Local government/municipality

The Development of the Garden of the Schloessel project is part of the Natural Urban Park project undertaken by the City Council in consultation with the Strasbourg Urban Community (Ref. 3). The project aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the area by installing and redeveloping green spaces in the garden as well as providing the site with stormwater management infiltration (Ref. 1).

The project of the Park of Malaga was to rehabilitate the lateral spaces of the Paseo del Parque, the organization of the environment, the recovery of the flora and structure of the Park, as well to construct a solution for problems of mobility. (Ref. 1). Recovery of Vegetation of the park, its original layout, and its scientific character of garden Botanical and species acclimatization were central aims of the project (Ref 1).

The San Rafael Park is an urban park and commemoration site built over former communal graves containing more than 2000 bodies of victims of the Spanish Civil War and the Franquista regime. The large project has had 4 phases, three of which have been completed, including the building of a Historical Memory Pantheon to commemorate the victims in the communal graves exhumed from the grounds where the park now stands. (ref 1) In these phases are numerous reforestation and water preservation plans (ref 1-7) including the gardening of more than 4,000m² of green area with 104 shade trees, 8 palm trees and more than 400 units of shrubs, in addition to covering the rest of the surface with perennials and meadows (ref 3).

Under the “Bahn 2000” project while restructuring the main railway station of Zurich, a green roof has been implemented on one of the platforms. The whole area was mapped as a sensitive area, a living space for different endangered insects and reptiles whose natural environment consisted of desert-like spaces. Swiss law prohibits the destruction of such biotopes without replacement. In their protection, the idea of using the rooftop as a replacement was suggested and accepted by the administration. The roof was planned with a special focus on the living space demands of the different species. (Ref 1)

The rehabilitation of the main road Alameda Principal seeks to invert the previous distribution of use of space that saw 70% of it devoted to car usage and 30% to pedestrian use, after the intervention the situation should be 75% civilian and pedestrian space and 25% for cars. (Ref. 4,5) More public spaces, green areas, walks, bike lanes and leisure facilities will characterize this action, which also prioritizes highlighting the identity of this area of the city and value its architectural elements, patrimonial, wooded vault and cultural links. (Ref. 4)

Wildlife in the City is a project led by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, with Nottingham City Council, to promote, protect and celebrate the nature reserves, wildlife sites and green spaces across Nottingham City (ref. 2). Wildlife in the City is a project run by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust was originally designed to raise awareness of the value of urban wildlife and to inspire people to get involved with caring for wildlife sites on their doorstep. The project aimed to engage people in their local green spaces and wildlife. Wildlife in the City ran lots of activities and events, volunteering opportunities, training opportunities and more (ref. 1). It began as a three-year project funded by Natural England through Access to Nature, as part of the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme. The project worked with local people to undertake vital habitat creation and management works throughout the city. It particularly worked in areas of Nottingham with previously little wildlife activity from the partners. These areas were Bestwood, Bulwell, Aspley/Broxtowe estate, Clifton, The Meadows, and Sneinton (ref. 6). After the funding for the project has ended, its objectives and the partnership between the City Council and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust remained and the Trust continues managing many of the Council's wildlife sites and using local volunteers to help out with essential tasks such as scrub management, gardening, litter picks and floral surveys (ref 2).

The community garden is located in the midst of a housing quarter and in the city district of Grünau, a former Plattenbau-area and forms part of a wider area redevelopment project which turns former brownfield (from the DDR era) into generationally mixed housing units with higher living standards. The idea for the garden arose among its residents, who determined its design and elements. It consists of multi-use zones for young and old residents: a central square, a pond with special flora, plant beds for gardening and harvesting, a wild meadow for recreation and picnics (2,3).

Working with Cardiff local authorities, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water's (DCWW) upgraded Trelawney Avenue to its RainScape Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) (Ref. 4) which alleviated risk to residents and nearby highway which were at a 2 in 10 year flood risk (highly-risky) (Ref. 3). Flooding commonly occurred due to rainwater run-off from the roofs and roads of upstream catchments that drained into a combined, overburdened sewer network. Traditional systems of increasing pipe-size and storage were not cost effective (Ref. 3). A sustainable solution was developed which combined road surface drainage (gullies and slotted grates) and provided water-butts (200 liter reservoirs for roof drains) to 101 properties in Trelawney Avenue and to 75 properties in the upstream catchment (Ref. 3). Additionally, a wall was built to protect properties from the potential effects from surface water run-off (Ref. 1).

The project of Nature Oasis Auwiesen is creating new habitats for animals and plants in Stuttgart. The project is one of a total of six “Neckar pearls” that are to be completed by 2022 as part of the Neckar Landscape Park master plan in Stuttgart. In the project with a predominantly ecological focus, grassland in the Neckaraue near the Aubrücke is to be transformed into a near‐natural, ecologically valuable wetland biotope. In the course of straightening the Neckar, the wet and floodplain biotopes that were typical and widespread in the floodplains have been lost. The aim of the project is to restore these habitats for animals and plants, which have become very rare today. A network of marshes, water surfaces, islands, and bushes is to be created in the district of Hofen. On an area previously used as grassland, new habitats will be created for rare animals and plants, which are dependent on water areas. Initially, the planned implementation time was 2016-2022, but now it has been delayed and is expected to start by the end of 2021. (2, 7).

On November 5, 2019, the Committee for Urban Development and Technology passed the building decision for the riverside park Austraße - Neckarterrassen. To the north of Münster, the Neckar has cut deeply into the shell limestone and describes a wide arc on the Prallufer. There is little space between the cliff and the river - that is what makes this place so special. This is where the Austraße riverside park is being built with the elements Freienstein water playground (element 1), Neckarterrassen and Tapach-Link (element 2) as well as Austraße, Neckarufer and Neckarstrand (element 3). The first component has already been implemented: children will find their favorite spot on the Freienstein water playground south of the Max-Eyth-Steg. Students from the Elise von König School in Münster contributed their ideas as part of a child participation program. With the second component and its sub-projects “Tapach-Link” and “Neckarterrassen”, there are beautiful prospects for Münster: Those who have overcome the relay to the Neckarterrassen can rest in the shade and let their eyes wander up and down the Neckar. The third component of the Austraße riverside park - in addition to the Freienstein water playground, Neckarterrassen and Tapach-Link - focuses on the banks: podiums and platforms are planned on the river to linger while the freighters transport their goods on the water. Insects, small crabs and small fish find optimal living conditions on the renatured bank zones with stones and diverse flora. (1, 7).