Dr Meredith Dobbie spent nine days in September participating in Ilots d’Eau, a co-design workshop conducted by staff from the Faculty of Architecture la Cambre Horta of the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, and Cosmopolis Centre for Urban Research of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in collaboration with the NGOs Les Etats Generaux de L’Eau de Bruxelles and Latitude Platform.

Meredith, a researcher with Cities as Water Supply Catchments – Society and Institutions (Project A4.1), presented to the workshop on the transition to sustainable stormwater management in Melbourne and community perceptions of raingardens, an important component leading to landscape change in that transition.

The Forest project involves a group of postgraduate students working with residents of two ilots (residential apartment blocks) to develop flood prevention strategies by delaying entry of rainwater to overloaded sewers or by capturing and storing rainwater.

Strategies to overcome local flooding events included reintroducing fountains and pools in public spaces, constructing wetlands in the parklands of the Abbaye adjoining one ilot, establishing vegetated swales along roads and paths, installing guttering along walls dividing private gardens within each ilot to redirect rainwater to private or communal cisterns, and disconnection of downpipes to divert rainwater to raingardens, cisterns or street tree pits.

A modified version of the community engagement tool Map-It was used with great success at the two consultation sessions with the residents, the first session to develop the design ideas and the second to assess the design proposal. The design proposal has since been presented to the Brussels Environment Agency.

Internal space of an ilot, with many private gardens separated by high walls
Participants at a co-design workshop, discussing a water management proposal in Forest, Brussels.
Last updated: 21st Oct 2015