144 Reviews and information

Živa Ravnikar
Barbara Goličnik Marušić

Nature-based solutions (NBS): The Connecting

Nature project

The Connecting Nature project is fund- the decision-making process. Solutions

ed by the Horizon  2020 programme: require the efforts and contributions of
Smart and Sustainable Cities  H2020- various disciplines, because they address
SCC-2016-2017. It uses nature-based a number of environmental, social, and
solutions, which derive from recogniz- economic challenges of the society in a
ing the value of the analogy between sustainable way. When planning solu-
natural processes and spatial planning. tions, planners or decision-makers often being created through the partner cities’
Nature-based solutions are created by face “silo thinking”: departmentalizing cooperation. Evaluating these solutions,
comprehensive, joint design and crea- and compartmentalizing tasks to the innovations, and syntheses of different
tion processes that lead to more ecolog- extent that there is little cross-commu- approaches and methodologies triggers
ical, environmental, and social benefits. nication or cross-fertilization of ideas a new learning process that will help
The concept has evolved from address- and solutions. The Connecting Nature other cities around the world to imple-
ing questions and challenges such as project addresses the question of how to ment NBS in urban space.
the following: How can nature help effectively integrate nature-based solu-
the city? How can we design a space tions into planning and decision-mak- The “front-runner” cities play an impor-
that will simultaneously provide more ing processes. tant role in the project, because they
benefits? Examples of NBS solutions have already implemented the NBS
for the well-being of cities are diverse. The project includes thirty-one organi- concept in practice. They are actively
For example, they may create elements zations that work together with author- working at the trans-disciplinary level,
of green infrastructure which, in addi- ities, communities, industrial partners, they use bottom-up planning, and they
tion to microclimate effects, also have NGOs and experts from various fields. have an open and creative dialogue with
the role of linking parts of cities and The partnership of sixteen European different stakeholders. The front-runner
contributing to sustainable commuting countries, Brazil, China, Korea, and cities of Genk, Glasgow, and Poznan
and/or recreation. NBS solutions pro- the Caucasus  (Georgia and Armenia) represent examples to other “follower”
vide biodiversity and ecological bene- invested in a multi-million-euro, large- cities (two groups of follower cities have
fits and can combine various positive scale implementation of nature-based formed: fast followers and multiplier
effects, including energy production, projects. The project evaluates the im- cities). These cities are using participa-
sustainable waste management, promo- pact of initiatives and NBS solutions tory co-creation, cross-sectoral cooper-
tion of social integration, public-health for partner cities in terms of adapting ation, and advanced technological solu-
oriented green area planning, and so on. to climate change, human health and tions to plan and manage spatial solu-
well-being, social integration, and sus- tions. In the project, the front-runner
Although the benefits of NBS have tainable economic development. The cities’ NBS solutions are examined in
been recognized, the development and overarching objective of Connecting detail, in order to formulate and define
implementation of nature-based solu- Nature is to position Europe as a global indicators for evaluating NBS solutions
tions is complex and often difficult leader in the innovation and implemen- and to study, evaluate, and understand
and rather slow in practice. Implemen- tation of NBS in urban and social devel- the planning processes and establish
tation of NBS concepts is currently a opment. A knowledge framework and successful models of NBS financial
challenge for most cities at the level of a database of nature-based solutions is mechanisms. The project envisages the

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Reviews and information 145

development of a mechanism for mon-

itoring and evaluating the effectiveness
of the implementation of NBS solutions
using impact indicators (climate change
adaptation and resilience, health and
wellbeing, social cohesion, econom-
ic development potential, and green
business opportunities) and assessment Figure 1: Water channel in the Schansbroek area (source: project homepage).
criteria  (cost effectiveness, inclusivity,
policy-embeddedness, and stakeholder park represents a reference to other pro- beds, urban gymnasiums, playgrounds,
endorsement). This mechanism will be jects, because it incorporates the aspect and artistic activities.
based on the already implemented NBS of recreation into its design, promotes
solutions of front-runner cities and will the concept of sustainable mobility, The Connecting Nature project in the
be used to measure progress towards the provides biodiversity, and represents an city of Poznan addresses the effects of
set goals at different stages of the NBS example of stakeholder involvement in climate change, especially heatwaves
solutions. the creation of a public space. It repre- and floods. The densely populated ur-
sents a way to use the diversity of the ban centre has impermeable urbanized
The front-runner cities are dealing with population, despite the cultural barriers, floors, which limit the ability to retain
several different challenges in the vari- as a mean of co-creating, integrating, moisture in dry months, creating in-
ous stages of development. To illustrate, and ensuring social cohesion. appropriate microclimate conditions
Genk is actively involved in the project, in the city. When there is intense pre-
by planning and implementing the NBS solutions are not limited only to cipitation, the population faces floods
Schansbroek project in the Stiemerbeek larger multi-functional areas. Genk is due to poor water drainage, which has
valley, with focused transparent insights also involved in Connecting Nature a negative impact on the quality of life
into the process of planning and eval- with the project “Beeplan”, which pro- itself. To improve conditions in the city,
uating the project solutions. The area vides a bee-friendly city with a network pocket parks are being planned on the
has a distinctive industrial character of relevant bee spaces. The project in- abandoned, unused, and degraded areas
and exceptional cultural diversity in the volves a network of different stakehold- within residential areas. These parks will
population. The urbanized part of the ers, which represent an example of how connect the city with green corridors,
valley contributes to water pollution, project develops from the initiatives and improve microclimate conditions, pro-
makes it more difficult to regulate the participation of individuals to effective vide recreation and social opportunities,
level of groundwater, and consequently management. Glasgow, for example, is and the permeable soils will relieve the
is harming the biodiversity of the area. implementing a “Stalled Spaces” pro- rainwater burden on the drainage infra-
Therefore, the regeneration of the water ject. Given the fact that a lot of the city’s structure.
system in the form of renaturation is a land is polluted, the costs of remedia-
key step and challenge. A nature-based tion of such degraded land increase the Front-runner cities in the project are
solution envisages a linear design of a costs of constructing buildings or land followed by partner cities looking for
multi-functional park along a water consolidation. Thus, they are seeking knowledge and experience with na-
channel. In the rainy months, the area solutions with temporary land use, ture-based solutions. The Connecting
represents a protective flood buffer which contribute to the nature-based Nature project aims to transfer knowl-
for the settlement, whereas in the dry solutions if they help improve the envi-
period, the design elements of green ronment. The project allows residents to
and blue infrastructure offer recreation use land for temporary purposes, which
space. The area is ecologically impor- brings benefits to communities and is a
tant, so the renaturation will improve rational use of space. The community
biodiversity and spatial degradation. creates space according to the neigh-
Due to its very complex technological bourhood needs, taking into account
solutions, the Genk project will be able the characteristics of the degraded land.
to search for innovative participative fi- According to this concept, Glasgow’s
nancing models based on Connecting local inhabitants have taken over  100
Nature. In the social aspect, the na- areas where various temporary uses are Figure 2: Temporary use in Glasgow (source:
ture-based solution of the Stiemerbeek taking place, such as gardening in raised project homepage).

Urbani izziv, volume 30, no. 1, 2019

146 Reviews and information

Figure 3: Pocket parks (source: project homepage).

edge from different areas and stages of management, and monitoring). The re-
the solutions. search also focuses on these questions:
How are the roles in co-creating NBS
The co-creation of spatial solutions is solutions taken: who moderates and
one of the important aspects of the leads the process? When is the process
NBS concept. The current activities of co-creation finished? How should we
of the Urban Planning Institute of the measure the success or failure of NBS
Republic of Slovenia (UIRS) are fo- solutions? In addition to the questions
cused on understanding the process of of the integration and optimization of
co-creating open spaces, the importance public participation, the UIRS’s ac-
of involving different stakeholders, and tivities are also linked to the develop-
the advantages and disadvantages of ment and verification of social criteria
co-creating space with users accord- and indicators in the process of urban
ing to different stages of integration. planning and development involving
In order to capture a comprehensive NBS solutions. Our contribution is
overview, in the next phases, emphasis visible through the development of
will be placed on examining the role of the concept of space-carrying capacity
government bodies and planners in the for implementing solutions in terms of
process of planning, focusing on ques- space usage and sustainable use of nat-
tions of managing and coordinating the ural resources.
planning process, and the importance of
integrated planning and various ways Živa Ravnikar, Urbanistični inštitut
Republike Slovenije
to participate. The UIRS developed a
E-mail: [email protected]
generative GIS web platform as a set
of tools that assist the implementation Barbara Goličnik Marušić, Urbanistični
of public participation in urban plan- inštitut Republike Slovenije
ning processes. The Connecting Nature E-mail: [email protected]
project and front-runner cities will test
stakeholders’ interests (users, planners, Project information and sources
state bodies) in using GIS participa-
tory tools, what kind of results can Project homepage: https://connecting-
be achieved, and how the tools can be nature.eu
useful in the individual phases of the
process (planning, implementation,

Urbani izziv, volume 30, no. 1, 2019