Speaking & Media
Independent voices on urban development, community-led design, and the practical systems that shape Australian cities.
We speak from lived delivery across the ACT, NSW and Victoria — from small-footprint microforests to infill development, neighbourhood partnerships, and on-the-ground design and planning work. Our perspective is grounded in what succeeds in real settings and what fails. Audiences get clear, applicable insight into how small interventions and better systems can shift neighbourhoods, support climate resilience, and rebuild civic trust.
Edwina Robinson
Co-founder & Director Speaker Bio
Edwina has led over 25 years of design work in government and private practice. Her TEDx talk, Gardening Australia feature, and national media presence have positioned her as one of Australia’s leading voices on biodiversity, urban cooling, and community-driven greening.
She brings design credibility, ecological rigour, and a proven model for delivering nature into dense urban settings.
Topics- Designing biodiversity back into Australian cities
- Microforests as practical urban infrastructure
- Cooling suburbs through small-footprint ecological interventions
- Mobilising communities for long-term environmental stewardship
- What small sites can teach us about resilience
Mitch Porteous
Co-founder & CEO Speaker Bio
Mitch works across planning systems, housing delivery, and community-led urban projects. He speaks on how clearer planning, better partnerships, and small, well-designed interventions can unlock stronger neighbourhoods and more future-ready cities.
His work spans both greenfield and infill contexts across the ACT, including supporting estate developers on early delivery logic and advising on how planning settings shape real outcomes. He has also managed complex collaborative projects such as the Cohousing Canberra Demonstration Housing bid — the ACT’s largest cohousing initiative — giving him a practical view of how design, governance, and community involvement need to align for projects to succeed.
Mitch’s TEDx talk explored how cities can be built with communities rather than for them. Through his role as Co-founder and CEO of the Microforest Collective, he works at neighbourhood scale to support community leadership, rebuild civic trust, and show how small interventions can shift the way places grow and adapt.
His perspective is grounded in lived delivery: what helps projects move, what slows them down, and how clearer systems and shared leadership can make planning and development work better for everyone.
Topics
- How microforests fit into modern planning and development
- Community-led delivery models that reduce project risk
- Rebuilding civic trust in the built environment
- Nature-based infrastructure for practical climate resilience
- Partnerships, philanthropy, and long-term systems change
We speak to conferences, policy forums, planners, developers, government teams, and civic institutions seeking grounded, practical insight.
Featured by:
Mitch and Edwina have delivered TEDx Canberra talks and regularly speak on planning, development, ecological design, and community-led city-building.
Speaking request
Use this form to enquire about booking Edwina or Mitch for a talk, panel, workshop, or media appearance.
