Local government/municipality

The roof of IKEA in Åsane outside Bergen covers 22,000 m2 and has been covered with plants since 2011. (Ref. 1) The green roof promotes biodiversity, cleanses the air from pollutants and acts an important flood prevention measure in the region, as Bergen experiences a lot of rainfall and is expected to receive more as a consequence of climate change over the coming decades. (Ref. 3,5) The roof has attracted a lot of birdlife, including endangered species. (Ref. 2)

The Edinburgh Living Landscape (ELL) is a partnership between the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust (EGLT), the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Green Surge and Edinburgh University, it aims to help make Edinburgh a city fit for the future by fashioning healthy and beautiful environments that are resilient to climate change as well as being highly valued and accessible to people. It is made up of a range of projects that will create, restore and connect green areas of the city to make attractive and biodiverse landscapes that are enjoyed by residents and visitors. One of the examples is the Holyrood park. Naturalisation was tested in Holyrood Park, where a once regularly mown grassland is now cut only once per year. It benefits both wildlife and public amenity and also reduces maintenance costs for the site, with the potential to spend elsewhere on greenspace maintenance. This is a part of the ongoing Edinburgh Living Landscape Case Study which aims to make Edinburgh a city with healthy and beautiful environments, resilient to climate change. A range of similar projects will create, restore and connect green areas of the city to make an attractive and biodiverse landscape (ref 2, 3).

This blue and green infrastructure project of Bergen involves the development of a river park with riverside promenades, bridges and recreation areas. Bergen municipality wishes to develop the area along the Møllendalselven to a park that in the long run will extend from Store Lungegårdsvann to Svartediket and further up to the mountains. The area's industrial history forms the backdrop of a new park that will act as a green lung for the city's residents, both locally and in a slightly larger perspective, where Møllendalselven will become the central element. (Ref. 1, 2)

A formerly derelict area, part of a 19th-century estate, the Zurich Square is a park, whose whereabouts are relatively new, and whose main function is to serve as the only park for the 700 children of the neighbourhood. Its location makes it also valuable, meaning that this park is situated in an industrial area and it contains trees planted in the 19th century (1).

The Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne is an open space area of around 400 hectares, with a history dating back to the 12th century; it has remained an area of common land (with grazing rights belonging to The Freemen of Newcastle, a conservation body). This green space includes parks, allotments and sports facilities. (1, 2) For this, a social intervention aims to maintain the Town Moor as a green space; with the Freemen of Newcastle as 'guardians' for this social intervention scheme.

The project aims to reintroduce Patella ferruginea in the three Protected Marine Areas (AMP) (Portofino, Bergeggi and Cinque Terre), where the causes of extinction have been eliminated and an adequate level of protection is ensured (1). The project expects to achieve the following results: Biodiversity recovery and restoration of ribbed Mediterranean limpet by re-establishing a local population starting with 100 specimens; Reproduction and production of juveniles (some 6 000 larvae per year) to be introduced to the target areas for restocking; Full recovery and new population development of ribbed Mediterranean limpet in the target area; Restoration of the population translocated from Tavolara by introducing juveniles from controlled reproduction; and Strengthened territorial promotion and reinforcement of the “clean sea” message" (4).

The OrtoCollettivo project focuses on the creation of common spaces to grow local sustainable food while raising awareness about environmental challenges in cities. The project is based on teamwork: if there is work planned for today and someone cannot come to do that job, someone else will do it, with the ultimate benefit of everyone. It, therefore, stimulates common values about well-being, sustainable food production, and sharing time and activities collectively as a group (2). The initiative is ongoing and expanding, however in 2020 there were voices from the people living in the area that the poor maintenance of the terraces caused landslides and disturbed traffic. Nevertheless the NGO that initiated the intervention defended the project and suggested that the issue is caused by the lack of canals for the rain water to flow in. (8)

The project, concerning the installation of an experimental site for research and demonstration on the environmental benefits of the green roof in urban areas, arises from the need of the public administrations, and in particular the City of Genoa, to get a thorough technical knowledge in order to make urban planning tools more effective in the process of improving life quality in the urban environment (1).

"In order to make this center area attractive and dynamic, the EPASE (Saint-Etienne Public Development Agency) and the town hall of Saint-Etienne have set up an ambitious eco-neighborhood project. This project is based on public spaces that are built on an original urban park model where nature is the driving force behind the site. Nature is at the heart of this "park city" project, realized in record time: in a year and a half, the vast majority of the park's work has been carried out and the neighborhood has begun to change."(Ref. 1)

The urban development project between Little Lungegård Lake and Big Lungegård Lake (Store Lungegårdsvann) involves the creation of a canal between the two lakes as a means of runoff management, among other things. Water quality and flood protection are fundamental issues that are considered in this project as the city is expecting increased levels of precipitation due to climate change. The rest of the urban area will be transformed into an attractive modern city centre area with water as the most important element (Ref 1, 4).