Objective:
- Regenerate abandoned, unused and/or under-used spaces in densely urbanized areas
- Promote innovative agricultural practices
- Involvement of citizens and marginalized social classes (Social benefits)
“Let’s Crop the Diversity” (LCD) aims to redevelop urban spaces through the coproduction of solutions based on nature (NbS) to promote resilience and environmental quality of the geographical areas of intervention.
The goal of this project is developing an Urban Agricultural System that, thanks to the use of NbS, allows to regenerate abandoned, unused and/or under-used spaces in densely urbanized areas. LCD intends to face this challenge in a social, innovative, multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary way, involving local stakeholders in order to develop a model based on the participation of citizens.
Area characterisation:
Scale of the project: neighbourhood
Scales impacts from which the NbS action should be assessed: object (building, etc.), city
Urban density in which the NbS is implemented: medium
Financing:
Global (estimated) cost of the project: 50k€ - 200k€
Financing mechanism cluster: cluster2 financial institution
The project is searching for subsidies.
Actions:
LCD provides a set of activities related to the innovation of agricultural practices, information campaigns and involvement of citizens and marginalized social classes, and training courses aimed at local stakeholders.
Lessons learnt:
Expected time for the NbS to become fully effective after implementation: between 2 and 5 years (medium).
Feedback: not concerned
Expected life time of the interventions: around 25 years
Dates (for project delivered): 2017
Contacts:
Elisa , Massa (elisa.massa@rina.org)
Rina company: landscape/architecture agency
Stakeholder Participation/Participatory Planning and Governance:
- (Project manager) Istituto Ecoambientale (no-profit association)
Main partner:
- University of Rome
GOVERNANCE MODEL:
Governance cluster: cluster4 societal resilience
Governance model: Self-governance grassroots initiatives
Success and Limiting Factors:
Process enablers:
Knowledge drivers → Generation of evidence → Research on benefits
Knowledge gained through experiences with implementing successful projects where urban green spaces were introduced, improved in quality, or restored as well as lessons learned from less successful projects is deemed as being instrumental for effectively employing NbS in urban planning.
Process inhibitors:
Economy barriers → Budget constraints → Lack of funding and knowledge
City budgets for green development and the maintenance of green spaces often face severe budget constraints, while staff and related expertise is decreasing.
BUSINESS MODEL:
Business cluster: ...
Business model: ...
NBS goals:
- Enhancing sustainable urbanization
- Restoring ecosystems and their functions
- Urban regeneration through nature-based solutions
- Increasing carbon sequestration through nature-based solutions
NBS benefits:
- Reducing temperature at meso or micro scale
- Developing climate change mitigation
- Carbon sequestration and storage
- Restoring ecosystems and their functions
- Increased cultural richness and biodiversity
- Enhancing sustainable urbanisation
- Changing image of the urban environment
- Creation of green jobs relating to construction & maintenance of NBS
- Increase accessibility to green open spaces
- Increase communities’ sense of ownership
- Increase population & infrastructures protected by NBS
- Increase social interaction
- Increase stakeholder awareness & knowledge about NBS
- Provision of health benefits
- Social inclusion
- Social learning about location & importance of NBS
Further information:
Nature4Cities (https://www.nature4cities.eu/) aims to develop a knowledge diffusion around Nature-Based Solution (NbS) and a decision support platform through new collaborative models.
LCD is part of the Nature4Cities's pioneer case studies database, it will feed the observatory, NbS pre-selection and replication tools, gathered into the Geocluster4NBS.
LCD was chosen as a pioneer case study for the following reasons: the innovation of agricultural practices, information campaigns and involvement of citizens and marginalized social classes.
Nature4Cities project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 730468.