We have just been awarded a prestigious Discovery grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC) to explore ways of developing sustainable urban communities. Humans are an increasingly urban species, with most of us now living in towns and cities separated from direct experiences of the natural world. This project aims to understand and avert this ‘extinction of experience’ so that we can grow Australia’s cities sustainably into the future.

The successful proposal was submitted by Richard Fuller in collaboration with Prof Kevin Gaston, director of the Environment and Sustainability Institute at the University of Exeter, Prof Robert Bush, from UQ’s Healthy Communities Research Centre, and Dr Brenda Lin from the CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship. A total of $430,000 over three years will be provided by the ARC to undertake the research, which will focus on how changes in urban biodiversity affect health.