Ongoing

The Barr Foundation started the cross-cutting program called Waterfront Initiative to support the sustainable planning and accessibility of the waterfront area while also increasing residents awareness and environmental stewardship of the waterfront. The Waterfront Initiative initially supported organizations in harbour planning, designing waterfront parks, and climate resilience efforts along the Boston waterfront. In 2018, it has also strengthened its focus on social equity and public engagement across more vulnerable neighbourhoods around waterfront issues (1,2)

"In Winnipeg, there are several downtown neighbourhood groups (such as the Spence Neighborhood Association, and the West Broadway Community Organization) that make use of vacant urban space for the benefit of indigenous communities, and encourage them to maintain green spaces, ‘tot lots’, and a network of dozens of community gardens. There are also community-led indigenous ‘healing lodges’, Indigenous gardens, medicine gardens, as well as a land-based education programs (e.g. Marymound) using gardening to help at-risk indigenous youth heal from trauma and build resilience in these neighbourhoods." (1 p41).
One such community gardens are the Chief Grizzly Bear’s Garden (in its official, Anishinaabe name: Ogimaa Gichi Makwa Gitigaan) focusing on increasing the visibility of the indigenous community in the Spence Neighbourhood and providing public space for gathering and traditional indigenous ceremonies honoring their connection to nature. The garden is also the place for cultivating native plants significant for traditional medicine practices (1).

Another NBS initiative supporting the indigenous community in Winnipeg will be the Clan Mothers Healing Village and Knowledge Centre (CMVH) initiated by The Elders of Winnipeg. The CMVH will be located in rural Manitoba and provide a land-based, nurturing community living environment for indigenous women and youth who have been victims of intergenerational trauma, sexual/domestic violence, or human trafficking and support their reintegration into society. (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)

This project started as a grassroots movement by Hunter’s Bar Infant School (HBIS) in Sheffield when they were seeking to actively help to protect children from air pollution. HBIS led a fundraising campaign that, in collaboration with the University of Sheffield, provided the base to create a green barrier in their playground. The NBS is part of a bigger study called BREATHE that provides the science behind the project, which involves the design of the green barrier, the assessment of its impacts and a feasibility evaluation for installing green barriers in other schools in Sheffield and in Buenos Aires. (1)

The Climate Adaptation Strategy (CAS) was approved in 2016 and it includes various measures that aim to address various urban challenges (e.g. temperature rise, heat waves, heavy rainfalls, flooding)(Ref. 1, 2). The CAS is considered a key instrument for integrating green and blue measures in comprehensive planning.
Here, the NBS is presented with a focus on two specific measures: (Reference 1) Integration of the Urban Climate Map in urban planning, focusing on the preservation of existing air corridors/channels through open green spaces. (Reference 2) Integration of other climate adaptation measures in urban planning instruments through open green areas, community rooftop gardens, trees, and water elements. (Reference 1)

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).

Urban gardening developed in Rome as a reaction to the unequal distribution of available green spaces in densely populated areas of the city, and to the lack of care for the already existing ones. Since 2006, a large number of associations and informal citizen groups have started to engage in collective gardening by performing both Guerrilla Gardening-style actions and long-lasting community gardens projects run by local associations. This social and spatial transformation is turning most of its urban voids and interstitial spaces into places for collective enjoyment thanks to the spontaneous engagement of local dwellers. [1]

The proposed masterplan for the "Città della Scienza" or the City of Science by Vincent Callebaut Architectures and Studio d'Architettura Briguglio Morales focuses on sustainability with history to propose a self-sufficient urban ecosystem in Italy. More than a spatial work of art, it encourages the promotion of sustainable design, low carbon transportation, renewable energies, automation technologies, and green building materials. Because of these features, the project has many examples of nature-based solutions (e.g.vertical gardens, green roofs/walls, orchards). Operating on the principle of living facades, the Città della Scienza revitalizes Rome's forgotten military district into a vibrant, regenerating living city. [1][3]

The creation of pocket parks is an urban initiative that has steadily grown throughout Budapest since 2010 (Reference 1). Most of these projects are citizen-led, but there is often support provided in the form of education and consultancy by initiatives such as the Contemporary Architecture Center (KÉK), or sometimes the local government (Reference 8). These spaces, typically covering an area of 1400 square meters only, are multi-functional and provide a space for small-scale food production, recreation, community sharing, and can be a fundamental element of neighbourhood rehabilitation. Moreover, it provides positive environmental effects such as water retention and the improvement of the area's micro-climate. Pocket-parks are critical in increasing the number of green areas in neighbourhoods that have limited space. (Reference 9)

The Porto Biospots Network is a partnership of the Municipality with "Infraestruturas de Portugal", and is a network of urban forest areas (predominantly autochthonous) that aims to allow the reforestation of adjacent transit routes, major highway nodes, and routes of circulation within the city, transforming environmentally poor lands into green areas that provide multiple ecological services. This initiative foresees the reforestation of 14 areas and the planting of 10,000 trees by 2021, having already completed 2 roads, with a total of 1305 native trees planted. The biospot is the materialization of a part of the Municipal Ecological Structure of Porto. [1][4]