Improved soil quality

The former site of the Krupp cast steel factory was transformed into a 230 hectares green belt stretching from the city
center to the district of Altendorf, while the adjacent industrial wasteland was turned into an 11 hectares add-on to the Krupp Park (Ref. 1). The landscape vision "Freiraum creates urban space", in which the Krupp Park is a building block, is a comprehensive strategic approach that aims to gradually build up new urban landscape structures and to create diverse qualities of location for different urban uses" (Ref. 9).

Baubotanik Tower is a test and demonstration building in Wald-Ruhestetten, approx. 150km south of Stuttgart. It exemplifies new engineering possibilities with living plants and visualizes the architectural and ecological potential of Baubotanik. Baubotanik or Living Plant Constructions is a technology of building with living trees, advanced by Stuttgart architect Ferdinand Ludwig. Baubotanik shapes living tree branches, stems and roots of trees into buildings to use qualities of forest in a dense city. For this purpose, living and non-living structural details are joined in a way they can grow together into a botanical and technical compound structure (ref 1, 2, 5).

This NBS is part of a national campaign that was first implemented in 1936 and it deals with an entire month through which local authorities alongside public institutions proceed at plant a large number of trees. The action was resumed in 2008. The Forest Month, how it was named initially, has been over time an opportunity to raise public awareness of the importance of forests, and their essential role in maintaining ecological balance. The current name - Planting month Tree- is regulated by the Romanian Forest Code. (1)

INCREDIBLE EDIBLE (or "Incroyables Comestibles" in French) is an experiment of social innovation: the volunteers of the movement cultivate small vegetable gardens scattered in the cities and the countryside and make their products available free of charge (Ref. 1). This, the first intervention, took place in front of the "Epicerie du Coing" where volunteers planted several vegetables, flowers and plants (Ref. 2).

The "Sunderland North Community Allotments" project aimed to clear and renovate derelict allotment plots, remove fly-tipping and rubbish and transform the site into brand new resources for local people. The project is expected to increase people’s knowledge of growing healthy produce and aims to enhance their diet whilst improving the amount of exercise and time spent in a green space. The project has been implemented in multiple areas including but not limited to Fulwell, Primrose, Thompson Road, Shields Road, High Southwick, Fulwell and Waterworks Field, Shields Road. Very recently, one of the allotments in Fulwell Mill got destroyed by a devastating fire. (Ref 1, 9 and 10)

At the primary school Laterna Magica, a green rainproof playground was created that is effective in stormwater retention, reduces soil erosion, supports biodiversity and provides education possibilities for the children. The playground consists of bioswales, terraces, diverse and pollen-rich vegetation and a vegetable garden. (1,2)

The Garden Janine (formerly called Jardin Nouveau) group is participating in the "Aix en Transition" initiative, which wants to increase food and energy resilience in order to better prepare for the future. This group initiated and supported the establishment of a vegetable garden benefiting homeless people, hosted in the Humanitarian Division of the "Jas de Bouffan" district (Ref. 1). A garden was previously cultivated on the area, but had become dilapidated. In 2019, much of the area was repurposed as an orchard as the vegetable garden was deemed to require too much continual presence/labour (Ref. 6).

The Park Killesberg serves as the green centre of the newly constructed district in Stuttgart and continues the long history of the area as a garden show site with a contemporary expression of landscape architecture and as a model for interconnected green spaces. The design is the result of a collaborative process with the local authorities, citizens and neighbours (1).

Wigan Flashes Project is encouraging natural re-colonisation to a site of very high conservation value and an enormous asset for recreation for the local community. The Wigan Flashes are a group of eight shallow wetlands, formed originally as a result of mining subsidence, which extend south from near Wigan's town centre. Over time, the industrial landscape has evolved in to a mixture of open water, reedbed, mossland, willow carr and fenland (ref 1).

City of Trees is an innovative movement set to re-invigorate Greater Manchester’s landscape by transforming underused woodland and planting a tree for every person who lives there (ref 1). Manchester City of Trees had undertaken work to improve water quality of a tributary of Worsley Brook through channel naturalisation and create wet woodland in the Cleavleys Nursery. The discharge from the tributary caused water quality failures in Worsley Brook under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) (Ref 3). This project allowed the stream to take a more natural course through the woodland and the waterlogged woods provide habitats to species and remedy these water quality issues (Ref 3).