MURDOCH UNIVERSITY is hosting this year’s World Student Environment Network Summit from July 13-18.

This year’s topic is The Forgotten Earth: Reconnecting with Nature which will use talks, demonstrations and discussion panels to give ideas on how to establish a deeper connection with things that aren’t built with concrete.

It is the first time the event has taken place in Australia and Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt says it’s a golden opportunity to raise awareness about environment and nature.

Dr Pettitt will be talking on “Sustainable Fremantle”, but acknowledges his council hasn’t really struck a blow for Mother Nature yet.

He says that’s about to change, with a budget of $200,000 set aside this year to implement the city’s Green Plan, which is being updated.

Dr Pettitt says the new plan will bring nature back to the city through more tree planting and combining new buildings with green spaces.

South Fremantle resident Bryn Davis, a well-known authority on nature and environment and for years the city’s guerilla tree planter, says the council has ignored its Green Plan since he first started working on it a decade ago.

Mr Davis says the council has even failed to preserve what little green space it’s got left.

“There’s so little public open space and yet they still build in the little we’ve got,” he told the Herald.

Other topics in the summit will include uranium mining in remote WA and the dwindling of fresh water supply in Perth.

by MARTA PASCUAL JUANOLA