53 voices.
21 countries.
6 continents.
3 stages.
1 day.
On 24 September, more than 50 voices from 21 countries and six continents came together for the fourth edition of the Biophilia Summit, exploring this year’s theme: Biophilia in Practice: Sensing · Belonging · Regenerating.
Across three stages — CANOPY, BIOTOPE and HABITAT — the programme brought together architects, designers, researchers, educators, community practitioners, artists, ecologists and other voices working to rethink our relationship with the living world.
What stood out was not one definition of biophilia, but the sheer variety of ways people are already putting it into practice.
Making nature something we can experience
A strong thread throughout the Summit was the idea that biophilia goes far beyond adding plants or creating a visual connection to greenery.
On the BIOTOPE Stage, research explored how we can understand and measure ecological systems more carefully, from carbon in urban forests to the way soundscapes influence how we experience a space. Other presentations looked at cities as shared habitats, drawing on traditional ecological knowledge and approaches that see water, biodiversity, people and place as interconnected.
The research was paired with practical examples. Sound was being used to create more comfortable and engaging environments. Natural systems were being studied, measured and translated into design decisions. Ecological processes were being made more visible and understandable.
These approaches show that sensing nature can be much more active than simply looking at it. It can involve sound, temperature, air, water, material, movement and the changing conditions of a place.
From spaces with nature to spaces that support life
There were also some fantastic examples of what happens when we stop thinking about nature as something a building contains and start thinking about the building as part of a wider living system.
The Eden Project work presented on CANOPY was a great example. Across Cornwall, Qingdao and Morecambe, the projects respond to very different landscapes and local stories rather than applying one universal model. The architecture becomes a way of making ecological systems visible, creating opportunities for learning and connecting people with the particular character of each place.
Elsewhere, speakers shared projects that transformed small, overlooked pieces of urban land into functioning ecosystems. One example turned a tiny asphalted space beside a bank into a small forest. Within months, it was providing shade, improving water infiltration and attracting people from the surrounding neighbourhood. The space subsequently became a place for markets, film screenings and community activity.
Another project in Dubai transformed a hard, concrete landscape into a temporary multi-species habitat, using waste materials from the date-palm industry and working with soil scientists, bird specialists, conservationists and ecologists to create conditions for plants, insects, birds, lizards and microorganisms to return.
These are not simply aesthetic gestures. They demonstrate how relatively small interventions can create ecological and social effects far beyond their physical footprint.
Belonging can be designed for
The HABITAT Stage brought another dimension into the conversation: what does it mean to create places where people can actually feel that they belong?
This included work around disability, trauma-informed design, community spaces and changing relationships with place.
One particularly powerful approach looked at how environments can provide people with choice and agency rather than assuming that everyone experiences nature in the same way. Prospect and refuge, natural light, views, sound, materials, tactile variation and access to outdoor spaces can all contribute — but importantly, people should be able to decide how and when they engage with them.
That idea of choice came up in other projects too. Good biophilic environments are not necessarily spaces that demand interaction. Sometimes the most valuable thing a space can offer is the ability to withdraw, observe, participate or connect on your own terms.
Other projects showed how community ownership can help these relationships last. Forests, river spaces, schools and small urban interventions became places that people returned to, cared for and gradually made their own.
That is an important shift: from designing for people to creating conditions in which people can participate.
Learning from place
Another recurring theme was the importance of resisting one-size-fits-all approaches.
The Summit included examples drawing on Indigenous knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, local materials, regional ecosystems and cultural relationships with place. The message was clear: regenerative and biophilic design cannot simply be exported as a universal formula.
A pattern-language approach presented on CANOPY explored how biophilic principles can become more rigorous and transferable without becoming a checklist. Rather than prescribing the same features everywhere, patterns can help designers understand relationships and adapt them to different ecological, cultural and climatic contexts.
The same thinking appeared in the Eden Project examples, where the character of each location fundamentally shaped the project.
The result is a version of biophilia that is less about applying a recognised aesthetic and more about paying attention to where you are.
Designing with living systems means giving something back
Perhaps one of the most encouraging aspects of the Summit was the number of projects where regeneration was not treated as an abstract ambition.
It was happening through forests being planted, damaged landscapes being restored, waste materials being reused, biodiversity being supported, communities taking ownership of spaces, and buildings being designed to adapt over time.
It was also happening through process.
Several speakers challenged the idea that a successful project is one that remains exactly as designed. Living systems change. Plants grow. Communities adapt. Materials weather. Conditions shift.
That means regenerative practice can require designers to give up some control, learn from what happens after completion and remain open to adaptation and even failure.
The Eden Project’s long-term relationships with its design teams are one example of this. The work continues beyond handover, allowing designers and clients to learn from how buildings actually perform and evolve.
This feels particularly relevant to biophilia. If we are designing with living systems, then the project cannot really end when the construction team leaves.
A day full of practical ideas
There was no single solution — and that was the point!
There were researchers developing new ways to measure ecological impact. Designers working with sound, light, water and material. Architects learning from ecosystems. Communities turning neglected spaces into habitats. Practitioners using biophilia to support health, dignity and agency. Projects bringing traditional and Indigenous knowledge into contemporary practice. Teams experimenting with new materials and construction processes.
Together, they showed that biophilia in practice is already happening in many different forms.
And perhaps that is what made the Summit so valuable: bringing these different approaches into the same conversation made the connections between them visible.
As Carlo Battisti reflected at the opening of the day, the programme moved from experience to relationship to responsibility.
The presentations throughout the day showed what that can look like in practice.
Missed the Summit? Watch the recordings.
The full Biophilia Summit 2026 recordings are now available to purchase.
Get access to the presentations, conversations and practical case studies from all three stages — CANOPY, BIOTOPE and HABITAT — and revisit the ideas and projects shared by more than 50 contributors from around the world.
[Purchase access to the Biophilia Summit 2026 recordings]
Whether you are an architect, designer, researcher, educator, policymaker, developer, health professional or simply interested in building a stronger relationship between people and the living world, the recordings offer a chance to explore the full programme at your own pace.
Watch the Summit. Explore the projects. Take the ideas into your own practice.
