Return to the garden: the unexpected emotional value of nature in cities. With Professor Nigel Dunnett, Michael McCoy and Jon Hazelwood

*ENCORE EPISODE* Nature in our cities.  If you're paying attention you'll notice the effect it's having on you. The slowed heart rate, a stolen moment to notice flickering leaves, buzzing insects, birds landing.

Those designed-for, natural moments in our cities aren't in stasis - they're constantly changing and also spontaneous, influencing how we move through our cities, how we use them - and how they give back to us.

In this season of Hassell Talks we've heard how spontaneous experiences are often behind the connections that bring people together; how designing in response to the perceptions of safety in rail precincts can help to encourage greater use by women, girls and the gender diverse; what workplaces need to do to become more 'magnetic'; and how listening, reflecting and learning from First Nations partners creates more inclusive experiences and connections.

In this encore episode we revisit one of our most loved conversations from earlier in our catalogue, exploring a topic that's just as relevant as ever: the significance of our emotional connections to nature in cities - and the power it has to bring people together.

Episode host, the Landscape designer, writer and gardener Jon Hazelwood is joined by writer, garden designer and TV presenter Michael McCoy as well as Professor Nigel Dunnett, responsible for some of the UK’s most spectacular planted environments like the Barbican, Buckingham Palace’s Diamond Garden and the planting designs for the London Olympic park (with his colleague James Hitchmough).

We know you'll enjoy hearing how the creation of magical experiences in our cities has the power to profoundly move, connect and bring people together.

Parts of this episode were recorded on the lands of the Gadigal people, and produced on Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung land, in Naarm.