1. General information Location and description of the intervention City or FUA Iaşi (FUA) Region Europe Native title of the NBS intervention Plantăm fapte bune în România Short description of the intervention The afforestation project implemented in Lețcani, Iași, is part of Romania's national initiative "We Plant Good Deeds" (Refs. 1-7). Launched by the association EcoAssist and carried out on a voluntary basis, the initiative aims to plant forests across the country (Ref. 8). In Lețcani, the young ecologist group TERIS, together with EcoAssist, involved volunteers to plant approximately 10,000 tree saplings provided by the Forestry Directorate of Iași (Refs. 1, 3, 5-7). The trees were planted on a two-hectare terrain prone to landslides, with the goal of mitigating this hazard (Refs. 1, 3, 5-6). While the project directly benefits local citizens at risk of landslides, it also educated volunteers about the importance of forest cover for community safety and biodiversity (Ref. 4). Website of the intervention https://www.plantamfaptebune.ro/impadurim-la-letcani/ Principal problems Climate-Related Hazards Landslides & mudslides Environmental Degradation Deforestation and forest degradation Health, Well-being and Social cohesion Disconnection from nature Poor community engagement Implementation area characterization Climate Continental (Cold-summer humid continental, Cold-winter dry continental, Cold-summer dry continental) Ecosystem Temperate grasslands Address 707280 Lețcani Romania Location The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city Area boundary (map-based) Total area 20000.00m² NBS area 20000.00m² Area description Periurban (both urban and rural environments are present) Type of area before implementation of the NBS Vacant or abandoned land Timeline of intervention Start date of the intervention (planning process) 2013 Start date of intervention (implementation process) 2016 End date of the intervention 2016 Present stage of the intervention Completed 2. Objectives of the intervention Objectives of the intervention Goals of the intervention 1. Afforestation of degraded and/or undeveloped land through planting several tree species (1,3-5,8). 2. Mitigation of landslides in an area prone to this hazard (1,3,5-6). 3. Raising awareness about the importance of the natural environment that surrounds the community and provide more security to those more prone to be affected by landslides (1,2,3-6) 4. Instilling care towards the natural environment and a sense of community as the volunteers involved will obtain a sense of acknowledgment and responsibility towards their nearest natural environment (2,4). Key Priorities Social Justice and community Sustainability challenge(s) addressed Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15) Green space creation and/or management Regeneration, land-use and urban development Landslides reduction Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10) Environmental education Sense of community and community engagement Implementation activities and NBS focus Implementation activities 1. Selection of location in collaboration with the local municipality and the ecologist groups involved in the action: the lands afforested are devoid of forest vegetation and are prone to or affected by various degradation processes (rain erosion, landslides, salinization, pollution or wind erosion). 2. Provision of trees by the Iași Forestry Directorate. 3. Plantation of trees in undeveloped land to augment tree cover in the country: 2 hectares that are part of an area that frequently faces landslides were reforested with approximately 10,000 ash and oak saplings, through the involvement of the 400 volunteers present at the action. Volunteers also received the Green Endorsement certificate after the planting or organizing activity, recognized by more than 30 renowned companies (1,2,3,5,6) Type of NBS project Creation of new green areas Creation of any other green urban spaces Ecological restoration of ecosystems Soil remediation and revegetation Knowledge creation and awareness raising Educational and awareness raising programs Strategy, plan or policy development Development of disaster-risk prevention strategies (e.g.fire management, flood alleviation scheme) 3. NBS domains, ES and scale NBS domain and interventions Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented Parks and urban forests Large urban parks or forests Amenities offered by the NBS Unknown Design elements for well-being None of the above Services Expected ecosystem services delivered Regulating services Other Cultural services Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational) Physical and experiential interactions with plants and animals Social and community interactions Please specify "other regulating service" Regulation of landslides (1,3-6). Scale Spatial scale Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level Beneficiaries Demographics in implementation area Letcani has a population of 6,845 with a higher percentage of people in the age range of 0-49 years old than the national average, with individuals between 40-49 years old being the larger-size group (9-10). Their age group with the fewer number of individuals is actually those that are above 80 years of age (9-10). Most of the inhabitants are Romanian (83.42%), with a minority of Roma (0.07%), and for 16.44% the ethnicity is unknown. (9) The data is from the year 2021. In a city strategy from 2015 it is mentioned that Letcani is part of a specific problem of the North-East Region (of which Iasi metropolitan area is part of) namely the large number of children with parents away that work abroad. In the Zone Metropolitan Iași, more than 85 families are in this situation. (11) Socio-economic profile of the area Low-income Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts Unknown Non-government actors Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches Private sector/Corporate/Business Citizens or community groups Financial institution (e.g. bank, insurer, pension fund) Primary Beneficiaries Citizens or community groups Specify primary beneficiaries Citizens of community groups : "The beneficiaries of the project are the citizens from the areas in which we plant (trees), because the condition of the soil changes, which mitigates the hazards from landslides. At the same time, those that plant are also beneficiaries, because they can realise their own importance in actions such as planting or similar, as well as their beneficial contribution to the community and biodiversity." (4) The mayor of the Letcani commune also expresses that the zone is inhabited by "young married couples" and that the afforestation benefits them directly (7, p.69). Marginalized groups Unknown Other beneficiaries Natural habitats (e.g. wetland, forests, coastal areas) City infrastructure (e.g., reduced flooding, improved water quality) 4. Governance and financing Governance Governance arrangements Co-governance with government and non-government actors Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative The City Hall of the commune provided the 2 ha of land (4-5). The Forest Directorate of the region of Iasi provided the tree saplings (1,3-4). The EcoAssist association was the main coordinator and the legal representative (1,3,6). EcoAssist signed a partnership agreement with the town hall and the Forestry Directorate. Together with the town hall selected the location (4) TERIS "They young romanian ecologists from Iasi" were the regional coordinators and helped gathering and training volunteers (4). Several local sponsors including local companies and banks supported financially the action through donations. (3) Several volunteers (students, pupils, citizens, employees of various companies) where involved in planting the trees (4) Key actors - initiating organization Local government/municipality Non-government organisation/civil society Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors) Regional government Citizens or community group Private sector/corporate actor/company Financial institution Stages of citizen and community engagement On-the-ground implementation Level of citizen and community engagement Moderate Community empowerment or capacity-building initiatives Implementation of educational programs, workshops or trainings Formation of community-led groups responsible for the the implementation, maintenace or monitoring of the project Participatory methods/forms of stakeholder involvement (all stakeholders) Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping) Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting) Uncommon actors ("Missing actors") Community & Social Groups Youth-led organizations/ citizens Other Please specify other missing actor Banks (3) Land owners Public space owned by the city Policy drivers NBS intervention implemented in response to a 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 Unknown Mandatory or voluntary intervention Voluntary (spontaneous) Enablers & Barriers Type of enablers Governance innovations (such as public private partnerships) Collaboration with other projects that implemented NBS Please provide details (e.g, name of the plan or strategy) for the selected policies or initiatives. Governance innovations (such as public private partnerships): The leading NGO signed a partnership with the municipality (4). Collaboration with other projects: This was a nation-wide initiative of "Plantam Fapte Bune" that helps coordinates all the planting projects (8). Governace and decison-making instruments Public - private business agreement (e.g. public private collaborations, public-private-partnerships (PPP)) Arrangements for governance cooperation Capacity-building initiatives for governance actors (e.g. training workshops for local government officials/ community leaders) Barriers No barriers were found within the references. Financing Total cost Unknown Please specify total cost (EUR) Total cost of the intervention is unknown, however in the 2016 Annual Report of the NGO that led the action it says that for that year they spent 95,221 EUR for all of their actions which also included the one in Letcani. (7) What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements? Unknown. Source(s) of funding Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO) Type of fund(s) used Donations Non-financial contribution Yes Who provided the non-financial contribution? Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services) Citizens (e.g. volunteering) Type of non-financial contribution Provision of land Provision of goods Provision of labour Co-finance for NBS Yes Co-governance arrangement A crowdfunding project Entrepreneurship opportunities Unknown Business models Business models Risk reduction model Green education model Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model? Public actor (e.g. municipality) Private non-for-profit actor (e.g. NGO, foundation) Citizens / local communities 5. Evaluation and learning Impacts, benefits Environmental impacts Climate change Improved resilience against landslides Expected improved resilience against landslides Environmental quality Improved stability of slopes Expected improved stability of slopes Green space and habitat Increased green space area Achieved increased green space area Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems Expected increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems Increased number of species present Achieved increased number of species present Description of environmental benefits -Expected improved resilience against landslides: "People that hope to contribute to hinder lanslides of the Iasian locality [...] through afforestation." (ref.1). -Expected increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems and number of species : "300 volunteers planted 9,000 oak and ash saplings in an area of 2ha [...] The rest (1,000) will be planted this week." (ref.6). -Increased in green area: "an area of 2ha has been planted" (6) Environmental impact indicators Total number of vascular plant species protected or introduced 10000 Green space area created (in ha) 2 Economic impacts Unknown Description of economic benefits Unknown. Social and cultural impacts Social justice and cohesion Improved social cohesion Expected improved social cohesion Improved liveability Expected improved liveability Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces Achieved increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces Cultural heritage and sense of place Improvement in people’s connection to nature Expected improvement in people’s connection to nature Increased appreciation for natural spaces Expected increased appreciation for natural spaces Social and cultural impact indicators Number of participants in outdoor activities or exercise programs in green spaces 300 Number of community events, gatherings, or volunteer activities organized in green spaces 1 Description of social and cultural benefits -Expected improved social cohesion: "The beneficiaries are also the people that plant, because they have the opportunity to realise how important is their implication in such activities and their benefits to the community and biodiversity" (ref. 4). -Expected improved liveability: "The beneficiaries of the project are those local citizens from the area we plant because the state of the terrain changes with better conditions against landslides" (ref. 4). -Achieved increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces "300 volunteers (from the region) planted 9,000 oak and ash saplings in an area of 2ha" (ref. 6). -Expected improvement in people’s connection to nature: "Through this afforestation action, we want to instill in the community care for the environment that surrounds us, for the air we breathe" (ref. 2). -Expected increased appreciation for natural spaces: "The main objective of the action is to make those around us aware that nature is a main component of life" (ref.2). Evidence for use of assessment Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process Yes Actors involved in the assessment, monitoring or evaluation of NBS impacts Non-government organisation/civil society Presence of indicators used in reporting Yes Type of indicators Outcome indicators Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports Yes Link to monitoring/evaluation reports https://plantamfaptebune.ro/2016/#pagina0 Availability of a web-based monitoring tool No evidence in public records Name of any specific impact assessment tools Unknown. Use of GIS in mapping impacts No evidence in public records Cost-benefit analysis No Transparency Inclusion of diverse stakeholders in project governance processes (e.g. planning, implementation, monitoring, etc.) Public disclosure of project funding sources and/or budgets Justice Community satisfaction Unknown Description of locals satisfaction with the project Unknown. Trade-offs & Negative impacts Unknown Emphasis of existing social inequalities or injustices No information reported related to negative social justice-related impacts of the NBS project Measures to prevent gentrification or displacement Unknown High-quality & Transformative NBS Multiple impacts delivery (climate, biodiversity, just community) Yes Goal setting and impacts delivery No, although benefits were delivered in all the 3 key areas, but in the planning phase, the project did not aim to address issues in all the 3 key priority areas. Reaching original project goals Some of the project goals were achieved Please specify the achievements of the project goals Social justice and community: -Expected improved social cohesion: "The beneficiaries are also the people that plant, because they have the opportunity to realise how important is their implication in such activities and their benefits to the community and biodiversity" (ref. 4). -Expected improved liveability: "The beneficiaries of the project are those local citizens from the area we plant because the state of the terrain changes with better conditions against landslides" (ref. 4). -Achieved increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces "300 volunteers (from the region) planted 9,000 oak and ash saplings in an area of 2ha" (ref. 6). -Expected improvement in people’s connection to nature: "Through this afforestation action, we want to instill in the community care for the environment that surrounds us, for the air we breathe" (ref. 2). -Expected increased appreciation for natural spaces: "The main objective of the action is to make those around us aware that nature is a main component of life" (ref.2). Long-term perspective Unknown: No information about the project's long-term sustainability. Cost-effective solutions No Equitable impacts A. All stakeholders benefit fairly from the project Transformative capacity Social change (e.g. social relationships, networks and dynamics within them) Ecological change (e.g. ecosystem functions and their distribution) Magnitude of change Incremental: shallow; that is, mostly maintaining business-as-usual approaches to adaptation Application of lessons learned Unknown Perception of Environmental Change Unknown 6. Sources References 1. Plantam Fapte Bune (n.d.). Împădurim la Lețcani. Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 2. Plantam Fapte Bune (n.d.). Ne întoarcem la Lețcani pentru noi acțiuni de împădurire. Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 3. Ziarul de Iasi (2016). Acțiune de împădurire la Lețcani. 10.000 de puieţi de frasin şi stejar vor fi plantați sâmbătă . Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 4. Swimathon Iasi (n.d.). Swimathon Iasi. Information on Plantam fapte bune in Romania. Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 5. Primaria Comunei Letcani (2016). Facebook Post by Major of Letcani. Planting in Tabara de Vara area.. Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 6. Plantam Fapte Bune (n.d.). Leţcani, locul în care voluntarii ieşeni au plantat fapte bune. Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 7. Plantam Fapte Bune (2017). Raport Anual 2016. Plantam Fapte Bune . Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 8. Plantam Fapte Bune (n.d.). About Plantam Fapte Bune . Accessed on August 2, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 9. Populatia Romaniei (n.d.). Demographics Letcani, Iasi Broad Summary . Accessed on August 5, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 10. Romanian National Institute of Statistics (n.d.). Population of Romania by age in villages, regions, communes. Accessed on August 5, 2024, [Source link] [Archive]; 11. Iasi Municipality (2015). Strategia integrata de dezvoltare urbana Iasi. [Download]; Comments and notes Additional insights While there is not reference to any budget or cost available, the project coordinators raised approximately 1735 euros in November, 2016 (4). Public Images Image Volunteers planting saplings https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1153859328032832&set=a.1153858524699579 Image Volunteers planting trees in the area where the NBS is implemented https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1153859734699458&set=a.1153858524699579
Image Volunteers planting saplings https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1153859328032832&set=a.1153858524699579
Image Volunteers planting trees in the area where the NBS is implemented https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1153859734699458&set=a.1153858524699579
