1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Medway
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
GIFT-T
Short description of the intervention
GIFT-T (Green Infrastructure For Tomorrow - Together!) is a four-year European project of which Medway was one of five case studies. In this project communities, businesses and governments were brought together to facilitate bottom up planning and implementation of green infrastructure (Ref 1). The product of this is a general business plan, and the planned intervention of focus here is the "Thames Terrace Invertebrates - corridors for wildlife" (Ref 2). Hoo Island already has areas that serve well to sustain invertebra species, but as of yet also has underutilised potential in this respect. This intervention addresses the latter.
Address

Medway
United Kingdom

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
Industrial
Public Greenspace Area
Central Business District / City Centre
Website of the intervention
http://msep.org.uk/our-work/gift-t/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2011
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2011
End date of the intervention
2015
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
1. Increase awareness of the importance of the Hoo Peninsula in relation to climate change impacts and a healthy living environment, 2. Enhance the population size and diversity of invertebrate on Hoo Island, 3. Greening the industrial business parks, 4. Create wildlife corridors to increase ecological connectivity, 5. Improve access to green space, 6. Improve the site's appeal to visitors, 7. Identify opportunities for biodiversity offsetting, 8. Reduce excess water flow (Ref 2).
Quantitative targets
Biodiversity is the main target, but this is not quantified. The key target species are three of the UK's rarest bumblebees: Bombus sylvarum, Bombus humilis and Bombus ruderarius (Ref 3).
Monitoring indicators defined
Population size of three of the UK's rarest bumblebees (Ref 3).
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Water management (SDG 6)
Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity conservation
Green space creation and/or management
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Species-focused
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Protect and enhance urban habitats
Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
Create new habitats
Preserve and strengthen habitat connectivity
Protect species
Undertake specific measures to protect species
Undertake specific measures to protect native species
Undertake specific measures to protect valued species
Means for conservation governance
Biodiversity offsets
Raise public awareness
Public engagement
Implementation activities
1. Create a new habitat within business parks, 2. Create nectar-rich headland strips within nearby farmland, 3. Create new flower-rich habitats along public rights of way and within and around the peninsula's villages. These take the form of 5-metre wide vegetation strips that are mown on a 2-3 year rotation, 4. Maintenance of the river banks for invertebrate populations (Ref 2).
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Monitoring and maintenance of habitats and/or biodiversity
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
Institutional green space
Riverbank/Lakeside greens
Parks and urban forests
Green corridors and green belts
Vegetation Type
Other
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Regulating services
Flood regulation
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Maintenance of genetic diversity
Cultural services
Tourism
Aesthetic appreciation
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Private sector/Corporate/Business
Researchers, university
Coalition with multiple of the above
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
A key aspect of the GIFT-T project is that communities, businesses and governments jointly plan and implement green infrastructure. As such, the project is led by the local government, together with business park managers and private land owners and the local community (Ref 4). Key partners are also national bodies such as Natural england and the Environmental Agency. Regionally, the Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife are involved. Lastly, to monitor the progress of the biodiversity, a research position was created (Ref 2, 3).
Key actors - initiating organization
Regional government
Non-government organisation/civil society
Land owners
No information found
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
National government
Local government/municipality
Non-government organisation/civil society
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Researchers/university
Citizens or community group
Land owners
No information found
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Dissemination of information and education
Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Yes
Please specify the "Regional Directive/Strategy"
1. GIFT-T, that this intervention is a part of, is a European research project that aims to strenghten and illustrate hwo communities, administrative bodies and businesses can do to contribute to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, the Habitatss and Birds Directive and the EU Biodiversity strategy (Ref 5). 2. The Conservation of Natural habits and of Wild Fauna and Flora (the Habitats Directive) supports the identification of Special Protection Areas like this one. Spedifically, article 6 regarding Natura 2000 is emphasized (Ref 2).
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
1. The Medway Estuary and Marshes on Hoo Peninsula are a Site of Special Scientific Interest and thus falls under legal national protection. Local authorities have the duty to further the conservation and enhancement of these areas (Ref 2), 2. The Natural Environment White Paper ' ‘The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature’ was
published in June 2011, the result of which was funding to create Nature Improvement Areas, one of which was the Medway Estuary and Marches (Ref 3), 3. "Biodiversity 2020: a strategy for England's wildlife and ecosystem serves" was the result of the 'Aichi Targets' (a global vision for biodiversity policy). This has shaped the planning of the present intervention (Ref 3),
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Please specify other vegetation type
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
1. Kent Wildlife Trust is a regional partnership that was involved in creating the GIFT-T plan, 2. The GIFT-T project aims to foster a network (this is the "Together" part of the acronym (Ref 4), 3. The Medway Swale Estuary Partnership (Ref 2).
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The GIFT-T project is a research project of which Medway is one case study. (Ref1)
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
GIFT-T mentions the following potential funding resources: LEADER, Development (s106s), Heritage Lottery Fund, Local Authority, Parish precept and the Ward member grant (Ref 2).
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
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
Unknown
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)
GIFT-T mentions the following potential funding resources: LEADER, Development (s106s), Heritage Lottery Fund, Local Authority, Parish precept and the Ward member grant. (Ref 2)
Source(s) of funding
Public regional budget
Public local authority budget
Private Foundation/Trust
Type of fund(s) used
Unknown
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Green densification model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Private for-profit actor (e.g. firm, insurer)
Type of innovation
Technological
Infrastructural innovation
Social
Governance innovation
Please specify technological innovation
The creation and improvement of green infrastructure (Ref 2).
Please specify social innovation
The GIFT-T project seeks to research and enhance bottom up planning and implementation of green infrastructure (Ref 5).
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is completely new without connections to previous initiative(s)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The GIFT-T project does not refer to previous initiatives when putting forward the specific interventions for Medway (Ref 2).
Replicability/Transferability
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
The GIFT-T project tests a similar governance approach in multiple cities without substantial adaptation (Ref 5), but the resulting plan that this intervention is a part of is the product of the negotiations and meetings of the specific stakeholders involved in this case study and is thus not necessariliy transferable in itself.
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Unknown
Description of environmental benefits
Unknown
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Education
Increased support for education and scientific research
Description of social and cultural benefits
Expected impacts:
-Provide positive examples of how communities can improve the quality of their environment, working together with businesses and administrative bodies. As well as insights into how Green Infrastructure can strengthen both the local community and economy.
-Showcase how communities, business and administrative bodies can jointly improve their Green Infrastructure, for their own needs.
- Provide insights and recommendations on the incentives and conditions required to enable communities, business and administrative bodies to jointly improve the Green Infrastructure. (Ref. 2)
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Unknown
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
The project has been completed in 2015, so it wasn't affected by the pandemic.
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 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: GIFT-T. (n.d.). Hoo Peninsula.
Ref 2: Medway Swale Estuary Partnership. (n.d.). Introduction.
Ref 3: Nature Improvement Area Objective 2.1.1: Greater Thames Marshe
Ref 4: GIFT-T. (n.d.). Together?
Ref 5: GIFT-T. (n.d.). Aim.
Ref 5: GIFT-T. (n.d.). Examples: Hoo Peninsula.
Ref 6: GIFT. (2012). GIFT-T! Hoo Peninsula - community conversation young peopl…
List of references
Ref 1: GIFT-T. (n.d.). Hoo Peninsula. (Website not available in 2020)
Ref 2: Medway Swale Estuary Partnership. (n.d.). Introduction. Retrieved from http://msep.org.uk/our-work/gift-t/ (Accessed 01/12/2020)
Ref 3: Nature Improvement Area Objective 2.1.1: Greater Thames Marshes. Retrieved from http://greaterthamesmarshes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/NIA-TTI-Masterplan-May-2013.pdf (Accessed 01/12/2020)
Ref 4: GIFT-T. (n.d.). Together? (Website not available in 2020)
Ref 5: GIFT-T. (n.d.). Aim. (Website not available in 2020)
Ref 5: GIFT-T. (n.d.). Examples: Hoo Peninsula. (Website not available in 2020)
Ref 6: GIFT. (2012). GIFT-T! Hoo Peninsula - community conversation young people on the peninsula. (Website not available in 2020)
Comments and notes
Comments
2/Objectives: The GIFT-T project has its own research objectives that mostly relate to bottom up planning. However, the input in the database specifically concerns the "Thames Terrace Invertebrates - corridors for wildlife" plans that were the project of the bottom up approach that was facilitated by GIFT-T.
6/Impacts: It is unclear how many of the implementation activities in Hoo Peninsula has been the product of the GIFT-T project only. Especially because the result of GIFT-T was a local business plan to work with, rather than a specific physical implementation as such. Hence, I have indicated "unknown" with regards to impacts and monitoring, even though I have found reports elsewhere (Ref 3) that refer to formal monitoring mechanisms of the biodiveristy in the area that this intervention took place.
Additional insights
The Medway Estuary and Marshes of Hoo Peninsula do not only fall under EU and National legal protection, but their conservation is also designated by the international Ramsar Convention (The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance). This is not a regulatory, punitive regime (Ref 2).