In my vision for the future the rooftops of Melbournes’s CBD are transformed from the current grey, concrete landscape into a quilt of fully vegetated, natural parks & gardens that are some of our city’s best-loved, most used features.

I am working right now to implement this vision. In February 2012, with Olivia Laskowski, I founded Do it on the Roof, a campaign which aimed to persuade building owners and facility managers in Melbourne’s CBD to create public, natural green roofs. Green roof technology is proven. Most of Melbourne’s rooftops are unutilized spaces. But the research demonstrating the financial benefits of green roofs in Australia has not been translated into commercial terms. Nor is anyone in Melbourne designing vegetated roofs which are natural in style, even though only natural green roofs realize the full benefits. Do it on the Roof translates research into green roof benefits into business cases tailored to the owners and facility managers of the buildings we identify as placed best to benefit from housing public green roofs. Secondly, Do it on the Roof provides conceptual designs for natural green roofs. Thirdly, we increase the financial benefits in creating natural green roofs by promoting green roofs to the public & running publicity campaigns.

In February, we ran a workshop at the Sustainable Living Festival. In March, I posed a question about how to catalyse the creation of green roofs on the online forum, Our Say. My question received the most votes, which meant I discussed it with Cnr Cathy Oke. In May, City of Melbourne invited Do it on the Roof to the Growing Green Guide launch & introduced us as the sector's leading community organization. In June CoM asked my question of leaders at Rio+20. Today, Do it on the Roof has a team of 15. We are becoming a consultancy partnership. The Victorian Government dept of Sustainability is writing a study of Do it on the Roof as an exemplar of economic opportunities in climate change adaptation.