How nature can strengthen Greater Sydney’s flood resilience

Discover how nature-based solutions can be integrated into urban and coastal planning to build resilience and improve ecological health whilst balancing competing demands for land use. Learn from successful projects, understand the challenges, and explore practical strategies to implement these solutions at scale.

How can nature-based solutions transform flood risk management in Greater Sydney? Join the Sydney Environment Institute, Committee for Sydney, and AECOM for an exclusive preview of an upcoming report shaped by insights from diverse stakeholders, that explores the potential of green and blue infrastructure to address growing climate challenges. Hear from experts across civil society, industry, government, and research as they share insights into how nature-based solutions can be integrated into urban and coastal planning, building resilience, and improving ecological health. Discover practical strategies, learn from successful projects, and contribute to shaping a safer, more sustainable future for Greater Sydney.

Greater Sydney faces severe flooding risks as seen in the recent Hawkesbury-Nepean floods, with increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events threatening lives and livelihoods. While decarbonisation remains critical, resilience and adaptation strategies are equally vital. Nature-based solutions offer a compelling path forward, addressing flood risks while enhancing biodiversity and supporting ecosystems. By protecting, restoring, or sustainably managing ecosystems, nature-based solutions tackle both the climate and ecological crises creating safer and more sustainable cities.

This event provides an exclusive preview of an upcoming report that engaged with diverse stakeholders to understand how green and blue infrastructure can transform flood risk management in Greater Sydney. The panel discussion brings together experts from civil society, private industry, government, and research to discuss findings and share insights from their fields. Join us after the discussion for some light refreshments.

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with thought leaders, contribute to the conversation, and help shape a resilient and sustainable future for Greater Sydney.

Speakers

Chair: Sam Kernaghan is Director of Resilience Program at the Committee for Sydney. Over the past 20 years, Sam has worked with more than 50 cities across Asia, Oceania and the USA to build community, infrastructure and institutional resilience to shocks and stresses – risks that are being intensified by climate change, urbanisation and globalisation. Sam has led the development and implementation of climate and disaster resilience programs with the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities, the Asian Development Bank, and with State Governments from New York to NSW. At global design consultancy Arup, Sam was instrumental in designing and testing resilience frameworks including the city resilience index with the Rockefeller Foundation and characteristics of safe and resilient communities with the International Red Cross.

Nick Chapman is a Resilience Specialist at Willoughby City Council and a member of the Committee for Sydney’s Resilience Policy Council. An environmental scientist by training, Nick has focused recently on place management, community resilience building and urban sustainability research and teaching. He is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre, teaches regularly at UTS and is a member of the Industry Advisory Board for UTS’s School of the Built Environment. For 7 years Nick was Place Manager at Inner West Council for the award-winning Cooks River to Iron Cove GreenWay- a $60 million multi-purpose urban green corridor due for completion in late 2025. Nick is passionate about implementing affordable, practical approaches to enhance community connections, sustainable living and community resilience in rapidly changing urban environments. He is motivated by the need to “think global, act local” and “don’t get angry, get involved”!

Dan Penny is a Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney. His research ranges from environmental histories of the global tropics, particularly mainland Southeast Asia and central America, through to Australian based environmental reconstructions. He applies expertise in palaeo-botany and sedimentology to document the response of ecosystems to climatic variability and human activities over long periods of time. Funded by the Sydney Environment Institute, Dan has been working on a project that investigates the regulations and environmental history of the Botany Wetlands, a 4.5 km corridor of degraded freshwater wetlands and native woodland habitats in Sydney's inner east. The project provides authorities with a roadmap for the sustainable management and restoration of the wetlands, which filter stormwater runoff, accommodate floodwater, benefit human health, and host rare and endangered ecological communities.

Alice Simpson-Young is a Principal Sustainability and Resilience Consultant at AECOM, with over eight years of experience in local and state government, consulting, and community engagement. She specialises in resilience, climate adaptation, and disaster risk reduction, helping to address the complex challenges posed by climate change and its impacts. Alice has a strong background in developing and implementing resilience strategies. At Resilient Sydney, she worked on delivering initiatives under the Resilient Sydney Strategy, focusing on urban resilience and building community capacity to withstand disruptions. At Infrastructure NSW, she co-authored key chapters of the 2022 State Infrastructure Strategy, including those on resilience, Net Zero, Aboriginal outcomes, and environmental sustainability. She has also contributed to the reconstruction and adaptation efforts in the Northern Rivers region, following the 2022 floods, through her work with Infrastructure NSW and AECOM, in partnership with the NSW Government. An Antarctic Youth Ambassador and academic co-author on extreme heat and urban resilience, Alice is committed to advancing equity and environmental justice in her work.

Sarah Tasic is Assistant Director Disaster Risk Management at the NSW Reconstruction Authority and is leading the implementation of Action 22 of the NSW State Disaster Mitigation Plan which focuses on nature-based measures. Sarah has over 20 years’ experience in resilience and sustainable development within governments at all levels and private sector clients throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe. As a qualified urban planner, she has expertise in strategic planning for resilience and sustainable development, land use and infrastructure integration, plan/program/project appraisal and benefits realisation, strategic impact modelling and reporting, sustainability and economic modelling and appraisal, and stakeholder and community engagement.

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