BLUE MEETS GREEN: Review. Rethink. Reimagine.

How we design and manage water in our cities in a fast-changing climate is critical.

Since 2017, Blue Meets Green has brought together leading representatives from academia, government and industry to facilitate discussions that help us protect and improve our waterways as living natural entities. With rapid urbanisation, this challenge is only becoming greater.

This October 9, join AILA Victoria and Stormwater Victoria at Blue Meets Green where we’ll bring together landscape architects, water engineers and other allied professionals to learn from the past so that we can shape a greener future.

We’ll hear from Associate Professor Claire Farrell from the University of Melbourne, Senior Landscape Architect Kath Kok from Arup, learn more about the Upper Stony Creek transformation as a case study through project Landscape Architect Adrian Gray FRLA and Stuart Cleven from Alluvium Consulting and enjoy a panel discussion facilitated by Celeste Morgan from Arup, Q&A, and networking.

This event is organised by Stormwater Victoria and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ Victorian Chapter and hosted by Arup.

When: Thursday 9th October 2025, 5:00pm-8:30pm

Where: Arup, Sky Park, 1 Melbourne Quarter, 699 Collins St, Docklands

Tickets: $35 (for AILA and SV Members) and $45 (for Non-members)

SPEAKER BIOS:

Associate Professor Claire Farrell

Claire's research involves using plants to make cities more liveable through urban greening. As a plant scientist, her focus is on plant selection for survival and high-performance landscapes, including green roofs, facades, rain gardens and woody meadows. Claire has worked with a diverse range of state and local government organisations, landscape architects and other partners involved in urban greening policy and implementation. She leads the ARC linkage Woody Meadow Project which is transforming low maintenance plantings in Australian cities.

Adrian Gray AILA FRLA

Adrian Gray is a Registered Landscape Architect, Fellow of AILA, with over 20 years’ experience in local government delivering blue/green infrastructure that transform places and enhancing liveability. Adrian is currently the Manager Design & Technical Services at the City of Adelaide and before this was the Manager Urban Design at Brimbank City Council. Brimbank was recognised as a leader in the transformation of public space with 27 industry awards across Landscape Architecture, Planning, Urban Design, Parks & Leisure, Premier’s Sustainability Awards, Stormwater Victoria, and Keep Victoria Beautiful-Sustainable City Awards. Adrian was also the inaugural Chair of Greening The West and a past Victorian president for the AILA.

Stuart Cleven

Stuart is the practice lead for design and engineering practice at Alluvium Consulting Australia. He is an expert in providing stormwater engineering advice to the natural resource industry on best practice management for stormwater and waterway management works. With over 22 years of experience, Stuart has been involved in development of innovate water management solutions to help offset the impacts of urbanisation on the receiving environment in Australia. Stuart has been instrumental in the development and application of technical design and quality assurance guidelines, which he has applied to range of urban and rural designs for water authorities, Councils, CMA's and the private development industry.

Kath Kok

Kath is the Landscape Architecture lead at Arup and has worked across Australia, UK and MENA region. She has over 15 years’ experience in concept design to construction, across mixed-use development and infrastructure projects, heritage parks and gardens, landscape character assessments, urban guidelines, master plans and strategic planning allow her to comprehend the complexities of open space and its interfaces with multiple disciplines. Able to work seamlessly across scale and project types, Kath’s experience has led to a deep interest in the relationship of water and landscape and its potential for Blue, Green and Cool infrastructure, collaborative and integrated design with First Nations, designing with Nature and for biodiversity.

Celeste Morgan - Moderator

Celeste is Arup's Integrated Water Management leader for Australasia and has been working in shaping the IWM industry in Australia for over 20 years. Celeste brings together a unique blend of skills and experience in environmental engineering, urban design, sustainability and planning that gives her a unique appreciation of how water can shape liveability. She was recently named the Australian Water Professional of the Year.