With a new stream of studies adding to evidence revealing disturbing declines in global populatio... more With a new stream of studies adding to evidence revealing disturbing declines in global populations of insects (Hallmann et al. 2018, Lister & Garcia 2018, Sánchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys 2019) and reports of an ecological catastrophe on the scale of a sixth mass extinction, there is an urgent need to do more to conserve these species that underpin our ecosystems. Urban areas have the potential to provide a safe haven for many rare and declining species that have been extirpated from our rural landscapes by intensive agricultural practices (Benton et al. 2003). But only if we manage those safe havens appropriately!
During the main COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown period of 2020 an impromptu set of pollination ... more During the main COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown period of 2020 an impromptu set of pollination ecologists came together via social media and personal contacts to carry out standardised surveys of the flower visits and plants in gardens. The surveys involved 67 rural, suburban and urban gardens, of various sizes, ranging from 61.18° North in Norway to 37.96° South in Australia, resulting in a data set of 25,174 rows, with each row being a unique interaction record for that date/site/plant species, and comprising almost 47,000 visits to flowers, as well as records of flowers that were not visited by pollinators, for over 1,000 species and varieties belonging to more than 460 genera and 96 plant families. The more than 650 species of flower visitors belong to 12 orders of invertebrates and four of vertebrates. In this first publication from the project, we present a brief description of the data and make it freely available for any researchers to use in the future, the only restricti...
Blandscaping - A Form of Ecological Gentrification? Nature-based Solutions Gone Wrong: Blandscapi... more Blandscaping - A Form of Ecological Gentrification? Nature-based Solutions Gone Wrong: Blandscaping that Erases Local Ecological Diversity
The Handbook aims to provide decision-makers with a comprehensive NBS impact assessment framework... more The Handbook aims to provide decision-makers with a comprehensive NBS impact assessment framework, and a robust set of indicators and methodologies to assess impacts of nature-based solutions across 12 societal challenge areas: Climate Resilience; Water Management; Natural and Climate Hazards; Green Space Management; Biodiversity; Air Quality; Place Regeneration; Knowledge and Social Capacity Building for Sustainable Urban Transformation; Participatory Planning and Governance; Social Justice and Social Cohesion; Health and Well-being; New Economic Opportunities and Green Jobs. Indicators have been developed collaboratively by representatives of 17 individual EU-funded NBS projects and collaborating institutions such as the EEA and JRC, as part of the European Taskforce for NBS Impact Assessment, with the four-fold objective of: serving as a reference for relevant EU policies and activities; orient urban practitioners in developing robust impact evaluation frameworks for nature-based...
The Connecting Nature partnership includes three cities that are leading the way in terms of deve... more The Connecting Nature partnership includes three cities that are leading the way in terms of developing and implementing a Framework for city-wide nature-based solution delivery: Genk (Belgium), Glasgow (Scotland), and Poznań (Poland). Of these cities, Poznań's ambition is to supplement their existing 'green wedge' urban design by implementing a series of nature-based solution eco-gardens. The gardens will be designed to act as stepping-stones, providing connectivity between the existing green wedges, providing more equitable distribution of greenspace, and providing opportunities for experiencing and learning about nature. In collaboration with local kindergartens, the City of Poznań have already begun the roll-out of these gardens. Nature-based solution design principles are being used to convert grey spaces within the kindergartens into eco-gardens for the pupils and social gardens that provide accessibility for local communities. A key challenge in relation to out-sc...
The Nature-Based Solutions 'Initiating Scaling' Process is a mechanism for beginning a ci... more The Nature-Based Solutions 'Initiating Scaling' Process is a mechanism for beginning a city's journey from one where nature-based solutions are delivered as isolated pilots of innovation to one whereby nature-based solutions are embedded in city-wide processes and practice. To begin on this scaling journey, there is a need to: establish the current expertise and experience in nature-based solutions with a city; map and engage stakeholders in a shared transitioning vision in relation to upscaled delivery of nature-based solutions; and identify learning objectives that represent challenges to upscaling. This initiation process is based upon a co-production methodology centred around a city authority team. Co-production engages a broad group of stakeholders through experiential workshops and questionnaires to explore collective experience of nature-based solutions.
With a new stream of studies adding to evidence revealing disturbing declines in global populatio... more With a new stream of studies adding to evidence revealing disturbing declines in global populations of insects (Hallmann et al. 2018, Lister & Garcia 2018, Sánchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys 2019) and reports of an ecological catastrophe on the scale of a sixth mass extinction, there is an urgent need to do more to conserve these species that underpin our ecosystems. Urban areas have the potential to provide a safe haven for many rare and declining species that have been extirpated from our rural landscapes by intensive agricultural practices (Benton et al. 2003). But only if we manage those safe havens appropriately!
During the main COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown period of 2020 an impromptu set of pollination ... more During the main COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown period of 2020 an impromptu set of pollination ecologists came together via social media and personal contacts to carry out standardised surveys of the flower visits and plants in gardens. The surveys involved 67 rural, suburban and urban gardens, of various sizes, ranging from 61.18° North in Norway to 37.96° South in Australia, resulting in a data set of 25,174 rows, with each row being a unique interaction record for that date/site/plant species, and comprising almost 47,000 visits to flowers, as well as records of flowers that were not visited by pollinators, for over 1,000 species and varieties belonging to more than 460 genera and 96 plant families. The more than 650 species of flower visitors belong to 12 orders of invertebrates and four of vertebrates. In this first publication from the project, we present a brief description of the data and make it freely available for any researchers to use in the future, the only restricti...
Blandscaping - A Form of Ecological Gentrification? Nature-based Solutions Gone Wrong: Blandscapi... more Blandscaping - A Form of Ecological Gentrification? Nature-based Solutions Gone Wrong: Blandscaping that Erases Local Ecological Diversity
The Handbook aims to provide decision-makers with a comprehensive NBS impact assessment framework... more The Handbook aims to provide decision-makers with a comprehensive NBS impact assessment framework, and a robust set of indicators and methodologies to assess impacts of nature-based solutions across 12 societal challenge areas: Climate Resilience; Water Management; Natural and Climate Hazards; Green Space Management; Biodiversity; Air Quality; Place Regeneration; Knowledge and Social Capacity Building for Sustainable Urban Transformation; Participatory Planning and Governance; Social Justice and Social Cohesion; Health and Well-being; New Economic Opportunities and Green Jobs. Indicators have been developed collaboratively by representatives of 17 individual EU-funded NBS projects and collaborating institutions such as the EEA and JRC, as part of the European Taskforce for NBS Impact Assessment, with the four-fold objective of: serving as a reference for relevant EU policies and activities; orient urban practitioners in developing robust impact evaluation frameworks for nature-based...
The Connecting Nature partnership includes three cities that are leading the way in terms of deve... more The Connecting Nature partnership includes three cities that are leading the way in terms of developing and implementing a Framework for city-wide nature-based solution delivery: Genk (Belgium), Glasgow (Scotland), and Poznań (Poland). Of these cities, Poznań's ambition is to supplement their existing 'green wedge' urban design by implementing a series of nature-based solution eco-gardens. The gardens will be designed to act as stepping-stones, providing connectivity between the existing green wedges, providing more equitable distribution of greenspace, and providing opportunities for experiencing and learning about nature. In collaboration with local kindergartens, the City of Poznań have already begun the roll-out of these gardens. Nature-based solution design principles are being used to convert grey spaces within the kindergartens into eco-gardens for the pupils and social gardens that provide accessibility for local communities. A key challenge in relation to out-sc...
The Nature-Based Solutions 'Initiating Scaling' Process is a mechanism for beginning a ci... more The Nature-Based Solutions 'Initiating Scaling' Process is a mechanism for beginning a city's journey from one where nature-based solutions are delivered as isolated pilots of innovation to one whereby nature-based solutions are embedded in city-wide processes and practice. To begin on this scaling journey, there is a need to: establish the current expertise and experience in nature-based solutions with a city; map and engage stakeholders in a shared transitioning vision in relation to upscaled delivery of nature-based solutions; and identify learning objectives that represent challenges to upscaling. This initiation process is based upon a co-production methodology centred around a city authority team. Co-production engages a broad group of stakeholders through experiential workshops and questionnaires to explore collective experience of nature-based solutions.
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