Increase awareness of NBS solution & their effectiveness and co benefits

Managing urban Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure to increase city resilience in Ghent (UrbanGaia project)

UrbanGaia case-study sites in Ghent

The aim is to develop a realistic framework of indicators to evaluate, manage and develop performant Urban Green-Blue Infrastructure (U-GBI) in cities and intensively managed landscapes. UrbanGaia explicitly focusses on analysis of ecological and socio-economic features of the many existing GBIs. The evaluation of one the green axis of the ecological network in Ghent will serve as a case study for the framework of indicators. Furthermore, policy, governance and management practices of U-GBI are analyzed to identify innovative approaches to GBI implementation and usage.

Vingis and Verkiu parks in Vilnius, Lithuania (URBANGAIA project)

Location of the two UrbanGaia case studies in Vilnius

The aim of the project is to develop realistic indicators to evaluate, manage and develop performant Green and Blue infrastructure (GBIs) in cities and intensively managed landscapes. UrbanGaia explicitly focusses on analysis of ecological and socio-economic features of the many existing GBIs within a place-based and socio-ecological research framework. The project consists of three main approaches which converge in a transdisciplinary analysis of GBI performance: ecological science, political economic analysis and stakeholder co-creation.

Measuring and Improving Urban Tree Vitality and ES Provisioning in Leuven through Inoculation with Ectomycorrhizal Fungi (URBANMYCOSERVE)

Urban trees in Leuven

The aim is (i) to provide an assessment of the EcM community and functional group composition of urban trees, and of its environmental drivers, using next generation sequencing techniques; (ii) to relate specific EcM, or functional groups of EcM, to tree health, and tree ecosystem service delivery and resilience, using advanced noninvasive spectral and physiological sensing technology, diameter growth measurements, and urban biophysical modeling; and (iii) to develop and test (in situ & ex situ) a dedicated EcM-inoculum to improve urban tree health, and ecosystem service delivery and...

Measuring and Improving Urban Tree Vitality and ES Provisioning through Inoculation with Ectomycorrhizal Fungi in Porto (URBANMYCOSERVE)

Urban trees in Porto

The aim is (i) to provide an assessment of the EcM community and functional group composition of urban trees, and of its environmental drivers, using next generation sequencing techniques; (ii) to relate specific EcM, or functional groups of EcM, to tree health, and tree ecosystem service delivery and resilience, using advanced noninvasive spectral and physiological sensing technology, diameter growth measurements, and urban biophysical modeling; and (iii) to develop and test (in situ & ex situ) a dedicated EcM-inoculum to improve urban tree health, and ecosystem service delivery and...

URBES Berlin - A thriving city embraces its green spaces

Figure 1: quantitative assessment of ecosystem services demand and supply in 4 European cities (after Baro et al, 2015)

The URBES project focusses on functional diversity, urban ecosystem services and NbS, institutions, economics and resilience science and worked to translate research insights into principles, landscape designs and applications. It explores the drivers behind loss/enhancement of urban ecosystem services delivered by nature based solutions such as urban green space, monetary and non-monetary valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the urban landscape and what are the most effective mechanisms for the governance of non-marketed ecosystem services.

In the Berlin case study,...

Basel, Switzerland: Green roofs : Combining mitigation and adaptation on measures

Green roof on Tram depot Wiesenplatz in Basel, project “Meadow carpet”. Author: Stephan Brenneisen

By 2100, under a high greenhouse emissions scenario, the temperature is projected to increase by about 4.5 ºC in comparison to the 1990s. This means that every second summer will be as hot or even hotter than the temperatures reached during the 2003 heat wave which caused severe loss of life across Europe. Extreme precipitation events are likely to increase in frequency and severity. Green roofs were found to offer opportunities to combine energy saving, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and biodiversity objectives. In densely built-up areas where providing extensive parks and...

Peatland Restoration

Peatland, Belgium

The restoration of peatlands is part of the LIFE Elia-RTE project 1. The main objective of this project is converting forest corridors of the high-voltage power lines into ecological corridors by restoring stable natural habitats that will require minimal intervention in the future. These actions undertaken onsite are real opportunities for nature, local stakeholders, and RTE.

The project’s objective is to restore peatlands located under overhead power lines to encourage the return of specific plant and animal communities of these ecosystems and restore their functional components....

Green Roof and Water Management in Philippines Government Office Building

Quezon City, Philippines

Rapid urbanisation in the Philippines has given rise to many challenges as increasing infrastructure developments contribute to reduced open spaces and increased energy consumption.

Both the public and private construction sectors are responding by reshaping the cityscape and designing building structures that are as environmentally responsive as they are beautiful and compact. Now, buildings should not only be sturdy and spacious, they should also be efficient in energy consumption and adaptive to the changing environment.

LafargeHolcim Philippines (LafargeHolcim) has...

Park 500 Natural Treatment System

Tobacco farming, Virginia

The Park 500 Natural Treatment System (NTS) was constructed as a voluntary effort to provide a low-energy, low-maintenance alternative to reducing nitrogen and phosphorus in the process’s wastewater, which is high in nitrate-nitrogen, organic nitrogen and total phosphorus.

The project was initiated to reduce the environmental footprint of the tobacco production facility and help Philip Morris USA meet its environmental sustainability goals. The NTS reduces mass loading to the James River and creates a performance buffer for the existing plant discharge to ensure long-term...

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