1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Bergen
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Den Grønne Akse
Short description of the intervention
The Green Axis is a belt of green areas and parks that stretches all the way from the Public Library of Bergen to The National Stage. It entails several parks, including Byparken, Ole Bulls Place, Logebakken, The Theatre Park and King Olav the 5th's Place. The Green Axis holds several culturally important buildings, statues, and landmarks. This green oasis in the heart of the city provides habitat for species and increases well-being for the citizens of Bergen. (Ref. 1, 2) The area is continuously upgraded with high maintenance standards. (Ref. 5)
Address

Øvre Ole Bulls plass 1
5012 Bergen
Norway

Location
The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Central Business District / City Centre
Website of the intervention
https://badparkidrett.no/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pressemelding-GSA-til-Berge…
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
pre-1990
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
unknown
End date of the intervention
unknown
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Please specify "other" stage of the intervention
The Green Axis consists of several individual parks that where established/reconstructed at different times over a long period of time. (Ref. 2)
Goals of the intervention
Ensure good operating and maintenance level on plants within The Green Axis, in central urban areas and in newer walkways/trails. (Ref. 3)
Quantitative targets
Unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Implementation activities
The area is continuously upgraded with a high maintenance standard. (Ref. 5)
Type of NBS project
Maintenance and management of urban nature
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
Parks and urban forests
Large urban parks or forests
Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
Green corridors and green belts
Vegetation Type
Trees
Flower beds
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Amenities offered by the NBS
Benches and drinking water stations
Cultural (museum, concert areas)
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Tourism
Aesthetic appreciation
Inspiration for culture, art and design
Recreation
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Government-led
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Led by Bergen Municipality and Green Agency (Ref. 1)
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Unknown
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
Blue Green Infrastructure Plan (Ref. 5)
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Mandatory (based on policy)
Intervention is mandatory
Spatial planning guidance
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Blue Green Infrastructure Plan refers to the (Blue) Green axis in the following way "Byparken (The City Park), which is part of the 'Blue-Green Axis' between the theatre and the library, is the main recreation area in central Bergen. The area is continuously upgraded and is culturally important with a large amount of traditional park elements and plantations characterized by high quality. The maintenance standard is high." (Ref. 5)
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
No
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
City specific green space strategy or plan
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
No
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Co-finance for NBS
Unknown
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
€500,000 - €2,000,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
12.7 million NOK (≈1.3 million EUR) (Ref. 3)
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Unknown
Type of fund(s) used
Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Green densification model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Type of innovation
Technological
Infrastructural innovation
Social
Cultural innovation
Please specify technological innovation
urban design for green space protection
Please specify social innovation
and maintenance of culturally important landmarks within the Green Axis.
Novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is not referred to as being transferred to new initiative(s)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
It is not mentioned anywhere that the innovation should be transferable/replicable to other initiatives.
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Green space and habitat
Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
Increased green space area
Description of environmental benefits
creation & maintenance of green space that stretches across city center (Ref. 1, 6)
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Health and wellbeing
Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Protection of historic and cultural landscape / infrastructure
Description of social and cultural benefits
Cultural Heritage:
- preservation of the green axis also protects culturally important buildings, statues, landmarks along the axis (Ref. 1)

Aesthetics/ Recreation:
The Green Axis received the Nordic Green Space Award in 2013 for its beauty and recreational offers with the associated sculptures and green space. (Ref. 1,6)
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
recipient of green space award (Ref. 1,6)
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Environmental quality
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of 27 October 2020
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref. 3 Social services, housing and district affairs. Budget suggestion 2014/Ec…
Ref. 5 Municipal Master Plan, Blue green infrastructure in Bergen, Green Enviro…
Documents relevant to the intervention
Attachment Size
Ref. 1 Quality mark for green areas to Bergen and Kristiansand (394 KB) 394 KB
Ref. 4 Maintenance plan for city trees in Bergen (673 KB) 673 KB
Ref. 6 City Centre Plan - an inspirational plan for Bergen city centre (2015-2020) (876.02 KB) 876.02 KB
List of references
1. Nordic Green Space Award (2013). Quality mark for green areas to Bergen and Kristiansand/Kvalitetsmerke for grønne områder til Bergen og Kristiansand. [Document provided].

2. City of Bergen (2017). The Green Axis - The Park axis in central Bergen/Den grønne aksen - Parkaksen i Bergen sentrum. Published 2013-03-21, updated 2017-01-13. [Not available in 2020].

3. City of Bergen (n.d.). Social services, housing and district affairs. Budget suggestion 2014/Economy plan 2014-2017/Sosiale tjenester, bolig og områdesatsing. Forslag til budsjett 2014/Økonomiplan 2014-2017. Available at: https://www3.bergen.kommune.no/bksak/utv_caseinfo.asp?caseno=68472&utvkode=BEBY&db_source=1&dayno=282&Year=18.12.2013 [Accessed: 27 October 2020].

4. City of Bergen (2016). Maintenance plan for city trees in Bergen, Part 1: Strategy plan/Forvaltningsplan for bytrær i Bergen, Del 1: Strategiplan. [Document provided].

5. City of Bergen (2012). Municipal Master Plan, Blue green infrastructure in Bergen, Green Environment plan 2012-2020./ Kommunedelplan, Blågrønn infrastruktur i Bergen, Grøntmiljøplan 2012-2020. Available at: https://www.bergen.kommune.no/omkommunen/planer-i-kommunen/informasjon-om-enkeltplaner/byradsavd-for-klima-miljo-og-byutvikling/kommunedelplan-for-blagronn-infrastruktur-i-bergen-2012-2020 [Accessed: 27 October 2020].

6. City of Bergen (2015). City Centre Plan - an inspirational plan for Bergen city centre (2015-2020)./Sentrumsplan – en inspirasjonsplan for Bergen sentrum (2015-2020). [Document provided].
Comments and notes
Comments
Limited data availability.

In 2017 review, some of the links on the website of City of Bergen relating to the Green Axis did not work. The Urban Environment Agency (Bymiljøetaten) of the City of Bergen was contacted regarding this, but no response was received.

There are images of the Green Axis plan (in 'Pictures of NBS' from 2017 review). However, since there is no source listed for these, they have been excluded in the 2020 review.
Additional insights
While these were not directly connected to the creation/ maintenance of the Green Axis, the City of Bergen has the following goals for trees in the city centre of Bergen, based on their Maintenance Plan for City Trees (Ref. 4):
- City trees that hold values for the surroundings shall be protected.
- The ecological significance of city trees should be actively utilized.
- A richer variation in species composition and aesthetic expression should be sought.
- City trees shall be given adequate area and good growth conditions.
- City trees that must be cut down for safety reasons or for other reasons must be replaced.
- The number of solitary trees in the city shall be increased by 40% and common trees by 60% by 2030.
Pictures of the NBS
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/screen_shot_2017-06-30_at_09.55.48.png
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Public Images
Green Axis
Source: https://www.ba.no/nyheter/park-pris-til-bergen/s/1-41-6705375 (MAGNE TURØY)