1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Medway
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Hanging Gardens of Medway
Short description of the intervention
A living green wall packed with plants including primula and thyme was the latest addition to the university's Medway Campus. It was part of a university research project that assessed the benefits of small-scale living walls (ref. 1).
Address

Central Avenue
Chatham
ME4 4TB
United Kingdom

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
8.00m²
NBS area
8.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Building
Website of the intervention
https://greenroofslivingwalls.org/2018/03/26/interior-living-wall-spring-2018/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2015
End date of the intervention
2015
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
1. Make the Medway Campus look more attractive
2. Research the benefits of green walls, specifically noise reduction
3. Research the needed materials for green living walls (Ref 1 & 2).
4. Understanding the green-absorption coefficient for noise (Ref 2)
Quantitative targets
Unknown.
Monitoring indicators defined
unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Noise reduction
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Environmental education
Implementation activities
Create a green living wall of 8 m2 with luzula, euphorbia, thyme and primula at the Medway campus of Greenwich university in order to research its materials and benefits (ref. 1)
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Protection of natural ecosystems
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Nature in buildings (indoor)
Green walls and ceilings
Type of Green Wall
Substrate / soil-based living wall
Vegetation Type
Grass
Shrubs
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Air quality regulation
Noise reduction
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Spiritual and / or emblematic (symbolic, sacred and / or religious)
Other
Please specify "other cultural service"
Research the benefits of green walls, specifically noise reduction and best materials for green living walls (Ref 1 & 2).
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Researchers/University
Governance
Governance arrangements
Led by non-government actors
Non-government actors
Researchers, university
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The research was based at and executed by a researcher at Greenwich university. (Ref 1)
Key actors - initiating organization
Researchers/university
Land owners
Educational actor (schools or universities)
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Researchers/university
Land owners
Educational actor (schools or universities)
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
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
Voluntary research project (ref. 1)
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
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
Yes
Please specify
This intervention itself is a research project (Ref 1, 2)
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
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)
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
Unknown
Type of fund(s) used
Unknown
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Urban offsetting model (biodiversity or water)
Green education model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Please specify technological innovation
Green roof infrastructure (Ref 1).
Novelty level of the innovation
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The wall is part of a research project of which research and experiments about materials is an integral part (Ref 1).
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown.
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Reduced noise exposure
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Description of environmental benefits
- Living Green Wall offer benefits in terms of mitigating the air pollution and noise control as well as providing scope for bio-diversity and thermal insulation (ref. 3).
Economic impacts
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Improvement in people’s connection to nature
Increased appreciation for natural spaces
Education
Increased support for education and scientific research
Description of social and cultural benefits
- It was part of a university research project that assessed the benefits of small-scale living walls (ref. 1).
- The public sees the Living Green Walls as an aesthetic feature (ref. 3).
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Noise absorption coefficient (Ref 2).
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Environmental quality
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Positive distribution of NBS benefits
Improved access to green and/or blue spaces
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
This project information was updated on August 10, 2020. Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, students and staff at the University of Greenwich have risen to the challenge and contributed a great deal to the those in need. More details on: https://www.gre.ac.uk/articles/public-relations/covid-19-spotlighting-positive-initiatives-from-around-the-universitys-community
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
Conduct a baseline survey before and after NBS implementation
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Measurements of biophysical aspects of the NBS (e.g. temperature, water flow)
Where can this data be accessed? Please include a link to a report or web-page.
http://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.4971053
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
Link to monitoring/evaluation reports
http://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.4971053
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Highly directional parametric transducer and acoustic intensity method (Ref 2).
Link to the output of assessments
https://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.4971053
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: University of Greenwhich Public Relations. (2015). ‘Hanging Gardens of M…
List of references
1: University of Greenwhich. (2018). Green Roofs & Living Walls Centre. Available at: https://greenroofslivingwalls.org/tag/university-of-greenwich/ (Accessed 10 August 2020)
2: Romanova, A. & Horoshenkov, K.V. (2016). An application of a parametric transducer to measure the acoustical properties of a living green wall (abstract). Available at: http://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.4971053 (Accessed 10 August 2020)
3: Salah, G. M. J. A. & Romanova, A. (2017). Coconut fibre as an alternative growth compound for Living Green Walls. Available at: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/17422/ (Accessed 10 August 2020)
Comments and notes
Pictures of the NBS
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/living_green_wall.jpg
Public Images
living wall
Living wall, University of Greenwich
https://greenroofslivingwalls.org/2018/03/26/interior-living-wall-spring-2018/