1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Newcastle
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Green space maintenance around social housing
Short description of the intervention
In the context of significant cuts to Newcastle City Council's budget, the issue of how best to maintain the green space in the city integrated into, and surrounds, social housing has emerged. A proposal to allow, or promote, the re-wilding of these spaces (e.g. changing turfed areas to wildflower gardens) was discussed in March 2017. The key driver appeared to be the potential to reduce the costs incurred by the council in the maintenance of green spaces around social housing. (1)
During a Naturvation project meeting in March 2017, the potential for contestation around this proposal was discussed and seemed to be considerable (e.g. re-wilded green space might not be considered aesthetically pleasing by residents and might not provide preferred functions such as space to play sports).
Address

Newcastle
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
Public Greenspace Area
Website of the intervention
https://www.yhn.org.uk/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
in planning stage
End date of the intervention
ongoing
Present stage of the intervention
Envisioned
Goals of the intervention
The key driver appears to be the potential to reduce the costs incurred by the council in the maintenance of green spaces around social housing. While also promoting biodiversity and reducing the risk of surface water flooding. (1)
Quantitative targets
Unknown.
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Water management (SDG 6)
Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity restoration
Green space creation and/or management
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Ecosystem-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
Means for conservation governance
Manage biological resources for conservation and sustainable use
Public engagement
What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Ecosystem-focused
What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?
Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
Public engagement
Implementation activities
Only the URIP meeting in March 2017 has taken place thus far but the goal is to do re-wilding of spaces around social housing in the form of changing turfed areas to wildflower gardens, as was discussed at the March 2017 URIP meeting.
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
Other
Please specify "other urban green space connected to grey infrastructure"
Re-wilding green spaces integrated in, and around social housing.
Vegetation Type
Grass
Shrubs
Flower beds
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Flood regulation
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Maintenance of genetic diversity
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Government-led
Non-government actors
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The city council maintains the green spaces around social housing (and the key driver during the meeting appeared to be the potential to reduce these costs). (1)
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
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
Please specify other participatory methods
The intervention is envisioned, information was gathered from the March 2017 URIP meeting in Newcastle.
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
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
NBS is being considered as a cost-saving measure, in the context of local authority budget reductions (which are being determined by national government). (1)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
See above.
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
Local authority budget reductions (which are being determined by national government). (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
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
Green infrastructure is addressed as one aspect of the local authority’s strategy plans. (2)
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
Yes
Please specify
Newcastle is involved in NATURVATION (NATure-based URban innovation), a Horizon 2020 project (EU).
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Please specify
Note: Local authority budget reductions (which are being determined by national government). (See e.g. Ref. 1)
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
Not applicable
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Not applicable
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Not applicable
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Not applicable
Please specify cost savings
NBS is being considered as a cost-saving measure, in the context of local authority budget reductions; will deliver cost savings (e.g. by stopping mowing grassy areas).
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Not applicable, NBS is envisioned.
Source(s) of funding
Other
Please specify other source of funding
Not applicable, NBS is envisioned.
Type of fund(s) used
Other
Please specify other type of fund used
Not applicable, NBS is envisioned.
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
Social
Governance innovation
Novelty level of the innovation
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The Newcastle City Council's budget for Parks has been cut by 90%. A public consultation is being run on the proposed transfer of the operation, delivery and maintenance of parks and allotments from to a new Charitable Trust. For more information, see NBS ‘The Future of Newcastle’s Parks and Allotments’. (Ref. 3)
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is not referred to as being transferred to new initiative(s)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
NBS is envisioned.
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Unknown
Description of environmental benefits
Not applicable
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Not applicable
Social and cultural impacts
Unknown
Description of social and cultural benefits
Not applicable
Type of reported impacts
No impacts reported
Indicators
Not applicable
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Unknown
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
COVID-19 pandemic
Not applicable
Methods of impact monitoring
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Not applicable
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
No
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Not applicable
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
No
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
No
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
No
Please specify
Not applicable, NBS is envisioned.
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref. 1
Ref. 2
Ref. 3
List of references
1. Chronicle. (2017). Newcastle parks shake-up: People fear for future of city's green spaces. North East News, Newcastle City Council. Information obtained: 2017-06-30.
2. Newcastle City Council. (2011). Core strategy and Urban Core AAP. Joint Technical Papers. Gateshead Council. NCC. Website not available
3. Newcastle City Council. (2017) Newcastle explores transfer of parks to trust (Have Your Say). Council News. Website not available
Additional comments
No online or publically available documents are currently available relating to this NBS. Information was gathered through the March 2017 URIP meeting in Newcastle.
Comments and notes
Comments
Information for this intervention was gathered through the March 2017 URIP meeting in Newcastle.