Earmarked public budget

As part of the title Green Capital of Europe, Ljubljana planted the first public orchard. The public orchard is open to citizens and visitors of the city, where fruits are available from mid-summer to late autumn. One part of the orchard includes a plantation of old varieties of apple, plum and pear, while the other includes trees species little known. The public orchard and nectar garden are intended for residents, passersby, volunteers, groups of pre-schoolers, families and educational organisations. The nectar garden is enriched by an innovative didactic adventure trail that winds around the nectar garden. Next to the nectar garden is a hotel for insects and bird feeder intended to promote biodiversity and raise awareness about nature conservation. Nearby is also a renovated playground for children. Three such orchards have been created in Rakovi jelši, Savski naselj and Puhtejeva ulica. The arrangement of the public orchard is one of the goals set in the environmental protection program for the City of Ljubljana 2014 - 2020. (1, 2 and 3)

The recreational and educational centre (RIC) area along the Sava river stretches from Tomačevo to Sneberje and totals 144,618 sqm. The area is intended for children, people with disabilities and other residents of the region, visitors and tourists. The intervention made this once degraded, illegal dumping area attractive for those seeking recreation, visitors and tourists, also in the evening as street lighting was installed along the path powered by photovoltaics. A large children's playground offers free socializing and children can develop their basic motor skills, which is exceptionally important in life's early years. (1)

"After decades of abandonment and deterioration, Zaragoza took advantage of the opportunity of the Expo 2008, to form a new relationship with the Ebro River, transforming empty, inaccessible, degraded and unsafe banks into places of encounter and representation. Public works on the Ebro were designed as structures with various functions." (Ref.3)

Since 2012, Gothenburg has worked with the Rivercity, an urban development project in the city centre, that uses different ways of working, with innovation at the core of its urban transformations projects. Frihamnen is one of the RiverCity Göteborg most vital projects which aims to unify the centre of Göteborg across the river and out towards Kvillebäcken, Lindholmen and Backaplan (districts). The environmental goal is to create climate adaptation by flood control & stormwater management. Additional benefits of the project are to make the area more attractive and create recreational areas. As part of the BEGIN project, the Frihamnen project aims to use 'blue-green' solutions (i.e. Blue Green Infrastructure through Social Innovation). (Ref. 1, 2)

The Ville Forests covering the hills between Bonn and Cologne are an example of a rare and highly endangered forest habitat type in Europe giving a home for many threatened animal species (1). The protection and conservation of these 'oak-hornbeam forests on hydromorphic soils and the forest-dwelling species was the main objective of the Villewälder: LIFE+ Project for Kottenforst and Ville project which includes four Natura 2000 areas with 4.378 hectares of forest. The conservation measures of the project focused on water balance restoration, habitat improvement and preservation, and the extension and connection of protected areas (1,2).

The aim of Ljubljanica Connects funded by Life+ is to improve connectivity between Natura 2000 sites. Started in 2012, the project aims to remove barriers to fish migration, enhance and restore habitats, improve water management infrastructures, and put in place a water monitoring system. This will restore the river Ljubljanica's function as a corridor, improve water management and so provide better links between Natura 2000 sites. The fish species in question are Danube Roach, Danube Salmon and Striped Chub (2).

With the "Green River" for Milan, the design team coordinated by Stefano Boeri has proposed an urban reforestation project that aims to realise on 90% of the seven abandoned railways a continuous system of parks, woods, oases, orchards and gardens for public use, linked between them by green corridors and bicycles made on the railroad tracks. (1, 3 and 4).

This project focuses on the development of environmental regulations stimulating the connection of existing green areas and developing new ones in the urban area of Rome to stimulate biodiversity by rehabilitating 73% of free/derelict areas. This was done to guarantee an integrated protection of already existing areas as well as restoration of green and blue landscapes (1). The Ecologic Network is still ongoing and provides specific limitations to any new infrastructural project to make sure specific environmental standards are respected (3).

This is a project financed by the EU LIFE Project on CO2 sequestration and reduction levels in the urban area of Rome. One of the initiatives involved an NBS, as RomaNatura took care of planting new trees over 2 hectares of land in the Valle dei Casali in the Municipio XV area (Ref. 1).

The first " ecological zone" in Ljubljana was established in 2007 in the old city centre. This led to the closure of a 100,000 m² area to motor vehicles, and the renovation of the main traffic axis to make it attractive for pedestrians and cyclists. The new transport regime in this area reduced black carbon levels by 58%. Additionally, the city administration has planted 63 ash trees. Biking and sustainable mobility have been promoted, in line with providing new green areas for social and sporting activities in formerly degraded areas. The "renaissance“ is not focused only on the city center and the implementation of the car-free zone, but it is expanded throughout Ljubljana and covers different fields, such as the revival of degraded areas, the establishment of green public spaces, playgrounds for children, eco-renovation of schools and kindergartens, cultural and sports facilities, etc. Finally, the river Ljubljanica has been the focus of an ecological restoration project. This was done with the aim of reducing pollution and returning the city centre to the citizens, by incentivizing pedestrian and bicycle commute. The "ecological zone" project has been completed. After the completion of the project, further initiatives were taken which is directly related to the project itself. Some of them focusing on converting the city to a sustainable one is still going on. (1, 3, 4 and 8).