We know we need more nature in our cities.
But how?

We work with businesses to maximize the ecological value and minimize the negative impacts of their real estate portfolio. In projects ranging from a single building to a diverse set of properties, we analyze opportunities to incorporate ecological features, contribute to the health and resilience of surrounding communities, and bring the benefits of nature to employees. We specialize in integrating ecology into internal processes and programs, and developing science-based targets and metrics to align with international standards and institutional priorities. We have experience incorporating ecology into ambitious flagship campuses as well as into sustainability programs across a global portfolio.

• Corporate footprint analysis and real estate strategy

• Campus master plan advising and site design/renovation for ecology

• Alignment with emerging corporate disclosure expectations

• Ecology programmatic development to standardize design and operational practices

• Incorporation of biodiversity into sustainability programs

• Benefit quantification for human health, heat island reduction, and carbon storage and sequestration

• Employee engagement and programming

We work with cities to bring multi-benefit nature into traditional planning and design processes. We excel at working with diverse stakeholders to identify the values and needs for nature, from facilitating safe modes of active transit to bringing the health benefits of urban greening to nature-poor neighborhoods. Drawing on our extensive research on the inequities of nature distribution and the impacts to human health, we help develop ambitious but practical strategies to align nature priorities with the many other drivers and challenges of the urban setting. We also build on innovative and effective precedents for policy and standard development from city biodiversity strategies around the world.

• Development of city- or neighborhood-scale biodiversity strategies

• Incorporation of ecology into general plans, specific plans, and neighborhood redevelopment

• Incorporation of ecology into urban forest, green infrastructure, active mobility, and parks master plans

• Development of design standards and guidelines for biodiversity

• Advising and domain expertise to support drafting and adoption of city ecology policies and standards

• Benefit quantification for human health, heat island reduction, and carbon storage and sequestration

An increasing number of cities are seeking transformative change for sustainability and climate resilience. To support these changes, ecological parameters need to be formalized in planning documents. We specialize in working with developers, design teams, and stakeholders to integrate high-performance nature into domain-specific plans such as for urban forestry, green infrastructure, or active mobility, as well as standalone biodiversity or nature strategies. We have extensive experience collaborating with city staff and domain experts to find the synergies between ecology and housing, mobility, placemaking, and urban resilience.

• Development of city- or neighborhood-scale biodiversity strategies

• Incorporation of ecology into of general plans, specific plans, and neighborhood redevelopment

• Incorporation of ecology into urban forest, green infrastructure, active mobility, and parks master plans

• Development of nature-forward streetscape plans for thermal comfort, health, and active mobility

• Ecology performance and integrated health-resilience benefits integration into complex planning processes

Individual sites can make big moves for ecology by integrating ecological perspectives and expertise throughout the design process. We work collaboratively with architects, landscape architects, engineers, and other professionals to integrate ecology into design at the site scale. Ideally, we incorporate ecology early and throughout the design process to minimize conflicts and find creative solutions. We draw on extensive science to bring a tractable framework and quantitative specifications into shoulder-to-shoulder design conversations. We search for multi-benefit solutions that align biodiversity, health, and resilience outcomes with other drivers.

• Local biodiversity assessment to develop exciting, place-based ecological concepts for design development

• Specifications, targets, and guidelines to maximize ecology in site design

• Collaboration with client, design and engineering teams to ensure alignment with overall project vision and priorities

• Continued review to maintain ecological expectations through design and construction phases

There are many opportunities to improve ecological performance in urban settings with incremental and relatively low cost improvements. We work with site owners and operations and maintenance teams to assess existing conditions and develop strategies to maximize benefits to biodiversity. Recommendations can include landscape retrofits to replace low-performing vegetation with an ecological plant palette designed to support native pollinators and birds. We also identify special resources such as bird nest boxes, pollinator nesting structures, and water features that can catalyze biodiversity at the site and beyond. We work with managers to align improvements with replacement cycles and budgets, and demonstrate cost-effective benefits in the form of reduced water use, reduced maintenance costs, and improved user experience.

• Ecological landscape “refresh” strategies

• Recommendations for special resources to support focal wildlife species

• Assessment of bird safety risks and hotspot retrofits

• Wildlife- and migration-friendly lighting strategies

Studies show that learning about and engaging with nature can improve well-being. In spaces with exciting ecological features, there is a huge opportunity to engage people in the beauty and excitement of urban nature. In corporate spaces, we work with interior designers and facilities teams to develop interpretive signage and communications to tell the ecological story of a place for employees and visitors. Similarly, we can design communications materials around public spaces with ecological value. For a more active approach, employees or community members can be engaged to collect valuable biodiversity data by submitting observations that help document project success and celebrate the arrival of new species. These engagements leverage ecological investments to improve participant well-being, including employee satisfaction in an office context.

• Storytelling communication materials

• Community science ecological monitoring programs

• Ecology site tour scripts

Urban ecology is a growing scientific field with robust information to guide design, but also many remaining questions. To bring existing knowledge into design and strategy work, we synthesize scientific research and generate plain language summaries and perspectives. We conduct novel analyses of new or existing data to learn more about ecological function, benefits, and opportunities for nature in urban sites. We share and apply these learnings through our science-based design advising and through publication of scientific papers. We also develop biodiversity monitoring programs to guide collection and analysis of ecological data from the site level to broad cross-city comparisons. With these data, we can describe the impact of ecological design interventions.

• Synthesis of scientific research to address specific questions

• Monitoring program development

• Analysis of new or existing biodiversity or urban greening data

• Impact quantification based on site-specific data