Collection of monitoring data continuously throughout the project to aid evaluation

The project BEETE & BIENEN (Beds & Bees) in the Eastern part of Karlsruhe is an awarded sustainability experiment where garden beds, flower beds and beehives create a new urban greenspace for humans and animals and increase the urban bee population. Residents - in collaboration and under the guidance of gardeners – plant herbs, flowers, vegetables, fruits and trees that provide food for humans and thereby provide a natural habitat for the urban bee population to thrive. Residents shall take over ownership of maintenance and cultivation of the garden in the long run. (Ref. 1). The project is not about honey yield, but about enabling the bees to live as naturally as possible. Hives and garden beds are established in several small gardens in the city, including one Marstallgarten and another in Grötzingen. (Ref. 8)

The nonprofit organisation of Groundwork North East & Cumbria is working with partners from across the region to protect and preserve the upper part of the Ouseburn River. The Ouseburn River Restoration Project includes several physical measures and a number of enhancements to the river and the surrounding environment to slow the flow of the river, restore its ecosystem and improve water quality. The Project also works with farmers and landowners about how to manage fertiliser and sediment runoff, thus decreasing water contamination. The project will improve in-river and bankside habitats and provide with more water monitoring data and analysis.” (1)

The "PROSIT" project aimed at undertaking a series of actions based on environmentally compatible mechanisms to protect and recover the coastal rural territory of Cinque Terre. Today, the terraced landscape is characterised by intense processes of land abandonment and disuse, caused both by practical and economic difficulties of maintenance and by social changes. There is a risk that the damage caused by land abandonment can compromise the area's delicate hydrogeological balance, especially in an area where landslides and floods are highly common (1). A demonstration project to recover abandoned terraces was carried out in five areas of the park (1).

LIFE VIMINE is a project that aimed to define and apply a new type of integrated approach to the management of the territory, based on the erosion protection of the most indigenous barns and marshes in the Laguna of Venice. These unique habitats are rapidly disappearing due to natural processes and human impacts of varying nature. The project has contributed to repair and protect salt marshes borders as soon as erosion starts, build micro soil bioengineering works that are able to absorb wave energy, reduce erosion, promote sedimentation with a low effort and cost and improve coastal resilience and protection (1).

Formed by residents and local organisations, the original focus of Greening Wingrove & Arthur's Hill was to address issues of litter and flytipping in Wingrove. The informal association later became a Cooperative (Community Interest Company) (1,2). Since its formation, the organisation aims to clean and green its part of Newcastle's West End through a diverse set of activities (15). These include the development of a former bowling green to become a community bike garden and community hub; encouraging locals' action on litter, promoting greening and food growing and local stewardship (4)

The Wild West End project encompasses the goals and visions of Greening Wingrove & Arthur's Hill. The project is aiming to explore local natural heritage, with a focus on species currently at risk such as bats, birds (swifts and house martins) and hedgehogs with the inclusion of residents, schools and local communities. Besides mapping the status of these species, habitat creation is also an objective to prevent the further decline of these at risk species in the area (15, 16)

A landscape scheme had laid out around the Scottish Parliament building and structures were turfed and covered in grass. The landscaping softens the concrete canopies with wildflower meadows, rooftop gardens, ponds, plants, flowers etc. 2 distinct types of green roofs are present at the Parliament - wildflower meadow grass canopies and roof gardens. The Parliament is built on a brownfield site and it has increased the biodiversity of the site. A number of rare and native grasses were planted in the parliament’s open spaces. (ref 1)

The Edinburgh Living Landscape (ELL) is a partnership between the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust (EGLT), the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Green Surge and Edinburgh University, it aims to help make Edinburgh a city fit for the future by fashioning healthy and beautiful environments that are resilient to climate change as well as being highly valued and accessible to people. It is made up of a range of projects that will create, restore and connect green areas of the city to make attractive and biodiverse landscapes that are enjoyed by residents and visitors. One of the examples is the Holyrood park. Naturalisation was tested in Holyrood Park, where a once regularly mown grassland is now cut only once per year. It benefits both wildlife and public amenity and also reduces maintenance costs for the site, with the potential to spend elsewhere on greenspace maintenance. This is a part of the ongoing Edinburgh Living Landscape Case Study which aims to make Edinburgh a city with healthy and beautiful environments, resilient to climate change. A range of similar projects will create, restore and connect green areas of the city to make an attractive and biodiverse landscape (ref 2, 3).

The project aims to reintroduce Patella ferruginea in the three Protected Marine Areas (AMP) (Portofino, Bergeggi and Cinque Terre), where the causes of extinction have been eliminated and an adequate level of protection is ensured (1). The project expects to achieve the following results: Biodiversity recovery and restoration of ribbed Mediterranean limpet by re-establishing a local population starting with 100 specimens; Reproduction and production of juveniles (some 6 000 larvae per year) to be introduced to the target areas for restocking; Full recovery and new population development of ribbed Mediterranean limpet in the target area; Restoration of the population translocated from Tavolara by introducing juveniles from controlled reproduction; and Strengthened territorial promotion and reinforcement of the “clean sea” message" (4).

The Braid Burn is a highly urbanised watercourse that has been significantly modified to improve drainage. Prior to re-meandering of the Braid burn, it was constrained in a narrow, brick-lined channel with little character, offering a poor habitat and possessing low species diversity. The restoration work reintroduced diversity to allow natural morphological and ecological processes to take place (ref. 2). A new wetland habitat was created, along with a flood storage area. It was a small component of a wider flood alleviation scheme by the City of Edinburgh (ref. 1).

The Montreynaud Park is composed of a great diversity of spaces (dense woodlands, undergrowth, meadow spaces, small group of trees ) and presents a richness of fauna and flora. The challenge of rebuilding this area is to create a real urban park, a green lung that provides the junction between the upper and lower parts of the neighborhood and links it to the rest of the city. The redevelopment of the park must meet the needs of the inhabitants by developing a place of contemplation, pedestrian paths, sports and recreational paths, and in connection with scientific, technical and industrial culture (Ref.1).