Half-submerged greenhouses warmed by the earth and community gardens growing fruit and veggies: this is the future Wodonga some RMIT students have envisaged to cope with climate change.
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The landscape architecture and regional planning undergraduates opened an exhibition of their work at Albury LibraryMusuem this week, which will run until November 30.
Regardless of political orientation, planning for climate change in the development of future regional cities has now become commonplace.
On the edge of the nation’s largest food bowl, the fast-growing Border is supported by an extensive, unpredictable hydrological system.
Over the past four months the students focused on how the city would adapt to the speculative effects of climate change, particularly for more extreme weather events, such as October’s floods or 2015’s Barnawartha fires.
Their teacher Julia Werner said ideas ranged from greenhouses to the development of swale systems, or ditches, to allow for moisture retention in communal veggie gardens.
“An important conclusion for the student investigations was to focus on increasing frequency of bush fires and flood occurrence,” she said. “The students saw a need to increase moisture retention and to develop long-term concepts to challenge these extremes in the landscape.”
The students also researched the growling grass frog, which is a threatened species found in Wodonga. Through analysis of the animal’s behaviour, a regenerative design was developed which would integrate its habitat with the urban environment. In doing so, a hydrological network would provide both water in the city areas and a cooling effect for long summers.
Wodonga Council’s Michelle Wilkinson, in one of her last roles as its sustainability officer, said she was impressed by the quality of the projects.
“We’ve got a plan for new subdivisions in Wodonga and we want to look at future planning for our city,” she said.
“These are highly relevant to councils, catchment management authorities and water authorities … considering the predicted impacts of climate change on our region and suggesting some exciting projects.”
