A Systemic Approach to Urban Naturing: Key Insights from the Urban Nature Exchange #1
The first session of Urban Nature Exchange series, held on September 18th, brought together city representatives, and academics to explore how green infrastructure can foster more sustainable and resilient cities. The event featured case studies presented by participating cities, showcasing innovative approaches to urban naturing. It also facilitated the exchange of learnings and best practices among cities, fostering co-learning.
A key highlight of the session was the presentation of a systemic framework for assessing and enhancing the benefits of urban nature, developed by University of Helsinki, under Work Package 2 (WP2). This framework aims to help cities systematically address challenges and opportunities in implementing urban nature plans.
City Insights and Challenges
The session opened with presentations from cities that shared inspiring examples of how urban nature can contribute to tackling local challenges:
- Barcelona demonstrated its transformation of the Glòries area, showing how targeted interventions can enhance access to ecosystem services in dense urban neighborhoods.
- Mannheim presented its biodiversity network planning, emphasising the importance of urban habitats connectivity for ecological functionality.
- Paris highlighted bold initiatives like urban forests and school street programs designed to reclaim public spaces and increase urban greening, despite high urban density challenges.
These case studies underscored the importance of co-creation and participatory processes, political support, and innovative approaches in overcoming challenges and delivering urban nature projects.
A Systemic Framework for Urban Nature Accessibility
Following the city presentations, Professor Erik Andersson and Dr. Anahita Rashidfarokhi from the University of Helsinki introduced a structured framework developed under the UNPplus WP2.
The framework offers cities a systemic approach to aligning urban nature initiatives with local priorities while considering social, ecological, and technological contexts. “This approach helps cities identify and address barriers while maximising the positive impacts of green infrastructure,” noted Dr. Rashidfarokhi. The framework provided a useful lens for cities to assess ecosystem services, ensuring that urban naturing initiatives are functional and resilient over the long term.
Key Learnings
The discussions highlighted several critical insights for advancing urban nature initiatives:
- Integrating Green Infrastructure with Urban Priorities: Aligning green projects with broader city goals can ensure resilience, health, and social equity.
- Navigating Trade-Offs: Cities must address competing priorities, such as balancing urban densification with the need for accessible green spaces.
- Context-Specific Approaches: There is a need to tailor solutions to the unique circumstances and challenges of each city.
- Learning from Real-Life Experiences: The shared case studies demonstrated the value of collaboration and cross-city learning in overcoming challenges and innovating solutions.
Concluding Remarks
This Urban Nature Exchange demonstrated the importance of systemic approaches to urban naturing, emphasising resilience and long-term sustainability. The session concluded with a call to action for participants to adapt insights from the framework and case studies to their local contexts.
Auothor: Anahita Rashidfarokhi, University of Helsinki
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