Local government/municipality

The association Codifas started its own initiative to inform citizens on the danger of practising traditional agriculture, and the advantages of sustainable agriculture. The initiative has been implemented by applying the concept of social inclusion, which means that young people from foreign countries (Ghana, Senegal etc.) were involved in the project and they helped to realize it. Together with the goal of social inclusion, the project has important benefits in terms of sustainable production and consumption. The whole area for cultivation has been divided into several plots, for those citizens who are willing to cultivate it. (Ref.1.)

This NBS comes as a reply against the municipality of Iasi which in 2013 cited lack of visibility and aesthetic preoccupation decided to cut over 100 linden trees and replace them with Japanese acacia in the city centre. The action enraged the inhabitants of the city who alongside local and national NGOs took the matter into their own hands and protested. As such in 2015 the municipality re-planted the linden trees (1).

An afforestation campaign was launched in 2016 across the whole North Region of Plovdiv, with the aim of making the region a more pleasant and greener place of living with cleaner air. This ongoing campaign has consisted of planting trees, shrubs, and flowers in different places in the region (Ref. 1; Ref. 2).

MFO park is one of the green infrastructures in the city of Zurich. Instead of designated space between paved streets, MFO-Park uses the structure of an old factory building as its skeleton, taking the form of a multilevel building that seamlessly fits into the surrounding structures. The basis for MFO-Park comes from an old industrial building which used to be a weapons production and testing complex. MFO has received a series of awards, including recognition as the “Most Innovative Contemporary Park or Garden”– a prestigious designation from the European Garden Heritage Network (Ref 1).

Liège Trilogiport is a trimodal logistic area of ​​100 ha located along the Albert Canal, which includes a 15 ha container terminal and a ​​40 ha logistic area. From early stages of development, particular attention was paid to well-being and quality of life. A considerable effort was made to preserve about ¼ of the total area of ​​Liège Trilogiport as nature area, with more than 25 hectares dedicated to a green welcome zone (Ref. 1).

The Urban Environment Observatory Building (OMAU) was built in Malaga as part of the URB-AL 1998 project, it is a construction planned for environmental conservation and includes an ecological cover for the use of rain water in the supply to the structure's watering system. (Ref 2, 3)

The project regards the creation of a natural park close to the Orteto river, which crosses the city of Palermo. The problems of the area mainly concern the housing development, which was increasing during the years without considering the potential negative environmental impact. The creation of the park is expected to be a solution to face the challenges created by the unsustainable development of the area. It would be an opportunity to regenerate an area where intervention is needed, providing additional ecosystem services such as coastal protection, and improving air quality. (Ref.1.)

The garden is an opportunity for training, leisure and coexistence where the teaching of ecological gardening is combined with the love of plants and the social use of land. Consolidated in just one year as a training point for the unemployed without losing that playful-neighborhood component with which it opened its doors. In it the volunteers develop a methodology of teaching that facilitates the socialization and the reintegration work when acquiring knowledge in gardening and carpentry. (ref 1)

Bee-friendly Nottingham is a campaign run by Nottingham City Council to make Nottingham a more pollinator-friendly city, promote pollinator-friendly gardening at council events and to protect bee populations by planting pollinator-friendly plants via planting schemes (Ref. 1). It aims to make some lasting changes to the way people manage open spaces in order to help wild and domestic bees and provide more flowers for foraging and more habitat for nest sites (ref. 1).

The Rohrschollen island, located near Strasbourg, is representative of a particular environment in Europe: the Rhine alluvial forests. These forests are known for the exuberance of their vegetation and their richness of species: it is a rare ecosystem both at the national and European level. These forests are regressing nowadays and as a result, the four major European rivers from the Alpine range (Rhine, Rhone, Danube, Po) have lost most of their riparian forests. The objective of the project is to restore a dynamic flood regime on the island of Rohrschollen that is modeled on the Rhine's hydrological rhythm (Ref. 1).