Maintenance and management of urban nature

The 'Painting The Town Green' project worked in urban and suburban areas of Medway, Swale and Thanet. They improved or created green spaces in these areas, adding color and enhancing biodiversity together with locals from many different backgrounds. They specifically worked with schools, nurseries and community groups to improve neglected environments. The project aimed to increase participants' well-being as well as leaving improved spaces for local communities to enjoy (ref. 1).

Located in the south of the town, this garden is an ideal place for family walks. Very popular, it also responds to a scientific vocation for the conservation of plant species from the five continents. In the spring of 2013, the Jardin des Plantes was enriched by a honey garden with a pedagogical vocation, which houses plants whose juice is used by bees to produce honey. The City of Rouen undertook the renovation of historic greenhouses, work on which was completed in 2019. The objective is to enhance the treasures of this extraordinary greenery (Ref. 1). "The collections reach more than 6000 species and the garden contributes to the development of sciences, to the preparation of medical students and to the dissemination of species, thanks to the exchange of seeds" (Ref. 10).

Birkenhead Park is one of the most important public parks in Britain. It is registered Grade I in English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. In 2002 to 2007, funding was made available to restore the park, and now in 2017 a master plan aims to further “enhance and secure” the park. (Ref. 1, 2, 3). Birkenhead park is considered the first publicly funded park in the world, and not only holds the Grade I in English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest award but also the Green Flag award. (Ref 6, 7, 8)

The community garden "Les Hauts Sèment" is located in Rouen in the district of Lombardy, being the first community garden of Rouen animated by the city in 2011. It is "an educational garden which has been created and is maintained by the gardener in association with users wishing to invest in the association. It is supported by different animations" (Ref. 1 and 2, page 12).

After Local Community consultation, a pocket park was created in Luton Millenium Green to facilitate community engagement and a sustainable legacy for future generations. The project included the installation of pathways, clear invasive vegetation, common vegetable planters, wildflower and enclosed areas and an orchard with 30 trees (ref 1, 3).

Due to the changing burial culture and the declining burial rates, Hamburg decided to establish a long-term development strategy called Ohlsdorf 2050 for the Ohlsdorf cemetery. The aim of the project is to preserve and develop the cemetery as a cultural landmark and a garden monument. The municipality aims to limit the burial services to a 120-hectare large area and develop a cemetery park in the remaining 280-hectare area. The strategy is being developed together with the locals, relatives of interred and experts. The participant's ideas included among others places for outdoor sports, allotment gardens and planting indigenous species. In any case, the entire cemetery will be preserved and maintained according to principles of garden heritage conservation and nature protection. Places for interaction, meditation, reflection and recreation will play a dominant role. (Reference 1, 2). In September 2020, the result of the consultations and the strategy itself is still unknown.

The Green Grid aimed to link urban and rural neighborhoods with a network of quality green spaces and corridors of landscape, recreational and ecological value. The aim was to achieve the added benefits by managing open space resources as a set of linkable sites rather than in isolation. It was a planning intervention that was focused on connecting a high quality, functional green space network (Ref 1). The intervention was part of "Greening the Gateway Kent & Medway" (Ref 2).

It is a community garden initiated by the autonomous assembly of the Poblenou neighborhood. It has changed location a number of times, eventually occupying the empty lot of demolished buildings. Over time the garden has expanded, taking over an adjacent empty space, as well as other yards in the neighborhood. The garden is not maintained for strictly productivity purposes, especially because much of its soil has been contaminated by a soap factory. It is, rather, used as a space for social encounter and knowledge sharing on planting and working with the earth on a communitarian basis (Ref 1 and description provided by CEU). This NBS is also part of a wider movement, the 15M movement in Spain (Ref 1), which had influence on the creation of larger similar global economic 'occupy' movements (Ref 5). Video for the opening party of the 8th self-managed squatted garden in the Poblenou neighborhood, Barcelona from April 11, 2020 shows that the idea of the first garden has lead to the creation of at least 8 of these gardens in the city (Ref 6).

The Natural Park of Collserola (about 8,000 ha) is a forested area in the hilly Northern fringes of Barcelona. Since 1987, Collserola has been managed under a special protection plan and forms part of the European FEDENATUR network that aims at protected fragile peri-urban ecosystem for both their social and ecological functions. The park is jointly managed by a consortium including the Catalan government (Generalitat de Catalunya), the Barcelona Provincial Council (Diputació de Barcelona), the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) as well as all adjacent municipalities (Ref 1).

The Parc Agrari del Baix Llobregat is located in the floodplains of the delta and lower valley of the river Llobregat, in the Catalan county of Baix Llobregat, in a central position within the metropolitan area of Barcelona. The territory of the park (nearly 3500 hectares), includes a rich traditional agricultural activity and comprises fourteen municipalities totaling about 818,000 residents. It is protected by a specific planning instrument and managed by the Barcelona Provincial Council (Diputació de Barcelona) (Ref. 1 and 9). The park acts as a green lung for the metropolitan area of Barcelona and at the same time as a pantry for Mercabarna, the large wholesale market that provides food and drink to the inhabitants of Barcelona and surrounding towns, although there is also production that is exported (Ref. 10). The Agrarian Park is the only one in the world so close to a large city and it promotes specific programs to preserve the productive values of the agricultural space and promotes quality local products and local consumption. (Ref. 10)