Today, we celebrate the incredible diversity of life on our planet and the urgent need to protect it. 🐾🌳☀️🌍🌻
At EDL, we create evidence-based solutions for sustainability, redefining our relationship to nature in the city. As a design advocacy and research studio @tmusurp , we specialize in landscape connectivity practices, biodiversity recovery, and climate resilience. This World Wildlife Day, we’re excited to highlight two of our recent projects to inspire and advance climate action, support wildlife and enhance biodiversity across urban spaces: the Safe Passage project, and the Bylaws for Biodiversity project.
This year’s theme: Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet, reminds us of the importance of investing in long-term conservation strategies through strong research-informed policies and landscape connectivity infrastructure, that help protect urban ecosystems and make cities safer for both people and wildlife.
On this #WorldWildlifeDay, join us and take action - whether it’s supporting local conservation efforts, raising awareness, or simply appreciating the wildlife in our backyards and gardens. 🦋🐦🐜🪴
#EcologicalDesign #InvestInNature #BiodiversityMatters #WildlifeConservation #UrbanEcology #SustainableCities #ClimateResilience #GreenInfrastructure #NatureBasedSolutions #BylawsForBiodiversity #SaveWildlife #ProtectOurPlanet #EnvironmentalPolicy #WildlifeCorridors #UrbanWildlife #HabitatRestoration #SustainableFuture #SafePassage #WildWays #ConservationFinance #ResilientCities #NatureInTheCity
UPCOMING COMMUNITY WORKSHOP! Create Nature-Inspired Bird-Safe Window Decals ✨🌿🐦
Did you know that more than 25 million birds die from window collisions in Canada each year? Prince Edward County is an important stopover for migrating birds, making bird-safe design critical to protecting local biodiversity.
Join internationally acclaimed artist Iris Häussler and landscape architect Victoria Taylor for a hands-on workshop exploring bird-safe gardens and window design. You’ll learn all about how birds perceive reflections in glass and create your own decorative vinyl window decals inspired by foliage, bark, fractal light, Art Nouveau patterns, and geometric forms. Each person will leave with their own bird-safe window decal creation to take home!
📅 Sunday, May 31, 2026
⏰ 1–4 PM
📍 County Arts Lab, Unit 2E, Picton Armoury Building
👥 Ages 18+
The afternoon includes a short sketching and photography walk through Delhi Park to observe patterns in nature through a bird’s perspective. Along the way, you’ll also learn about:
🌱 Native shrubs that support birds and biodiversity
🪟 Why reflective glass is dangerous for migrating birds
🎨 Creative DIY bird-safe window treatments and designs
Spaces are limited! Mark your calendars and register today through the Link in Our Bio!
@birdsafetmu@flapcanada@featherfriendly@nmlister@countyarts@iris.haeussler@vtla_studio
#BirdSafe #BirdConservation #CommunityWorkshop
#BirdSafeCity #BirdArt
You made it to the end of the week! 👏 As we wrap up things up, we’re closing out our Safe Passages Impact Report campaign with a closer look at the people and ideas behind the work 🙌
To mark this final feature, this week we’re highlighting the case study on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing. Last October, EDL sat down with Beth Pratt ahead of LA’s Urban Wildlife Week and the 10th anniversary of P-22 Day to reflect on the lasting impacts of the Liberty Canyon CoLab. Beth and EDL Lab Manager Sabrina Careri discussed how the CoLab influenced the project, as well as the mission and longer-term ambition of the Wildlife Crossing Fund, and how it builds on the success of the WAWC 😮
And last week, we got the biggest update yet! The WAWC now has a completion date: December 2, and we will be there! Revealed at an Earth Day press conference held atop the structure spanning 10 lanes of Highway 101, Beth announced this major step forward for the project. When complete, the crossing will support wildlife movement across one of California’s busiest corridors, helping address habitat fragmentation and genetic isolation in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Learn more about the WAWC, Beth’s reflections on the CoLab process, and how she sees it can inform future Wildlife Crossing Fund projects, in our Safe Passages Impact Report, right at the Link in Our Bio!
@nmlister@sagadogfan@sabricareri@arc.solutions@yosemitebethy@p22mountainlion@rockdesignassociates@y2y_initiative@nationalwildlife@tmusurp@fcstorontomet@theerobertrock
#SafePassages #WildlifeCrossing #UrbanEcology #LandscapeArchitecture #DesignResearch #ClimateResilience
NEW ArcGIS StoryMap published by the Canadian Geographic!! Exploring wildlife crossings across Canada as bridges of hope in fragmented landscapes, with Prof Lister and the EDL 😮🌿🐾
Wildlife crossings are reshaping how we think about infrastructure, ecology, and connectivity across cities and Canada’s busy highway networks. This new ArcGIS StoryMap explores a range of wildlife crossing infrastructure projects around the country from large highway overpasses to smaller culverts, that are restoring ecological connectivity through design and research. The StoryMap includes interactive maps, data, and imagery.
The piece also features insights from EDL Director Prof. Nina-Marie Lister, who offers four ways to understand wildlife crossings: as nature-positive infrastructure, as stories of reconnection, as investments in public health, and as local responses to the global biodiversity crisis. Together, these perspectives expand how we value and design for more-than-human movement across landscapes.
For more on how crossings from small culverts to arching landscaped overpass bridges plays a critical role in connectivity and species conservation, visit the Link in Our Bio for direct access to the StoryMap.
@nmlister@arc.solutions@cangeo@y2y_initiative
#WildlifeCrossings #EcologicalDesign #LandscapeConnectivity #Biodiversity #LandscapeArchitecture
How can cities deliver high-performing park systems under increasing environmental and economic pressure?
We have a NEW STUDIO REPORT now live on our website! As urban areas face rising challenges from heat and flooding to land scarcity, PARKS+ reframes parks as critical infrastructure that supports climate resilience and community health and well-being. Developed within the context of Toronto, the project introduces a Civic Endowment Fund for nature, linking long-term financing with measurable ecological and social outcomes.
This work was developed by six MPI graduate students in PL8110: Advanced Planning Studio at TMU SURP, supervised by Prof. Lister. Throughout the term, the team developed the PARKS+ model for the creation of park systems that are abundant, accessible, biodiverse, and connected!
To learn how this framework can guide decision-making, balance development pressures, and ensure parks remain functional and resilient as cities grow, visit the full project at the Link in Our Bio.
@nmlister@tmugraduate@tmusurp@fcstorontomet
#UrbanPlanning #DesignStudio #GraduateStudio #ParksPlanning #EcologicalDesign
What could the future of wildlife crossings look like with new materials and innovative design approaches?
We’re back with another Safe Passages Project CoLab spotlight! This week, we’re highlighting: The Montana CoLab: Exploring Fibre-Reinforced Plastic Bridges for Wildlife
Hyalite Canyon Road and Bozeman Pass in Montana present critical opportunities for planned and future wildlife crossings. However, while wildlife overpasses are proven to reduce collisions, improve motorist safety, and support ecological connectivity, their high cost has limited widespread implementation. To address this, EDL, alongside ARC Solutions, the Western Transportation Institute, and Montana State University, led an integrated, inter-professional CoLab exploring how fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bridge technologies could offer a more innovative, adaptable, and cost-effective alternative to conventional materials.
CoLab participants explored how FRP could be integrated into wildlife crossing designs, while also identifying the policy, administrative, and regulatory pathways needed to support adoption at federal, state, and local levels. The outcomes illustrate how adapting FRP bridges and structures into effective wildlife crossings can contribute to the long-term goals of improving motorist safety, wildlife conservation, and cost efficiency! These insights were also published in a scientific journal following the CoLab.
Want to learn more about the ideas and innovations that emerged from the Montana CoLab? Visit the Link In Our Bio for direct access to our recently published Safe Passages Impact Report!
@nmlister@arc.solutions@montanastateuniversity
#SafePassages #Montana #WildlifeCrossings #InfrastructureInnovation #SustainableDesign
Happy Earth Day everyone! How is nature taking shape in urban landscapes in Toronto?
From a once-overlooked laneway to a growing network of native plant gardens supporting bees, butterflies, birds, and urban biodiversity, today’s piece in the Canadian Press highlights how a small, community-led intervention in our city has grown into a connected ecological corridor that restores biodiversity, strengthens climate resilience, and reimagines how cities support humans and urban wildlife.
Did you know we have an entire published paper on rewilding? In it, we explore how rewilding initiatives on private lands can connect urban ecological networks, while supporting human wellbeing through new human–nature relationships. The paper centers on a pivotal case study in Ontario: Hillcrest Meadow, a rewilded habitat garden in west-midtown Toronto, which served as the catalyst for our national Bylaws for Biodiversity project.
To gain access to our evidence-based recommendations for future practice and policy that supports biodiversity, or for direct access to the article, visit the Link in Our Bio!
@cdnpress
#EarthDay #Rewilding #UrbanNature #Gardening #Toronto
The snow is melting… time to start thinking of what’s been sleeping under that snow!
Effective gardening practices play a crucial role in cultivating a healthy garden. While many gardeners are familiar with more common advantageous techniques (e.g., how to remove invasive species), there are also a variety of lesser-known practices that significantly improve sustainability, enhance biodiversity, and ensure long-term ecosystem health. This a compiled list of our top 10 favorite underrated good gardening practices:
What does integrated green infrastructure look like in a rapidly growing city like Edmonton?
It’s almost the weekend! Which means it’s time to spotlight another Safe Passages Project CoLab. This week, we’re highlighting: The Calgary CoLab: Towards Integrated Green Infrastructure Design
Riverview and Decoteau are developing neighbourhoods located in the southwest of Edmonton. These areas represent key urbanizing landscapes with opportunities to enhance ecological connectivity within the city’s larger green network, while also addressing population growth and pressures. EDL was invited by Grant Pearsell (at the time, Director of Urban Analysis at the City of Edmonton) to facilitate an interdepartmental and community CoLab to review and respond to the planning and design for Riverview and Decoteau to identify potential landscape design approaches that facilitate the planning and implementation of ecological connectivity enhancements within Edmonton’s urban matrix and ecological network.
The Edmonton CoLab explored streetscape design elements, ecological connectivity and biodiversity, and at-grade solutions such as ecological greenways and corridors, as well as wildlife movement, and green and blue infrastructure, producing an overall spatial design concept and recommended policy objectives. By engaging in the CoLab process, the city of Edmonton was able to exchange insights with practitioners and identify emerging approaches and strategies to advance resilient city building.
Want to learn more about the connectivity insights that emerged from the Edmonton CoLab? Visit the Link In Our Bio for direct access to our recently published Safe Passages Impact Report!
#SafePassages #Edmonton #UrbanConnectivity #GreenInfrastructure #UrbanPlanning
In case you missed it! Canada's new strategy to protect nature! 🌳🌎🌊🐞
Last week, PM Carney announced “A Force of Nature: Canada’s Strategy to Protect Nature,” a $3.8 billion national initiative to deliver Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy, aimed at protecting 30% of Canada’s lands and waters by 2030. The strategy frames nature as essential to human well-being, economic prosperity, and long-term resilience, and is focused on expanding protected areas, strengthening Indigenous leadership, and mobilizing investment for conservation.
This strategy builds on the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in 2022 at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montréal, which set in motion a global commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The 30x30 target (protecting 30% of land and oceans by 2030) is one of the central targets. Through this coordinated national strategy -- built on three pillars and deepened through partnerships with Indigenous Peoples, governments, industry, investors, and communities -- Canada aims to advance this goal.
Nature-based solutions are essential tools for flood mitigation, heat reduction, biodiversity recovery, and climate-resilient cities. While cities across Canada continue to debate and weaken environmental protections and green infrastructure policies, this federal direction reinforces the importance of ecological systems as urban infrastructure and the need to move toward integrating nature as socio-ecological design approaches that better support large-scale biodiversity and resilience outcomes.
As climate pressures continue to grow, nature-positive cities are foundational to how livable and resilient urban landscapes are designed and built. Learn more about how this plan is protecting nature and sustaining critical ecological services for human and environmental health and well-being right at the Link in Our Bio.
#ClimateResilience #30x30 #UrbanPlanning #GreenInfrastructure #NatureBasedSolutions
How do you design infrastructure that helps wildlife safely cross one of Canada’s busiest highways?
It’s officially Friday! Which means it’s time to spotlight another Safe Passages Project CoLab. This week, we’re highlighting: The Calgary CoLab: Design Innovation for Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure at the Trans-Canada Highway
The Peter Lougheed Wildlife Overpass is located along one of the busiest stretches of the TransCanada Highway and represents the country’s first large-scale vegetated wildlife overpass built outside a national park. This area is rich in wildlife, consequently making it a hotspot for wildlife vehicle collisions. As a result, DIALOG was engaged by Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors to design the new overpass structure for mitigation. EDL, along with ARC Solutions, was then invited by the team at DIALOG to lead an interprofessional CoLab with the purpose to guide and inform the design.
The Peter Lougheed Wildlife Overpass officially opened in July 2025. The Calgary CoLab helped to inform the project directly, presenting a series of recommendations for the design, communication, procurement, and overall process of the final wildlife crossing infrastructure. By directly extending the Banff wildlife corridor system eastward, the crossing was purposely-designed to allow wildlife to safely cross the TransCanada Highway, and has become a global model for restoring ecological connectivity.
Want to learn more about connectivity infrastructure for wildlife mobility in Bow River Valley and the collaborative process that shaped this project? Visit the Link In Our Bio for direct access to our recently published Safe Passages Impact Report!
@arc.solutions@dialogdesign@nmlister
#SafePassages #LandscapeConnectivity #GreenInfrastructure #WildlifeCrossing #Biodiversity
How can we design connected landscapes to support ecological systems for more resilient, accessible, and livable cities?
It’s the end of the week! Which means it’s time to spotlight another Safe Passages Project CoLab. This week, we’re highlighting a CoLab close to home: The Toronto CoLab: A way forward for a complex multi-use trail - the Meadoway
Stretching 16 km between Rouge National Urban Park and downtown Toronto, the Meadoway Project reimagines underutilized greenspace as a connected, active transportation corridor and community gathering place. While it represents just a small portion of the region’s hydrological corridor lands, it serves as a critical starting point for establishing a broader, connected network of over 4,200 acres across the Toronto region.
Using an integrated approach, the Toronto CoLab presented the TRCA with considerations pertaining to two main themes: uses and landscape typologies, and reconnecting landscapes. By engaging in the CoLab process, the project team gained a deeper understanding on how the Meadoway will exemplify design excellence, engineering innovation, and overall quality and effectiveness of greenspace revitalization. These insights then directly informed the creation of the Meadoway Visualization Toolkit, which serves as the guiding document for implementation.
Want to learn more about the future of this connected network of parks, trails, and ravines, and the collaborative process shaping the Meadoway Project? Visit the Link In Our Bio for direct access to our recently published Safe Passages Impact Report!
@trca_hq@trca_trails@perkinswill@perkinswill_ont@nmlister
#SafePassages #TheMeadoway #UrbanConnectivity #GreenInfrastructure #CityBuilding #ClimateResilience #Biodiversity
