Earmarked public budget

An educational forest trail was developed by the centre for environmental education organization Lipka as part of the ACT WELLL project partnership between Austria and the Czech Republic (2007-2013). (Ref. 2; Ref. 3). The trail includes eight stops on a two-kilometer circuit, where children and adults can learn about how nature works through games and challenges. (Ref. 2). These elements were created by artists Blanka Ponížilová and Hana Havlíčková (Ref. 1). Three-hour field-trip educational programs are available to kindergarten-aged students, and the trail is also open to the general public (Ref. 9).

The “Cities Dare Wilderness” project is part of the overall Hanoverian program of “More Nature in the City”, a new future-oriented approach to green spaces in urban areas. The aim of the project is to bring wilderness back to the city by increasing urban biodiversity, strengthening nature in the city and making it habitable for its inhabitants. For fulfilling these goals, eleven sites were chosen (some parts of the city park Eilenriede, some currently intensively cultivated areas or some derelict small gardens), in which different methods have been tried out, like planting local woody plants, grazing, and the implementation of interpretive trails. The development of the flora and fauna in the new wilderness is now being observed and investigated. The first step in the wilderness was made on a meadow along the course of the Fße in the Badenstedt which was fenced. It was made available for cattle to graze and influence the new growth of shrubs through feeding preferences (Reference 1, 2). The flowering meadows have attracted a variety of species. The rich habitat resulting from the project has attracted songbirds, hedgehogs, butterflies and some of the 67 bee varieties endemic to the state of Saxony (Reference 10).
Campaigns for environmental education are regularly offered in order to involve the population in the process of wilderness development. The series of “Wilderness Concerts” were organized, a “wilderness woodlice” was installed in one of the project areas (Mittlefield), and handicraft activities have been regularly offered, in addition to excursions and guided tours (Reference 8). Citizen science is also part of the project through the iNaturalist app that allows the community to record observations of the flora and fauna in the area (Reference 9).
The project is financed by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Natura Conservation and Nuclear Society. Two other cities, Frankfurt am Main and Dessau-Roßlau is also involved as model cities. (Reference 1,2)

In 2014, the Marseille Provence Métropole Urban Community commissioned five new stormwater retention basins in order to preserve the quality of coastal waters and reduce the risk of flooding (Ref. 4). In the past, in the event of severe thunderstorms the sewage networks became saturated and a portion of the water was then directly discharged into the sea without going through the sewage treatment plants (Ref. 1). This is seen as "one of the most important documents of recent years in terms of environmental protection. It foresees in the next 5 years, 185 million euros of major works" (Ref. 1).

When the national German railway company shut down parts of the former East station of Leipzig and its tracks in 2012, citizens developed an idea for its secondary use and came up with the concept of the "Parkbogen Ost" which represents a 5-kilometre long circle of bicycle lanes, footpaths and outdoor space surrounding the East of Leipzig. The city of Leipzig recognized its potential to connect the Eastern Leipzig with the city centre and developed the strategy further by issuing a "Masterplan Parkbogen Ost" as the base for a step-wise implementation of the project in 2013 (Ref. 5).

In 2017, the Sintra City Council opened a new urban park in the quarter of Cavaleira, with 25 thousand square meters that are inserted in urbanization where about 5 thousand people live. The park has zones of stay and of leisure, circuits of exercise for adults and seniors, children's green playground, pedestrian routes, canine park and the entire park has a green turf cover.
The design of the park, an investment of around 600 thousand euros, counted on the active participation of the population through ideas for the final project. (ref.2)

The scheme was designed to manage surface water runoff from a 1 in 30 year event and to always intercept and treat the, often more polluted, first flush of highway runoff (ref. 1). A total of 21 linear rain gardens (total of 148m2) were constructed within the grass verge, allowing for the constraints of access, below-ground services, street furniture and trees. The rain gardens utilise a combination of clean stone aggregate and proprietary units to create void space beneath a planted topsoil layer. They were designed to capture runoff from 5500 m2 of highway from a total surface area of 7100 m2 (ref. 1).

The project resulted in new greenery (shrubs and various types of vines) at acoustic screens on two busy streets (Grota-Roweckiego and Bobrzyńskiego) in Kraków. It used over a dozen species of ivy, vines and shrubs, which would lushly cover the screens, absorb the dust and help to fight city smog in a span of a few years. The initiative was implemented with the help of the citizens – residents and employees of surrounding companies, who planted the greenery under the experts' supervision [1,2].
The pilot project was implemented in 2016, whereas the main project is still ongoing with an aim to cover more screens across the city [1,3].

Kronsberg was built as a model district of sustainable urban development for the EXPO 2000, which motto was 'Humankind-Nature-Technology'. In the previously intensively farmed area, 3200 new dwelling unit was built. Among other sustainable technologies, the planners of the district developed a quasi-natural drainage system that aimed to provide the municipalities a sustainable alternative for traditional drainage (Reference 1, 2).

20 years after planning started in 1992, EXPO district of Kronsberg has proven its viability in terms of sustainable urban development and provided important foundations for advanced urban planning of new buildings in Hannover and elsewhere. The project was showcased in the ‘Crystal’ exhibition pavilion in London as a global standard for integrated construction. The ‘World Cities Summit 2012’ in Singapore also paid tribute to the residential area as one of the world’s hundred most innovative infrastructure projects (Reference 1, 2013).

Due to human interventions into the natural river flow with dykes, drainage of agricultural and grassland or cutting off its water bodies, the wetland Elster-Luppe had lost its groundwater base which decreased its biodiversity. With the support of the regional biodiversity fund and building on previous efforts, the city of Leipzig, together with partners such as the NABU Sachsen and research institutions, has revitalized, renaturalized and connected the water bodies of Leipzig's North-Western wetlands to one continuous watercourse since 2012. Its objective is restoring its ecosystem functions and increasing awareness for the importance of wetlands (4, 5).

In 2010, rehabilitation works on the Huveaune riverbanks, in the city of Marseille, were carried out by volunteers from three associations: Rives & Cultures, Planète Sciences Méditerranée, and Hunamar. Work included clearing, revegetation, and maintenance of riverbanks (Ref. 1). Since this initiative took place, the l'Huveaune Watershed Union has been formed and taken steps to formalize the rehabilitation of the Huveaune riverbanks (Ref. 2, 3, and 4).