Technological

Taru Leading Edge initiated a lake conservation project in Indore with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and Indore Municipal Corporation as part of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN).
Urbanisation and the increase of impermeable surfaces reduced the capacity for groundwater recharge. The climate change risks indicate increasing rainfall variability and more intense and/or more frequent storms as well as an increase in dry periods. With less permeable soils the city needs to optimally use existing lakes to capture runoff, creating buffer supplies and helping to increase groundwater recharge. The main objective of this project was “ensuring availability of local water resources during emergencies”, through developing a replicable model for peri-urban lake rejuvenation and conservation. The expected outcomes of the project include a stakeholder-managed process for stabilising/improving the water quality of the restored lakes and generating interest among multiple stakeholders to conserve urban lakes. TARU has restored and worked on 2 water bodies, demonstrating methods and processes required to revive lakes that have co-benefits of groundwater recharge, aesthetic enhancement of the area, cool microclimate and possible livelihood restoration. The names of the lakes restored are Khajrana talab and Lasudiya Mori talab. [2, 4]

In 2015 an innovative project called the "Sweet City" (Ciudad Dulce) was launched in Curridabat. Its main goal was to bring wild spaces into 21 urban neighbourhoods of Curridabat ("spaces of sweetness") and eight corridors ("transitions") and thus linking neighbourhoods and parks through a participatory re-design approach with local stakeholders [3]. The main objective of the Sweet City model is to reintroduce biodiversity into the urban space by focusing on five fundamental dimensions: Biodiversity, Infrastructure, Habitat, Co-existence and Productivity. The interventions of this project included park improvements, sustainable drainage systems, the protection of wetlands, spring water recovery, promoting organic farming practices, and many strategies that help improve biodiversity and motivate citizen participation, finally, as ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction measures and climate change adaptation actions [1].

The Recreio green corridor project, launched in 2012 by the Municipal Secretariat for the Environment and several city departments, aims to protect and enhance the rich biodiversity and ecosystems of the area, to help with the resilience and adaptation of the west side of the city, an area affected by coastal flooding and erosion. The project mostly focused on preserving, connecting, and expanding the existing local urban nature elements and protecting their ecology. Lastly, the project also aimed to educate the residents about native vegetation and help build social interaction and cohesion between the local communities [Ref 1]. The project was designed to preserve and connect 320.76 ha of protected areas and add 60.73 ha of open public spaces and squares. And in total, the corridor has a linear extension of close to 8 kilometers, passing through very diverse urban areas (Ref. 7), including natural parks, a lagoon system, water canals, and social housing areas.

The City of Melbourne, through its Urban Forest Strategy, has a comprehensive plan for greening major streets and precincts, but not the smaller laneways. Across the municipality, laneways occupy a ground area of 60 hectares, with a further 150 hectares of space on the walls in these laneways (3). "The City of Melbourne has established the GYL program in 2016 with the vision to help transform the city’s smaller laneways into leafy, green and better usable spaces for the residents and other visitors to enjoy while addressing the city’s sustainability challenges." (1 p27). So far, a pilot project has been carried our including the transformation of 4 laneways: Coromandel Place, Guildford Lane, Meyers Place and Katherine Place (1,3). The intervention included an intensive planning process with the involvement of stakeholders from the private and public sectors and the creation of an interactive map of laneways ideal for greening. (1,2). The GYL program aims to address the issues of urban heat islands, climate change impacts of flood mitigation while also improving local aesthetics, amenity and creating opportunities for recreation (1).

The Mary Ellen Welch Greenway (previously East Boston Greenway) is a mixed-use pathway and linear park built on a former rail corridor" linking several parks in the neighbourhood and also connecting the East Boston district to the beachfront (1, p23). In the 1950s after the Consolidated Rail Corporation stopped using the railways, it became a derelict dumping ground. To the initiation of a local community organisation with the collaboration of governmental authorities, the redevelopment of the area has started as a rail-to-trail conversion program. When completed, the Greenway will link several important open green spaces in the East Boston neighbourhood, increase the acres of park per resident in the area, provide a place for recreational activities and direct greenway to the Boston Harbor (1). Furthermore, with water management amenities the area would serve as a buffer zone in case of flooding by barricading the waterfront. (1)

The Porous Alley consists of a strip of porous asphalt in a public alley aimed at filtering stormwater and managing runoff in the affluent South End neighbourhood of Boston. Most of the neighbourhood around the NBS location is filled with land that once was tidal marshes, supported by wood pilings, and threatened by falling groundwater levels. The Porous Alley was designed and implemented as a demonstration project to test the feasibility of using porous asphalt to increase groundwater recharge and reduce flooding and water pollution. The increasing groundwater level has high importance in the area the NBS is located in as building foundations are at risk from low water levels. (1,2)

Winnipeg lies at the confluence of the Assiniboine and the Red River, a location known as 'The Forks', which is the cultural centre and meeting place of the city. "The winter use of the river went through an unprecedented change over the last 10 years, organized by a private company (The Forks North Portage Partnership), that began to operate the 'Red River Mutual Trail', the longest Guinness World Record-holding natural skating trails on the Red and Assiniboine rivers, offering opportunities for skating, curling, cycling, walking, and cross-country skiing, along with cultural events and unique, community-designed warming huts, a restaurant on ice, art exhibitions and other activities. The river trails also links otherwise distant neighborhoods, and functions as a transportation and commuting route with a variety of access and exit points during the city’s typically 4-5 months of winter climate." (Ref.1 p60)

The Xochimilco borough of Mexico City is a World Heritage and Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System wetland site, with significant cultural and ecological importance in food cultivation and water ecosystem (1). Due to the deterioration of the area and lack of top-down initiatives for the restoration and conservation of the area, a number of grassroots initiatives trying to revive the traditional chinampa cultivation and restore the natural state of the ecosystem function and its native species such as the Xochimilco axolotl through reinvigorating sustainable practices that produce quality food and foster water supply. This NBS introduces 3 such grassroot intiatives: (a) Cooperativa Chinampayolo (b) Restauración Ecológica y Desarrollo A.C. (REDES) with its EcoQuilitl producer-consumer network and (c) Umbral Axochiatl A.C. (local community organisation). (1)

The campus of the Venice-Mestre Hospital (Ospedale dell’Angelo Mestre, Angel Hospital), considered the most technologically advanced health facility in Italy is a general care hospital. A Landscape Garden surrounds the hospital complex, containing woods, lakes, hills and an area called “the meadow,” a large roof garden linking the hospital block. The buildings are connected by abundant gardens offering pleasant views to patients. The hospital includes various roof gardens, as extensive green areas that offer water protection, storage of water as well as proper drainage and required ventilation of the green. The hospital includes green roofs, gardens, green driveways and green terraces. (ref. 1 and 3)

In 2014 a counselling office of the NGO Green City was established, entitled The Greening Office (Begrünungsbüro), with the objective of better engaging citizens in green adaptation measures, such as green roofs, green façades, green walls or green courtyards (Reference 1, 5). Financed by the City’s Department of Health and Environment, the project addresses climate change adaptation through greening private properties, achieved through counselling citizens and companies, with diverse outreach and networking activities. The NBS recognised the potential of the many unused private spaces, such as south-facing facades and flat roofs to better adapt to climate change across the entire city (Reference 1).