Enhancing sustainable urbanisation

The CLEVER Way: Hamburg, Neugraben-Fischbek

The CLEVER Cities project identified the primary planning goals for Neugraben-Fischbek district located in the South-West of the city of Hamburg was to: (a) creating a connective ‘Green Corridor’ to link a system of NbS interventions; (b) establishing horizontal greenery through the construction of green roofs on existing buildings; and (c) address the topic of environmental education and connect the youth with nature. 

Hamburg has aimed at addressing the following challenges, including:

  • Increase biodiversity and nature in the city: To address this, the city

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Uforest Case Study: Barcelona Nature Plan

One of the activities foreseen by the Uforest project is researching innovative Urban Forestry initiatives across Europe. For this reason, the Uforest team has selected and analysed some of the most interesting urban forestry projects in the continent, with the aim to illustrate real practices and eventually inspire others to start greening their cities. Among them, we selected the Barcelona Nature Plan. 

The Pla Natura Barcelona (Barcelona Nature Plan) is a public initiative led by the Barcelona City Council with the aim to improve and increase...

Green indoor and outdoor walls

  • The experimental features of this NBS are intended as replicable examples in enhancing urban environments and improving living conditions of inhabitants.
  • Working with schools to spread the knowledge about NBS to users of the buildings and raising awareness about the importance of plants in everyday life.
  • Promoting the collaboration with school teachers and staff of the homeless shelter to schedule activities that supported learning “science” disciplines, as well as Italian language skills, civic education and social studies.
  • Consulting a nursery to achieve
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ORTO WOW - Pollinator friendly garden

This NBS aims at improving the usability of the area:

  • to recover an abandoned and underutilized former industrial lot and to return it for public use;
  • to favor the transition of pollinating insects, following the directions of the ecological corridors identified by proGIreg;
  • to activate local inhabitants in taking care of the new green installations, by stimulating them through citizens-science activities;
  • to favor a collaborative setting of different stakeholders, in order to guarantee the sustainability of the intervention in the future

New soil production in Sangone Park

Given competition of land uses in urban areas, the scarcity of the resource soil endangers urban environments. Contamination, poor chemical, physical and biological fertility and high heterogeneity are common traits of urban soils. Previous and ongoing projects have typified soils, fertility and environmental quality.

Therefore, the NBS aims at:

  • testing and providing soil of good agronomical and environmental quality for new urban green areas and restoration of derelict industrial areas.
  • pursuing minimum maintenance of new soil composition.
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Improving and monitoring pollinator biodiversity in Huckarde

Naturfelder Dortmund e.V. was founded in order to convert urban spaces into pollinator friendly habitats. The structure of the association allows long-term existence beyond proGIreg. Main goals of the NBS implementations include:

  • Activating interested citizens from the Huckarde and Deusen district for pollinating insects and biodiversity topics
  • Sowing flower meadows or planting insect friendly plants that increase biodiversity on public or private land in cooperation with owners 
  • Participating in events to inform about pollinator friendly measures
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NATURE-IN New Sustainable Nature-Inclusive Architectural Devices for the Transformation of our Interior Dwelling Space: through Selected Case Studies.

NATURE-IN introduces Nature-connection sensory experiences through architectural interior space to improve our health and wellbeing.

Nature-In is an artistic, technical and historical research, that will gain knowledge from our architectural heritage to inform us of a Contemporary Design, through Landscape, Architectural Interior and Biophilic Design approaches, as a resource to mitigate an urgent problem. The overall aim is to improve Nature’s connection with the interior spaces of buildings, to enhance the health and wellbeing in dwellings and urban areas in the EU and beyond. Thus, Nature-In may transform the reality towards a better life.

Las Llamas Park, Santander: Wetlands and permeable car parks

Panoramic view of the Las Llamas Park. In the right, the east side with the Palacio de Deportes, at the left, the west side with the Arenas bridge.

The D4RUNOFF project’s goal is to create a novel framework for preventing and managing diffuse pollution from urban water runoff. This will be achieved by designing hybrid nature-based solutions (NBS) and a data-driven AI-platform to support policy and decision making.

The case studies have been identified for the implementation and validation of this approach in varying environments. The replicability of these results will then be assessed at five replication sites. The Las Llamas Park in Santander has been chosen as one of three case study sites as part of the D4RUNOFF project.

Multi-criteria decision analysis in an urban planning and storm water management case in the Kivistö case, City of Vantaa, Finland

Evaluation framework in MCDA

The objectives of the case were to i) develop a systematic and interactive approach to support multi-objective urban planning in general and ii) to demonstrate the approach in the Kivistö sketch area in developing and evaluating alternatives for urban planning and decentralised stormwater management.

Triple infiltration basin and greenery regeneration in the square of Oblęgorska / Widok Street in Łódź (Poland)

The final look of the ATENAS square. 

An implementation focused on combining blue and green infrastructure, with predominant use of native species and minimizing maintenance effort.

Key aims:

  • demonstrate the integration of blue solutions into green design;
  • create a pilot implementation of the infiltration basin as an example of best practice and a source of know-how;
  • build the trust in NBS;
  • initiate the restoration of water cycle in the Łódka River catchment.

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