1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Lublin
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Łąka kwietna w Śródmieściu
Short description of the intervention
The project seeks to plant a 300 square meters flower meadow in the Lublin city centre, in an area between two busy roads. The field would increase biodiversity in the urban ecosystem, function as a habitat for the pollinators, produce oxygen, absorb pollution and serve an aesthetic purpose.
As one of the first initiatives of this type in Lublin, the project would be monitored on an on-going basis. It serves as a pilot study for the following projects alike [1,2].

Address

ul. Bernadyńska
Lublin
Poland

Location
The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).
Area boundary
POINT (22.568011 51.243509)
POINT (22.568263 51.243465)
POINT (22.568536 51.243316)
POINT (22.568617 51.243081)
POINT (22.568413 51.243096)
NBS area image
Source of NBS area image
https://www.google.pl/maps/place/Bernardy%C5%84ska,+20-109+Lublin/@51.2432562,22.5678659,99m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4722576ba657bde7:0xb675af77fe2b7c1!8m2!3d51.2449202!4d22.5668654!5m1!1e4
Total area
300.00m²
NBS area
300.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Central Business District / City Centre
Website of the intervention
https://lublin.eu/gfx/lublin/userfiles/_public/mieszkancy/partycypacja/zielony_…
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2016
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2017
End date of the intervention
ongoing
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Please specify "other" stage of the intervention
Since its establishment in 2017, the NBS has been in the same place with a short break in 2019 when it was mown down (accroding to City Hall - accidentally) and later remade for the sake of its benefitial qualities [5].
Goals of the intervention
The project highlights that the flower meadow would increase biodiversity in the urban ecosystem, function as a habitat for the pollinators, produce oxygen, absorb pollution and serve a decorative function.(2)
Quantitative targets
To build a flower meadow consisting of 5 fragments on the total area of 300 square meters.(1)
Monitoring indicators defined
Increased biodiversity in the city; Reduction in the local pollution.(2)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
Implementation activities
Planting a flower meadow, which consists of 5 fields on the total area of 300 square meters, and monitoring it on an on-going basis so that the initiative can serve as a pilot study for other projects [1,2].
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Maintenance and management of urban nature
Knowledge creation and awareness raising
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
Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
Vegetation Type
Flower beds
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Air quality regulation
Pollination
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Maintenance of genetic diversity
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Citizens or community groups
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Citizens developed a research proposal and applied for funds for its implementation. After evaluation and adjustment the project have been implemented by the relevant bodies of the local government [1,2].
Key actors - initiating organization
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Crowd-sourcing/Crowd-funding/Participatory budget
Dissemination of information and education
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"
Green participatory budget of Lublin, which aims to increase the greenery in the city. (1)
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
Citizens developed a research proposal and applied for funds for its implementation on their own initiative.
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The green participatory budget of Lublin is a supplementary participatory budget scheme (apart from the general participatory budget). It aims to increase the greenery in the city; hence, the project proposals submitted to the green participatory budget are all connected to the GI [1].
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
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
Unknown
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
Yes
Please specify
Green participatory budget of Lublin.
Co-finance for NBS
No
Co-financing governance arrangements
No
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Not applicable
Financing
Total cost
€10,000 - €50,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
30.000 PLN (around 7.000 EUR)
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)
30.000 PLN (around 7.000 EUR) [3]
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Type of fund(s) used
Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Green densification model
Vacant space model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Please specify technological innovation
The project was referred to as innovative (one of the first of this type of initiatives in Lublin) and one that could serve as a pilot study for similar projects in the future. The project is a product innovation as it introduces flower meadow idea to the city of Lublin.(1)
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
unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Green space and habitat
Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
Increased green space area
Enhanced support of pollination
Increased spread of native/heirloom/open-pollinated seed
Please specify other economic impact
Increased maintenance costs
Description of environmental benefits
There is no specific post ante study or report regarding this particular project; however, the NBS has been scaled and implemented in other parts of the city, which suggests that the results had satisfied the initial presumptions [5]. The flower meadow has increased biodiversity in the urban ecosystem, function as a habitat for the pollinators, produce oxygen, absorb pollution and serve an aesthetic purpose [1,2].
Economic impacts
Increased property prices
Other
Description of economic benefits
The annual cost of maintenance for a multiannual meadow (100 sq. m.), assuming that the meadow will be watered four times, is approximately 110 PLN (~25 EUR) if done by an outsourced professional. Lawn care requires more complex treatment. During one season, responsible bodies mow and water the area around 20 times, which elates the expenses to app. 1100 PLN (250 EUR) with the same assumptions [6].
Additionally, the project is envisioned to have a positive impact due to the increased greenery in the city and enhanced aesthetic values of the surroundings [1,2,4].
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Improved access to urban green space
Education
Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Description of social and cultural benefits
As one of the first initiatives of this type in Lublin, the project would be monitored on an on-going basis. It serves as a pilot study for the following projects alike [1,2]. It resulted in other similar projects in the city [5].
The project is envisioned to have a positive impact due to the increased access to the urban green area for the public [1,2,4].
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Environmental quality
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Analysis of specific impact categories
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 August of 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
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
Yes
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
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.1, 2 and 3 (Lublin City Council website)
Ref.4 (Lublin City Council website)
Ref. 5 (project's continuation in 2019)
List of references
1.Lublin City Council website, ‘Summary of projects submitted to the green participatory budget 2017’ (‘Zestawienie projektów zgłoszonych do ZBO 2017’), https://lublin.eu/mieszkancy/partycypacja/zielony-budzet-obywatelski/projekty-zbo-2017/zielone-projekty-wybrane,142,471,1.html (Accessed 13 August 2020).
2.Lublin City Council website, ‘Description of the projects accepted within the green participatory budget’(‘Opis realizacji wybranych projektów w ramach Zielonego Budżetu Obywatelskiego’), https://lublin.eu/mieszkancy/partycypacja/zielony-budzet-obywatelski/projekty-zbo-2017/zielone-projekty-wybrane,142,471,1.html (Accessed 13 August 2020).
3.Lublin City Council website, ‘Summary of the projects to be implemented’ (‘Projekty do realizacji – zestawienie) https://lublin.eu/mieszkancy/partycypacja/zielony-budzet-obywatelski/projekty-zbo-2017/zielone-projekty-wybrane,142,471,1.html (Accessed 13 August 2020).
4. Lublin City Council website, ‘Criteria of projects’ evaluation’ (‘Kryteria oceny projektów’)
https://lublin.eu/mieszkancy/partycypacja/zielony-budzet-obywatelski/kryteria-oceny-projektow/ (Accessed 13 August 2020).
5. AG and EP. (2019). Kwietna łąka na ul. Bernardyńskiej zostanie odtworzona. Skoszono ją przez przypadek (The flower meadow by Bernardyńska street will be remade. It has been accidentally mown down). Lublin Nasze Miasto online magazine. Available at: https://lublin.naszemiasto.pl/kwietna-laka-na-ul-bernardynskiej-zostanie-odtworzona/ar/c1-5147753 (Accessed: 13 August 2020).
6. Łąka. (n.d.). Ile kosztuje łąka? (How much does a meadow cost?). Łąka blog. Available at: https://laka.org.pl/o-lakach/jak/ (Accessed: 13 August 2020).
Comments and notes
Comments
As it is a new type of initiative in Lublin, the envisioned assessment of the project will involve an on-going monitoring and provision of information regarding e.g. the vegetation cycles of the flower meadow, changes in the meadow and the specifics of its maintenance tasks [2]. (updated: 2018)
Additional insights
The evaluation of the project proposals is conducted by an expert panel from the City Council in two stages. The first stage checks the projects’ compatibility with legal norms, property rights, local development plans, local infrastructure, planned investments or renovations, feasibility of implementation within one year.
In the second stage the projects are evaluated based on the criteria: 1)Degree to which they include greenery aspect (e.g. new green areas, revitalization or protection of urban greenery, increase in biodiversity, ecological, educational, aesthetic values); 2)Context of the surroundings (e.g. proximity to the nearest green area, harmonic composition with the area, enrichment of the existing greenery); 3)Innovation (e.g. unconventional green urban solutions and their public perception/utilization); 4)Functionality (e.g. meeting local needs of the specific social groups, impact on social integration, social mobilization) [4]. (updated: 2018)
Pictures of the NBS
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/flowerbed%20in%20the%20Lublin%27s%20centre.jpg
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/Lublin%27s%20flowerbed.jpg
Public Images
Flowerbed in the Lublin's centre
Flowerbed in the Lublin's centre
Source: https://lublin.naszemiasto.pl/kwietna-laka-na-ul-bernardynskiej-zostanie-odtworzona/ar/c1-5147753