Story: Greenspacing with Beauty and Utility
Episode: 5
Presenter: Simon Holloway
Air Date: 5 April 2025

Palm Island is embracing green initiatives that blend thoughtful landscaping with community engagement, improving public spaces and promoting well-being through a deep connection to nature.

• Palm Island’s community is working together with leaders, elders, and progressive designers to enhance public spaces with purposeful and sensitive green initiatives that benefit both the environment and the people.
• The key to creating vibrant and successful public spaces on Palm Island lies in the thoughtful application of horticulture and landscaping, which is proven to improve both the aesthetic and social value of parks and communal areas.
• Kate Coenen, founder of Living Sense, emphasizes the importance of ‘therapeutic landscaping’—designing parks and gardens to enhance well-being by promoting connection with nature, a practice valued by the local Bgcolwmn people for generations.
• From beautifying parks and walkways to designing more active areas like sporting ovals and BBQ spaces, green design on Palm Island aims to integrate beauty and functionality for community engagement and physical activity.
• The Palm Island council’s engagement in green planning signals growth for the island’s public spaces, laying the foundation for a future that embraces both environmental sustainability and community development.
• Studies show that connecting with nature has tangible benefits for human well-being, supporting the ongoing efforts on Palm Island to create spaces where the community can thrive through meaningful interaction with the land.

For more information, head to:
www.palmcouncil.qld.gov.au/