🌱 A cutting-edge trial in Harrison, ACT, is turning grassland into climate infrastructure. By rewetting Canberra’s soil sponge, we’re naturally reducing heat and rehydrating the city.
Canberra is heating up—but nature has a solution.
A new urban cooling trial in Harrison, Australian Capital Territory (Canberra), Australia is putting green infrastructure to work to rehydrate soils and reduce temperatures in Canberra’s outer north.
Led by Ben Fox, Walter Jehne of Regenerate Earth and Professor Leah Moore, in partnership with the Canberra Environment Centre and funded by the the ACT Government’s Nature in the City: Cooling your Suburbs Grant the 24-month project blends soil science, urban ecology, and on-ground land management to unlock the cooling power of Canberra’s grasslands.
Image: Walter Jehne Illustrates how the soil carbon sponge forms by fungi opening holding spaces in soil.
The concept is simple: healthy soils hold water, dissipate heat, and reduce surface temperatures through natural processes like latent heat flux. Together, these mechanisms form a soil carbon sponge—a powerful, nature-based air conditioner.
Inspired by a highly successful urban trial in Lahti, Finland, this Canberra-first initiative adapts proven techniques to local conditions. Field sites in Harrison at the Canberra Environment Centre will test how mowing practices and soil care can transform lawns into living climate infrastructure.
This isn’t just theory. The Finnish model showed such promise that local authorities began implementing it before the project concluded. Now, Canberra is building on that momentum, aiming to create scalable guidelines and real-world results.
Expected outcomes:
- Measurable reductions in urban heat
- Improved human comfort and energy efficiency
- Practical tools for land managers
- A blueprint for city-wide cooling
By restoring the urban soil sponge, Canberra can become a national leader in climate-resilient design—cooler, greener, and better prepared for the heatwaves ahead.
For media enquiries or collaboration:
Ben Fox ben@benfox.com.au
