the climate change action award.

Gallagher Studio director Libby Gallagher, who led the project, said the organisation were blown away by the success of the Australia-first initiative. “The pilot project grew from my PHD at the University of Sydney into the potential of streets and street trees to tackle urban heat and mitigate climate change,” Dr Gallagher said.

To read the full article, click here:
www.rousehillcourier.com.au/story/4394787/glenwood-goes-green/?cs=1502

To go to the Cool Streets website, click here:
www.coolstreets.com.au