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"Cultivate L.A. is a group of students in the Urban Planning Masters program over at UCLA that has spent the past year tracking down every bit of urban ag in L.A. County for a massive report and, perhaps more importantly, an extensive interactive map. To get some background into the project, I spoke to Rachel Surls, sustainable food systems advisor for UC's Cooperative Extension in L.A. County, and the students' "client" for this specific project."

"The Geelong Better Block is over and Jason Roberts, cofounder of The Better Block, has toured Australia and returned to the USA, so what now?  Was it just a ripple through our urban fabric or has the spirit of the Better Block inspired others to reclaim our streets on a more regular basis?"

"United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that the battle for global sustainability will be won or lost in the world's cities. Cities and urban areas are estimated to account for 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and more than half of the world's population live in them, so what we do in our urban centres will, to a large extent, define the future of our world. Governments are struggling to agree on action against climate change, but thankfully many city authorities are just getting on with tackling the problem as best they can. Element takes a look at what authorities in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch are expecting, how they are trying to minimise the damage and preparing for the worst, and how their plans shape up against those elsewhere."

IT'S a problem that besets every urban area: dodging dog droppings on the footpath. Now one town has come up with a clever way to keep doggie doo off its streets - and remind owners of their responsibilities. It sends the offending deposits back to the owners marked "Lost Property".

"From his own patch of turf in Coburg, Emilio Fuscaldo can see south all the way to the skyscrapers. The grass is on his roof. It's one of only a few residential green roofs in Melbourne. Mr Fuscaldo is the founder of Nest Architects; his motives were both private and public. ''It's incumbent on architects to practise what we preach. I wanted to show that you can devote a large percentage of your budget to sustainability,'' he says. ''You can compromise on other things, such as kitchens, cupboards and tiles, and still achieve a beautiful result.''"

Each week NASA's State of Flux website features images of different locations, showing the effects of climate change, urbanization, or natural hazards such as fires and floods. If you select the 'map view' option you can view a Google Map of all the locations so far covered. If you then select a marker on the map you can view two images of the location that have been taken at different times. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you can also find a number of links to browse the images by different categories, such as 'extreme events', 'human impacts' and 'top picks'.

"Most Australians overestimate how much they are doing for the environment compared to others, and are more concerned about water shortages, pollution and household waste than climate change, a new CSIRO survey reveals. Taken over a period of July to August last year, it is the latest in a series of annual national surveys on Australians' attitudes to climate change involving more than 5000 people from across urban, regional, and rural Australia. (You can read about past survey results here and here.)"

Moveo is a foldable bicycle-weight scooter that becomes an everyday commodity by its flexibility, its simple storage, security, comfort, aesthetics or its ease of recharging. It is easy to use; it is efficient even in crowded urban traffic. It operates silently, with minimum energy consumption and does not pollute the environment directly.

This course covers "Renewable energy - passive and active Greywater and rainwater catchment Soil regeneration and land restoration Food forests, trees, and garden design Urban apartment permaculture and more!"

"UB's SMB Campus is home to the Ballarat branch of the National Centre for Sustainability. The NCS provides educational leadership and works in partnership with industry, government and community. It undertakes program delivery, resource development, project work and applied research to support the development of sustainable practices. NCS staff with their knowledge and expertise are positioned to form strategic partnerships with industry, government and community, consulting and educating about sustainability. UB, through its innovation and regional community focus, is meeting the demands of the Western Victoria community in sustainability in the urban and natural environment."

This Blogspace is a collective of writers and is devoted to conversation about cities as ecological spaces…about the nature of cities.

"The ACFCGN is an informal, community-based organisation linking people interested in community gardening from around Australia."

Permacities came from the idea of creating social media games like FarmVille that instead of just wasting your money, actually taught you how to farm or kept you up to date with the movement.  A coworker of mine once commented on eco-utopian schemes and said, "Well, but what are they going to do about Los Angeles?" Permacities showcases things people are doing right now to upcycle existing environments into ecocities and ecovillages. The game was formerly known as Ecocity Now. We've changed the name to avoid confusion with other games and also to bring attention to permaculture principles of small scale interventions, working with nature, and focusing on both human and ecological needs. 

"One Central Park, a residential tower in Sydney expected to open this winter, has plants and vines climbing up its glass facade. Blanc told Dezeen: "The building, together with my vertical garden, will be an architectural work floating in the air, with plants growing on the walls - it will create a very special result that will be very new to Sydney.""

Asphalt paving was removed and replaced with "structural grass," rigid plastic honeycomb cells sprinkled with ordinary lawn seed and nurtured into green swaths. Concrete strips were embedded on two sides, creating a durable driving surface. Permeable brick pavers were installed in driveways and at the lane way entrances; these allow rain water to infiltrate between their joints and into the ground, reducing  run-off, the bane of municipal storm sewer systems. The effect is both practical and pleasing to the eye. No more cracked and potholed pavements. Traffic on the countrified lanes continues, but motorists must slow down to navigate the concrete driving strips. The grassed lane ways are cooler than asphalt in summer and they don't emit the dreaded "off-gassing." They have also passed the test of time; they still look fine, almost bucolic.