‘It all starts with soil’

It was a real pleasure to take part in The Festival of Place: Climate Resilience last week - a fantastic event bringing together people passionate about creating a more resilient, sustainable built environment. 

Alongside Professor Jess Davies from Lancaster University, I had the chance to explore the often-overlooked role of soil in shaping how our cities and landscapes can adapt to a changing climate. 

Soil underpins everything - it’s the foundation of both the natural world and the built environment. When we allow it to function properly, we can unlock so many benefits: reducing surface water flooding through Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDS), supporting urban cooling, enhancing biodiversity, and even contributing to carbon storage. 

It was great to discuss how early, landscape-led design that considers soil as part of the system can make a real difference in how we plan and build for the future. 

At Civic, our system thinking approach means seeing soil as part of a wider, interconnected system - one that links nature, infrastructure, and community. 
 

Designing with soil in mind helps us create climate-ready places where people and the planet can thrive! 

If you missed it, you can watch the full recording here: https://thedeveloper.live/film/talks/dont-treat-soils-like-dirt-say-experts-highlighting-waste-on-construction-sites