Questionnaire surveys / online surveys

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).

The restoration of Highfields Park was completed in Summer 2018 with path repairs and tree works to be carried out in winter 2018 to 2019. The five-year development journey of returning Highfields park to its former glory has included two rounds of public consultation. The views of park users and project partners such as the University of Nottingham, the UK's Environment Agency and the Highfields Park User Group identified a strong desire to see the park restored and improved (ref. 1), including improvements on heritage features such as historic walls, bridges and the old Boating Lake Ticket Office (ref. 2). In total, this project aimed to repair unused structures of the park including walled gardens, gardener’s cottages and historic halls and houses, converting them into volunteer and training centers, event spaces and community facilities (ref. 3). Highfields Park also provides valuable scrub and woodland habitat for breeding birds such as robin, sparrow and blue tit. The additional diversity of habitats provides important foraging and breeding opportunities for invertebrates and mammals. (Ref 4)

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).

The scheme was designed to manage surface water runoff from a 1 in 30 year event and to always intercept and treat the, often more polluted, first flush of highway runoff (ref. 1). A total of 21 linear rain gardens (total of 148m2) were constructed within the grass verge, allowing for the constraints of access, below-ground services, street furniture and trees. The rain gardens utilise a combination of clean stone aggregate and proprietary units to create void space beneath a planted topsoil layer. They were designed to capture runoff from 5500 m2 of highway from a total surface area of 7100 m2 (ref. 1).

The flower meadow was established in 2017 on the roof of Karcher company’s building in Kraków. It is a multiannual project. The meadow consists of herbs and flowers and it serves multiple purposes; provides the recreational space for workers, supports biodiversity and provides habitat for insects and birds, especially pollinators, and has aesthetic functions as it is composed of diverse multi-colour flowers which bloom in different seasons [1].

Architect Santiago Calatrava is set to create a grass-topped office block on the plaza in front of Stadelhofen Station in Zurich with public parking for 1000 bicycles on the ground level. The project is expected to provide a good habitat for some species with controlling the seasonal cooling and heating of the building. (Ref 1)

It is one of the most famous parks in the city. A re-design is offering the opportunity to make use of the full potential of the place and to put it back into the public’s focus – as a place for recreation, a park, a promenade and Zurich’s very own, most central urban park. An urban square was formed, representing generosity and offering space for multiple functions. A gateway from park to courtyard during the daytime, the mirroring water surfaces of the illuminated pools, and the annex’s reflecting façade create the atmosphere of a grotto at night (Ref 1).

The public awareness campaign 'flowers for bees' was initiated by the French Apidology Observatory (OFA) and has taken place each year since 2017 (Ref. 7). In 2017, 100 000 bags of honey-seed - whose flowers produce pollen and nectar - were distributed throughout the national territory of France on Tuesday 20 June as "one of the biggest mobilizations undertaken in a day in favor of a species threatened with extinction" (Ref. 5). The city of Marseille wished to associate itself with the event by organizing a plantation and a distribution of seeds". A total of 5,000 bags were distributed in the city from 20 to 23 June 2017 (Ref. 1).

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).

The City of Milan intends to carry out a functional intervention in the valley of Ticinello for the strengthening of the environmental matrix and of the structural characteristics aimed at improving the ecological connection. The project, which aims to contribute to the valorisation, strengthening and conservation of the natural heritage, as well as expand local biodiversity, through the realization of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, is necessary for the realization, development and enhancement of large-scale ecological corridors already identified by the instruments of territorial planning (1).