We could improve the economic performance and quality of life for everyone within our communities if we started to integrate informal settlements into the design of our cities, if we stopped choosing to develop our cities without designing for all economic classes, such wasted assets....

We could improve the economic performance and quality of life for everyone within our communities if we started to integrate informal settlements and low income housing and services into the design of our cities, if we stopped choosing to develop our cities without designing for all economic classes, such wasted assets....

See the wasted assets of our current city developments here

Free access for 50 days to new journal paper on workers' preference for working in natural environments over typical workspaces for a diverse range of work activities, by Symbiosis Principal Giancarlo Mangone

                                Worker Performance Microforest integrated into office building atrium


Elsevier is providing free access to Symbiosis Principal Giancarlo Mangone's new journal paper on workers' preference for working in natural environments over typical workspaces for a diverse range of work activities, until April 18, 2017. 64 knowledge workers in The Netherlands were found to prefer working in different types of natural environments for a diverse range of work activities. Typical work spaces were preferred for several work activities, although they were the minority. These results indicate workers prefer a more diverse range of workspaces than are currently provided in office buildings, and that nature integrated workspace types and spatial qualities can be beneficial for conducting a range of work activities, depending on the design of the workspace. These research findings support Prof. Mangone's research and work in integrating microforests into workspaces to improve occupant work performance, well-being, and happiness, while reducing their stress and providing economic benefits to building owners.

Join Symbiosis Principal Giancarlo Mangone at the Institue of Sustainable Urbanism at TU Braunschweig, Germany at 5:30pm on Feb 21st, for a lecture on how to develop EPC sustainable communities that improve the local economy, ecology, and quality of the community in the W. European context

Join Prof. Giancarlo Mangone at the Institute of Sustainable Urbanism at TU Braunschweig, Germany at 5:30pm on Feb. 21st for a lecture and follow-up discussion on how to develop ecologically positive communities [EPC] in the Western European context, and how that compares with EPC solutions in North and Latin American contexts. Ecologically positive communities are sustainable communities that improve the local economy, ecology, and quality of the community.

How can nature be brought into cities in ways that reduce municipal costs while providing new economic opportunities for the local community, all while improving community health + well-being, & improving local ecosystems? Join Symbiosis Principal Giancarlo Mangone's lecture + talking panel at the international Naturescene symposium at Canada's Museum of Nature Nov. 9th

Worker Performance Microforest Atrium by Giancarlo Mangone

Innovative urban nature integration design strategies can provide diverse economic, social, and ecological benefits that reduce municipal costs while providing new economic opportunities for the local community, all while improving the health and well-being of community members, as well as the health of local ecosystems. Learn about these innovative, cost effective solutions at the international Naturescene symposium  Canada's Museum of Nature on Nov. 9th during Prof. Mangone's lecture and international expert panel discussion.

This event will also feature the public release of Prof. Mangone's 'Performative Microforest' design series - Come out and join the discussion!

Symbiosis Principal Giancarlo Mangone lectures on how to develop EPC sustainable communities that improve the local economy, ecology, and quality of the community for Ottawa Architecture Week, Friday 6pm

Giancarlo Mangone will discuss how to develop sustainable communities that improve the local economy, ecology, and quality of the community, Ecologically Positive Communities,  as part of Ottawa Architecture Week, Friday 6pm, at 55 Metcalfe St (Manulife Place), Suite 420.

What are the maximum economic, social, and ecological benefits that can be achieved by integrating nature into cities? Symbiosis Principal Giancarlo Mangone presents the potential benefits of existing and innovative urban natural environment integration strategies at the EAEE 2016 conference in Lisbon

Existing urban natural integration strategies tend to be ineffective at generating economic, ecological, and social benefits to local communities, compared to the potential benefits that natural environments can provide. Symbiosis Principal Giancarlo Mangone presents an investigation of the potential benefits of different types of existing urban natural environment integration strategies, such as landscapes and building integrated natural environments, as well as the potential benefits of a more innovative, integrated urban natural environment type that can have substantially greater ecological value. Learn more at his presentation on June 16^th at the EAEE/ARCC 2016 conference in Lisbon, Portugal

Symbiosis Principal Giancarlo Mangone proposes a more effective sustainable building design method and offers an innovative, highly effective sustainable building design solution in his recent journal paper, Constructing hybrid infrastructure

Building developments can be significantly more sustainable than those that are currently being developed. Moreover, building developments can play a significant role in developing sustainable communities, as well as resolving the negative global ecological impacts that human communities have on natural ecosystems that are endangering the ability of human communities to survive and thrive in the coming century. However, more innovative and rigorous design solutions are needed to achieve these goals.

Symbiosis Principal Giancarlo Mangone proposes a more ambitious and effective method for design teams to evaluate the ecological performance (sustainableness) of buildings, in his recently published double blind peer reviewed journal paper, Constructing hybrid infrastructure: Exploring the potential ecological, social, and economic benefits of integrating municipal infrastructure into constructed environments. His research indicates that incorporating municipal infrastructure systems into buildings and landscapes, as hybrid infrastructure, can be particularly effective ecologically, while providing a number of unique social and economic benefits as well.

Read more within the currently freely accessible journal publication (until July 8, 2016), via this weblink : http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1T3lqy5jORXbc