Private sector/corporate actor/company

Preserved from urbanization, the square of Chalampé is a bubble of greenery in the heart of old Neudorf. The square had become aged, under-equipped and surrounded by a thin vegetated strip (Ref. 1). The project aims to revitalize Chalampé Square by removing invasive species, replanting vegetation that will remove the shady character of the square and by recreating the plant lines that line the square (Ref. 2).

This NBS is Porto’s largest green roof, sometimes referred as the "Fifth Façade Urban Rooftop Garden", the "Olive Trees Garden" is an oasis of 50 olive trees and lush grass on top of a semi-open gallery of shops, restaurants, and cafés with an underground parking garage.
It’s an urban park escape for city workers, tourists, and university students. Located on top of "Praça de Lisboa" (Lisbon square), this is a fantastic concept of urban planning done right: green space co-existing with commerce and vehicles below street level. This project was completed in 2013 as an effort to improve an area in decline in the middle of the cultural centre of Porto by creating a green space for the community (Ref. 1, 2).

The park of Dondaines is an agro-urban park of the city. This contrast is guaranteed by the ecological management of space that aims to promote biodiversity in this highly urbanized area. The Park of Dondaines is located in a strategic position, between the old and the new Lille, and creates a link between these two entities. The park hosts a pedagogical farm. It is a framework where the urban, the animals and the plants meet. It preserves plants and small animals by providing them with food and habitat. The cover of the periphery, planted with pines, ensures the continuity of the park with the new districts of Euralille(Ref 3).The place is a garden of representation, park of proximity, urban agriculture and food production space, pedagogical farm and event platform, and a place for sports and games (Ref 2, 5).

The water treatment station in Marquette-lez-Lille had a makeover in September 2014. The facility was renovated and rebuilt with cutting-edge technologies and included a new energy production unit. The plant serves 37 municipalities with treated water. The renovation project enabled the station to be integrated into an urban environment. Almost 17 acres have been transformed into a wetland with the planting of more than 20,000 trees and shrubbery. Encircled by a high-speed road, the Deûle canal, a forest and homes, this classified site is marked by exceptional biodiversity. The Marquette station is recognized as a leader in its industry and was nominated by Global Water Intelligence (GWI) as one of the four projects of the year worldwide for 2014 (Ref 1).

The Eco-District at the Banks of the Bohrie Ostwald is structured around water with the Bohren pond, the river Ostwaldergraben and the seasonal and permanent wetlands (Ref. 2). The project covers 50 hectares and was initiated by Strasbourg Eurométropole with 2 developers: CM CIC SAREST and Nexity-Foncier Conseil (Ref. 1, 7). The district will integrate its structures into the surrounding water land and vegetation to provide for agricultural water management and flood preventing procedures (Ref. 2). It will also have green roofs, public green spaces, (Ref. 4) vegetable gardens, (Ref. 7) and composting, while on-site vegetation will participate in the deployment of green infrastructure (Ref. 5). "An eco-district of 48 hectares (17 urbanized hectares) is being created" (Ref. 11).

Since the decay of the former DDR, the lignite industry had a major downturn. Most of the mines were closed and its remaining craters re-naturalized and flooded with ground- or rainwater to be revived as recreational lakes. In the Leipzig area of "Neuseenland" up to 23 artificial lakes were created since the nineties by the respective mining company "Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH" which has the obligation to securely and sustainably redevelop the area into forestry, agricultural, natural or recreational areas and reintegrate it into the adjacent landscape. The lakes have become important recreational areas for citizens (4, 8).

Hamburg decided to increase the number of trees in the city, however, the budget was not enough to completely fulfil this goal. Therefore, the city not only tripled the municipal budget dedicated to tree planting and but began encouraging the citizens to contribute to greening the city through the donation campaign "My tree - My city”. The project was launched in 2011 as part of the European Green Capital programme of Hamburg. Citizens can donate and by using an interactive map, can choose a site and a tree species to be planted, and follow-up the implementation of their tree. (Reference 1, 3) The City of Hamburg gave for each tree that reached donations of 500 Euro the same amount on top to cover the average costs of 1.000 Euro per tree, which includes the preparation of the planting pit, the planting itself and maintenance. (Reference 4) The campaign was so successful that it continued even after Hamburg’s year as the European Green Capital and is still going on in 2020. (Reference 2, 7)

Opened in June 2006, the Jean-Baptiste Lebas Park, which occupies a space once used for illegal parking and marred by 11 lanes of traffic, is surrounded by the boulevard of the same name. This park plays an important role in creating an urban green space into a derelict grey area. The park helped to increase the biodiversity of the area. It has an area of 3-hectare (7-acre) and it contains a large lawn with flowerbeds, play areas for children and places for playing "boules" (Ref 1).

Zollverein is an abandoned colliery and coking plant near the center of Essen in Germany (Ref. 6). Since 1993 the mining here stopped, and the site was turned into a derelict area, so nature could win back its territory. Most of the railway tracks and the smaller industrial leftovers are now covered with moss, grass, and weeds (Ref. 4). After the site was recognized as a World Heritage Site in 2001, it started being developed as a multifunctional cultural, tourist and recreational center keeping and developing biotopes that emerged over time (Ref. 11).

The Newton and Arkwright roof, buildings of the Nottingham Trent University campus, holds one of the region’s largest sedum roofs, which spans its way 2,500m² across the building, creating a home for 13 varieties of sedum, insects, songbirds and a new colony of honey bees, creating a trio of hives over all campuses (ref. 1). A 150m2 bank surrounding the building is unmown in order to promote biodiversity and attract pollinating insects in the summer months. Green-walled gates was also part of the implementation activities of this project. (ref. 5).