Koala Retreat believes that we should learn from the past to build the future, looking historically at how and why we set up our society and cities the way that we did.
We need to look at different platforms, from coastal towns to metropolises, and build cities of the future. These cities need to be inclusive of zoning and architecture that facilitates the creation of a much wider platform. This will create a more active, responsible, and positive society that exudes a different type of behaviour. Because when we get the balance right between our architectural and landscape design and our environment, we have a better future to look forward to.
These are the necessary essential elements to keep society happy. At the same time, they also allow certain parts of history to repeat itself with a novel twist; instead of isolating, we will be surrounded and heavily influenced by our native environment. This new lifestyle will be a draw-card for the tourist industry while also providing many other commercial opportunities.
Until we can remove ourselves from most plastics and fossil fuels, which could be hundreds of years away, we will have to make compromises. The challenge is how we, as a society, conduct ourselves along the way. The general community already shows frustration when we create Band Aid fixes that fail to alleviate their concerns about the future of their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Our environment is a rare commodity and needs to come first. Just over 220 years ago, the Australian bush was a dominant feature of our life. Now that pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. We need to allow the greenery to dominate once again but, this time, we need to incorporate our native vegetation over our buildings and surrounding streets, just as we have tried to do on a small scale with some of the larger motorways. We need to integrate.
Our buildings of the future will generate their own electricity and have their own reserves of water. They will collect power from several renewable resources that can flow through to our future zoos. But these zoos and wildlife parks will look far different to the ones we have today – there won't be a separate area to go to. Instead, we will live as part of a zoo, amongst our native wildlife. Our wildlife parks will draw an income but in a different manner to what we see in the current format.
From a community perspective, with society surrounded by animals that once again roam freely, we learn to understand the changing of the seasons. We watch as they move in a nomadic way and circular motion, from Melbourne to Sydney, in response to their natural environment.
It will be a journey, and while working towards a platform of that nature we may need to employ measures that may include:
- 1. Undertaking a range of scientific and general studies, from a range of different back-grounds other then the normal sector of Universities, Tafe and high schools should also be included under the protection of a experience panel from a number of different environmental institutions working together (including the captive sector) - to question our form of work and thinking in-order to keep moving forward and
- 2. Creating a number of legislative steps that restrict negative behaviours. I can foresee a Diversification Act, which would see native animals and plants living under protected conditions to diversify and ensure their survival.
The future itself is an unknown factor, so society needs to place a much higher value on the survival of our native animals and plants, which would add value to our lives.
For the long-term vision to happen, we need to diversify our actions today and not be afraid to question everything in our actions . We need to understand ourselves and the potential in ourselves. But, again, we need to identify the word "control" and let go of parts of it while embracing the fear that comes with a new story-line. By creating a balanced platform for our foundation – a platform that allows for a certain amount of flexibility and balance that with a percentage of control, as we need to measure that word "control" – within ourselves and our outer environment, if we can achieve that, our knowledge and confidence will only increase.
A glimpse into the future: Barangaroo
A great example of future building is the Barangaroo development along the foreshore of Sydney. This is a micro-step in the way the state government works with high-performance contractors and consultants, getting the landscape and soil right from the very beginning. They formed a clay-based soil from a range of sand and crushed stone, as well as other ongoing developments from larger state projects around the Sydney Basin. From a plant life perspective, they paid homage to indigenous greenery that existed there prior to European settlement.
This project shows that we can create great infrastructure in Sydney. And now is the time to extend that experience from one state to the next by incorporating even bigger infrastructure projects between NSW and Victoria.
The Barangaroo project covers around 22 hectares. It required a wide variety of professions who came together with a united plan to deliver a shared vision. It also had a number of leading political actors involved, as well as the support of the state government that provided the Horizontal and Vertical levels of behaviour in the koala industry (for more information, see Article 27). It was, and is, a success on so many levels. This has not been seen before. The landscape architecture had to deal with high salt levels. They planted the right combinations of reintroduced native trees and shrubs indigenous to the area, paying respect to what was there before European settlement.
The investment into this type of work will have a long-term effect that pays for itself tenfold. Allowing both locals and tourists to see and experience the transformation, the development is winning in a local and global way. Why can't we do the same, but add two more layers (I'll talk more about this shortly) to the success?
One of the biggest wins from the Barangaroo project is the environment itself. There is a natural fence line surrounding the project that ensures nobody vandalizes or destroys all of the good work. There are a number of elements that make it a success.
Other than the overriding platform and planning that creates these invisible lines of protection, the foreshore creates a second from of fencing, with the sea acting as one half of a natural barrier. The third is the environment; the city itself acts as a form of fencing.
The fourth is the atmosphere, as this reduces the potential crime within an area. And the fifth is the amount of people movement, both day and night, which is facilitated by specific lighting. This, combined with law enforcement, ensures openness and transparency.
This is an outcome that the koala conservation sector can't deliver. Their work has the same amount of openness, but within an environment that lacks the attention and structure enjoyed by Barangaroo. This means that, after a hard day of work, there is nothing to stop people from coming in under the cover of secrecy, uprooting young trees and driving over the top of open fields. Consistent management to reduce invasive, non-native plants and animals is also lacking. Only the right type of layering and combination of the right management will see success like that of the Barangaroo project.
Our behaviours dictate the problems and concerns we will face, and this is because of the platforms we have created. The design and strength of our living space will determine how much wildlife we will have left by the time we get it right! And we won't know until we see the success of platforms such as the Barangaroo construction and learn whether we can make it before too much damage has been done!
If we start with the format and design of the Barangaroo site, working from that as a template, then we can introduce two more layers. These could consist of a residential layer and a wildlife layer.
To ensure we create a similar platform to Barangaroo, we should add an additional layer designed to give us a specific outcome and the best chance possible. For me, looking at Sydney and Melbourne, this would be the announcement of the Clara Group.
The Clara Group wants to introduce a Hyperloop train system that travels between Sydney and Melbourne. It would complete with airlines as the busiest route in the world. The advantage of the Hyperloop is that it can utilize the space between and around the train system. They want to develop six new cities and improve two existing cities along the route; this entire concept provides an opportunity to redesign what a city looks likes and what it means to us as a society. This project would start with a blank canvas, giving both states the opportunity to right the wrongs of the past and make this stretch of land far more attractive.
I'm aware that not all Australians will agree with this. I know a percentage of Australians will hold onto the past, citing tradition as a reason to prevent progress. It's human nature to stick with what we know is a safer option, and I understand this. Not everyone has the energy or excitement to try something new and untested.
But we could link our environmental and lifestyle progress to a commercial benefit, people may recognize that it's a win/win. This is not progress for the sake of progress, or progress that comes at a cost. We are building an ever-increasing population, and Australia has plenty of land. It's a blank canvas on which we can design something new and innovative; something that will support a 21st century lifestyle while allowing a closer connection with our environment.
It is possible.
We could create a unique and modern form of the Australian outback that supports our obsession with technology while retaining balance with our surrounding environment. We will continue to support diversity in Australia. And we will protect areas (such as National Parks, and Indigenous and culturally-significant monuments and land) by ensuring they remain as untouched as possible.
For those who don't want to change anything and are reluctant to modernise, that's fine too. I believe in diversity in every part of society. It's my belief to design a formal and informal approach to a natural order of evolution, and in parts create a design from nature itself. Humans need something to manage in a day-to-day manner, and focusing on natural resources would be a great form of work. As a society, we will always have drama – it's what fuels us to improve. We need all opinions, from modernist to traditionalist, because it's always about finding that balance, that sweet spot. It's about looking to cater to both sides of the table, finding that support and the resistance and acknowledging both – not trying to overrule it!
So, we begin with new layers, slowly moving forward to notice both sides of every layer as well as its segments – whatever you want to call it, it's up to you!
I personally like the term 'layers'. It gives a sense of connection, with each layer being exactly where it's meant to be. It's just like how the earth was formed in its own time-frame, waiting for the next layer to come about, bringing the layers of life into order and disorder at the same time but with respect within the disorder. This compliments and reinforces a certain amount of strength to a bigger picture; every generation becomes smarter and smarter, society is becoming more aware of our surroundings and our environment, and by looking backwards from time to time it's similar to going back to the future!
The koala is no different – if anything, you focus on the koala's environment and you are also supporting the rest of the Australian native wildlife that follows underneath. We need to allow the koala to thrive, and we must do this by ensuring that humanity (and modern society) is not stunting their evolution. The best way forward for society needs to include species like the koala in both a formal and informal manner. This approach keeps the interest and education going; we learn as much from wildlife as wildlife learns from us by adapting to our way of urban life. We can learn too, but in a rural and bush way of life for the masses.
We must find a way to restore koala populations and their overall health, with the goal of having them, once again, return to their population status of 'Common'. This is only in certain parts of Queensland – they are deemed 'Threatened' or 'Vulnerable' in Victoria, SA and NSW.
To achieve this, we must begin viewing the koala in a different light, but also allow koala diversification so they can live and eat under different conditions – both natural and artificial. Having different programs allows us to see and experience them in different contexts, which moves us forward, but I would like the koala to be part of a project such as that proposed by the Clara Group. This would provide significant value in terms of commercial works for the Clara Group while also delivering long-term investment in the koala and providing a significant example of how society and nature can comfortably integrate as one.
So, like the way I conclude every theme:
- 1. Disruptive Innovation in the Koala Industry: Article 12
- 2. What's in the word 'Conservation': Article 24B
- 3. Big or best, can we do both: Article 36
- 4. And now, Vision.
I like to think that only a handful of articles were boring. I apologize for that, but I wasn't seeking big individual hits or likes, only to provide a better understanding of this industry as a whole. It has never, ever been spoken of in this way before. And yes, it's one person's interpretation and viewpoint, but to start a conversation our dialogue must be stripped bare!
So, for the fourth and last theme, Vision, I would like to highlight the work and effort of the men and women who worked, and continue to work, on the Barangaroo Project. The work behind the scenes would have been interesting and incredibly intense to say the least, but rewarding at the end!
https://www.barangaroo.com/the-project/progress/sustainability/
52 articles 4 themes 1 story www.koalaretreat.com
