Foyer Expo
An interactive foyer expo will be held from 5.00pm to 6.15pm on Level 1 of Hilton Adelaide, so come along for hands on gardening and landscaping advice from:

Sophie Thomson – Signed copies of Sophie’s new book ‘From the Ground Up’ will be available for purchase on the night.
Backyards for Wildlife
Sustainable Landscapes
FauNature
Trees for Life
UniSA
mcgregor+partners
Jeffries
The Food Forest
SA Water
Department for Planning & Local Government
Adelaide & Mount Lofty NRM Board
Nursery & Garden Industry SA
SA Composters
Bushbank SA
Coromandel Native Nursery

Display Garden Built Live on the Night!
Looking for ways to bring back vegetation into the city’s concrete jungle and your patch at home? Green roofs and living walls could be the answer.

Resident green roof architect, Graeme Hopkins, will show us just how easy it is to apply this technology at home (and on a realistic budget!) with the building of a display garden on Hilton Adelaide’s pool deck.

Live footage of the garden’s construction will be streamed into the Grand Ballroom throughout the panel discussion, and Graeme will join us just in time for audience questions.

Graeme Hopkins is the Principal Urban Designer (Metro) with the Department of Planning and Local Government, Adjunct Associate Professor with the University of Adelaide and a registered Landscape Architect.

Graeme’s particular focus is on developing a sustainable urban environment, including using natural systems and enhancing ecological habitats.

Sophie has educated, entertained and inspired South Australia's gardening community and aspiring green thumbs for more than eleven years. As South Australia’s resident ABC Gardening Australia presenter and author of the newly released gardening guide ‘From the Ground Up’, Sophie has all the practical advice you need to create your eco-garden masterpiece. Sophie will show us just how easy it is to create a climate compatible garden that reflects who you are, where you are, and how you want to live - even for those of us that missed out on the ‘green thumb’!

How do we create a greener and more liveable future for Adelaide? Renowned eco-architect and Adelaide expat Joshua believes urban design holds the key. As landscape architect and in-house sustainability facilitator for Sydney firm mcgregor+partners, Joshua pushes the parameters of traditional design to deliver rich and imaginative places that exceed current environmental objectives. One such project is Green Square, a former industrial zone outside Sydney’s CBD that is being transformed into a revolutionary eco village. The $1.7-billion project will eventually house 5500 residents and 7000 workers, and has been dubbed one of Australia’s largest urban renewal projects. Joshua’s big-picture lens will help us see how the design of our city can make or break us in this uncertain social, economic and environmental climate – and the steps we can take to secure our future.

As Professor of Urban Ecology at the University of South Australia and Director of the Barbara Hardy Centre for Sustainable Urban Environments, Chris knows all about biodiversity and the natural processes that sustain life. He is one of South Australia’s leading science communicators, capturing the imagination of people of all ages. Chris will show us why urban biodiversity conservation and restoration is as important as ever as we head into increasingly tough economic times - and how your garden can make a contribution.

With a background in natural resource management, education and communication, Sheryn is the powerhouse behind the Department for Environment & Heritage Sustainable Landscapes program. Launched in July 2004, Sustainable Landscapes has seen more than 30 sites across Adelaide and regional South Australia transform into healthy and resilient demonstration gardens. Each garden is designed to reflect the functions and processes of the natural landscape, helping it to endure over the long term without the need for high input of scare resources such as water. Sheryn will demonstrate how to apply the design principles behind the program in your backyard to create your very own sustainable landscape.