Local government/municipality

The river Emscher is the symbol of one of the internationally most renowned industrial regions: the Ruhr area with its 5 million inhabitants and an important location of key industries such as steel, chemical, and materials industry. The revitalisation of the Emscher over the last 20 years marks a new phase in the region‘s history and is an impressive example of ecological and socio-economic transformation affecting all aspects of life along the river (Ref. 1).

The garden is located on the territory of the social welfare home 'Helclów' in Kraków under the protection of a regional monument conservator. It is supposed to integrate the residents of various age and support physical rehabilitation and leisure with elements of garden therapy. Its main goal is to integrate the elderly from the social welfare home with other citizens through joint activities, such as flowers and herbs planting and caretaking. The initiative involves planting greenery (including 314 trees and 134 square meters of shrubs between 2010 and 2016), setting a grill area, and renovating the infrastructure for the disabled. The garden is supposed to serve as an offset for harmful developments in other parts of the city. Private investors are often obliged to provide resources for new trees in the garden’s natural wall and a noise and pollution barrier. The park is publicly accessible between 9 AM and 6 PM and is available for the organization of events and meetings. The concept to open the previously closed garden to the public was initiated an application for a participatory budget in 2016 and very much supported by all parties involved [1,2,3].

This project was created on the occasion of Lille being the European Culture Capital in 2004. The Park of the Deule was designed to connect the city of Lille with the old mining industry areas along the Deule River. The graphic inscription is a landscape guided by the necessities of topography and control of water (Ref 1). Mosaïc has an area of 33 ha gardens with a pond, woods, and landscapes. Each garden mixes botanical, art and rare domestic animals (Ref 2). The park got the National Landscape Award in 2006 (Ref 4).

In 2013, local activists came up with an initiative to plant 100 trees and 100 bushes in different parts of the District XIII in Kraków. It was supposed to be financed by the participatory budget of Kraków. Still, the delay in implementation led to a situation when the second project by the same team (plant 101 trees and 101 bushes) overlapped with the previous one the following year. The city implemented the original idea, and the district received 100 trees and 101 bushes in 2015. The project aimed to increase the aesthetic and decorative value of the area and to increase the comfort of living of its inhabitants, as well to obtain funds for urban greenery management [1,3].

The aim of the project is to implement a sustainable rainwater management in Hamburg that is adjusted to the heavy rainfalls attributed to global climate change. The project involves the analysis of pilot projects, including GIS-based analysis and the development of the city's rainwater structure plan 2030, Strukturplan Regenwasser 2030, (Reference 1) that will serve as a basis for the Integrated RainWater Management (IRWM) in Hamburg (Reference 5).

Together with the Office for Urban Greenery and Waters of the City of Leipzig, the charitable association Ökolöwe Leipzig started the green facades initiative "Kletterfix - Green Walls for Leipzig" in 2015. The project aims at creating awareness about the multiple benefits of urban green walls and inspiring action of tenants and landlords on private property. As a measure mandated by the Urban Clean Air Plan, green facades improve the urban microclimate, general living conditions and combat particulate matter pollution. On-site advice about suitable plants and maintenance is provided upon application and respective seeds for up to 5 plants are sent for free to the applicants by the city department (1, 3, 7).

EPAEM (Euromediterranean public development establishment) launched the development a new park of 14 hectares. Located in former industrial area at the gates of the northern districts of Marseille, it is considered to be one of the poorest districts in France (Ref. 1). The planned park Aygalades is divided into two parts: the southern part of 4 hectares called Bougainville Park and the northern part of 10 hectares which runs along the Aygalades river (Ref. 1). Development work on Bougainville Park is set to begin in September 2020 with completion in 2023 (Ref. 12). The park is described as "the first step of a large project to restore a highly degraded industrial site" (Ref. 12).

The park was completely renovated by planting trees, shrubs, flowers, and by renovating existing grey elements and adding new ones. The project was implemented as part of the programme for Improvement of the Ecological and Recreational environment of Plovdiv, which was funded by the ERDF through the national Operational Programme “Regional Development” 2007-2013 (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3; Ref. 6).

The ‘University Park Essen’ is developed on a former railway site in the inner city of Essen, that had been a wasteland for almost 30 years. By revitalizing this about the 13-hectare large plot, an urban green quarter for residential and commercial use is created. The centricity of the park within the new quarter between the city center, shopping mall Limbecker Square and the university campus is the first visible component of the development and therefore shapes the new identity of the quarter (Ref. 4).

“The Nottingham in Bloom campaign is a city-wide partnership which includes residents, businesses, schools, community groups and a wide range of volunteers. The aim is to encourage more people to get involved to improve their local area. Together they [through the campaign] produce horticultural excellence and enhance the local landscape, the environment and the character of Nottingham.” (Ref. 1)