This second session of the multi-session dialogue on Participatory, Innovative, and Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Decision Making focuses on green infrastructure and on providing guidance and recommendations for overcoming the implementation gap.
Many strategies geared towards sustainable urban development are already in place at the local level, for instance in the field of green infrastructure and urban greening. Nature- and biodiversity positive urban planning, land use planning and ecosystem-based management practices are gaining more attention than ever as pathways for sustainable urban development, through their multiple benefits for health and well-being, climate adaptation and mitigation.
However, although they are innovative and have proven successful, they are have not been implemented at a scale and pace to fulfill relevant European (forthcoming Nature Restoration Law with specific target for urban ecosystems, EU Biodiversity Strategy) or international targets (Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, SDG, climate neutrality by 2050), nor are sufficiently widely known. There is also a lack of systematic implementation of urban green infrastructure and underpinning cross-sectoral governance and management arrangements as well as access to these practice-oriented solutions and the relevant contacts.
The session showcases the finding of the scientific opinion paper drafted for the German Environment Agency, and a mapping of remaining nature-based solutions knowledge and implementation gaps performed as part of the H2020 project NetworkNature.The event will shed light on the main Urban Green Infrastructure implementation barriers, highlight best practices and experience from European and international cities in overcoming these barriers and introduce the audience to available useful guidance and resources.