Close up on a pink flower with a high rise in the background.

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Urban Nature Plans+

From Nature Plan to Nature Practice: Our vision is to create thriving, biodiverse cities where urban ecosystems are resilient, vibrant and integrated with the needs and aspirations of their inhabitants. We envision a future where green spaces are abundant, accessible and valued as essential components of urban life, contributing to the well-being of people and the planet.

UNP+ is partnering with cities to test the UNP framework. Barcelona and Paris are acting as Lighthouse Cities by building on existing UNPs and exploring best practices and advocacy for the policy integration of UNPs and NbS. Mannheim, Belgrade, and Burgas are acting as Greening Cities and will participate in capacity building through UrbanbyNature and will test the UNP development framework, ensuring that their renaturing activites meet the requirements of the Urban Nature Platform.

Quote card: Urban Nature Plans are an integrated planning framework that emphasise the important role that nature plays in meeting a city’s development goals. At ICLEI Europe, we hear from cities all the time about competing land use challenges. Cities highlight an increasing need for coordination across sectors like housing, mobility, and urban greening. UNPs have the potential to address these challenges. Anna Bruen, Senior Expert, ICLEI Europe
Lighthouse cities build on existing UNPs to explore best practices and advocate for the policy intergration of UNPs and nature-based solutions.

Image by Matt Saling

Greening cities will participate in capacity building through UrbanbyNature and will test the UNP development framework, ensuring that their renaturing activites meet the requirements of the Urban Nature Platform.

Image by barurezeki

Current policies often fall short when it comes to biodiversity conservation. UNPs are strategic frameworks that help bridge this gap by formalising a city's commitment to promoting biodiversity and urban nature. They help by aligning mobility, building and climate goals. They also encourage collaboration to increase natural spaces and biodiversity, supporting healthy and thriving urban environments. The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Nature Restoration Law encourage cities to leverage the power of UNPs in mainstreaming Nature-basead Solutions (NbS), ehancing urban biodiversty and nature, and achieving global environmental targets. The European Union encourages all cities over 20,000 residents to deliver a UNP as part of their sustainability planning!

  1. Political commitment: Securing the commitment and support of political leaders to secure the initiative's backing and resources.
  2. Working structure: Establishing a framework that defines roles, responsibilities and governance to manage the project effectively.
  3. Co-creation process: Engaging stakeholders, including community members, experts and organisations, to develop the plan together.
  4. Long-term vision and goals: Creating a comprehensive vision and setting clear, achievable goals for the future state of urban nature and biodiversity.
  5. Current state of nature and biodiversity: Assessing and documenting the existing state of nature and biodiversity in the urban area.
  6. Indicators and targets: Identify specific metrics to measure progress and set target outcomes to achieve the Plan's objectives.
  7. Priorities, actions, responsibilities, timelines and funding: Outline key priorities, necessary actions, assigned responsibilities, timelines for implementation, and sources of funding.
  8. Communication, education and public awareness strategy: Develop strategies to inform, educate and engage the public and stakeholders about the plan and its benefits.
  9. Monitoring, reporting and evaluation system: Establish a system to track progress, report on developments and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions implemented.
  10.  Adoption, publication and implementation of the plan: Finalising, publicising and implementing the urban nature plan.
Urban Nature Plan Cycle Steps

Image by Stephan Koehler / ICLEI Europe

The EU-funded Urban Nature Plans + (UNP+) project is teaming up with cities to address gaps in biodiversity protection at both the implementation and policy levels. By coordinating both bottom-up and top-down initiatives, UNP+ will link city- and community-led efforts with national sustainability plans. Together, we will explore innovations that help cities overcome barriers when integrating more or enhacing existing natural spaces in cities. 

 

Over the next three years, UNP+ will:

  • Leverage the power of co-creation to test, assess, and ultimately improve the UNP framework, supporting partner cities in achieving ambitious EU environmental targets.
  • Facilitate peer to peer and reflexive learning opportunities for participating cities.
  • Support participating cities in integrating justice and equity into spatial planning processes.
  • Foster public private partnerships, insprie collaborative business models, and encourage innovative financing within the field of nature-based solutions.
  • Create and test planning and evaluation tools that link social, environmental, and more-than-human justice and resilience perspectives.

 

UNP+ brings together 11 academic partners and 5 European cities to test and implement the UNP Framework. By leveraging the power of the UNP framework to foster collaboration and bridge capacity gaps, UNP+ aims to create a next-generation strategy for transforming urban ecosystems. Through our partner networks and resources, we will ensure that our findings continue to influence policy and practice, promoting sustainable urban development well into the future. 
 

Up-, out-, and deep-scaling form the core of the UNP+ strategy for achieving meaningful, just, and sustaibale urban ecosystem transformation.

 

  1. Scaling Up: Building on successful practices in experienced ‘Lighthouse’ cities, we adapt and implement strategies in ‘Greening’ cities, influencing policy change at multiple levels.
  2. Scaling Out: Sharing knowledge and best practices through peer learning and stakeholder networks to increase our impact in different urban contexts.
  3. Scaling Deep: Fostering mindset and organisational change ensures lasting change by embedding sustainable practices in participating cities.

UNP+ will build upon the existing UNP framework to co-create a comprehensive tool for transforming urban ecosystems that benefit cities, their inhabitants, and biodiversty. Together, we will:

 

  • Enhance and increase urban biodiversity through the implementation of innovative nature-based solutions.
  • Increase the resilience of urban environments to climate change and other stressors.
  • Mainstream sustainable development practices.
  • Create new employment opportunities and improving the quality of life for urban residents through the enhancement of green spaces.
  • Integrate nature-based solutions into local and national policies, contributing to long-term sustainability.