Dissemination of information and education

Meadow orchards with fruit trees were an integral part of subsistence farming and form part of the cultural heritage of Wuppertal. To preserve and further develop these meadows as an important habitat for flora and fauna and promote their potential for sustainable consumption, 4 such meadows were sponsored, maintained and promoted by the city of Wuppertal in close collaboration with the working group for fruit meadows via events, communal harvesting activities and hands-on courses since 1999. Since 2015, these meadows have increasingly drawn the attention of "foodsharing" movements and during the nationwide research year "future town". (Ref. 1, 2, 6, 8). Enclosed between areas of intensive conventional agriculture and the federal motorway, the orchards as islands of biological diversity are important places of retreat and relaxation. (Ref. 5) Communal activities are also offered, such as the co-creation of “edible experience spaces”, joint harvesting and providing a base for additional social projects (Ref. 6).

The Royal Gardens, situated between Piazza San Marco and the Bacino di San Marco, came into being during the Napoleonic occupation of the city and used to be a space for recreational activities for locals for many years after the monarchy was over. During past decades, the gardens have progressively deteriorated. Their original design is now barely legible, in terms both of geometrical patterns and the placement of trees and shrubs. They were rapidly becoming a derelict area. This intervention consists of their recovery by restoring the original vegetation by recovering still-living plants and introducing new ones. Between 2015 and 2019 the Gardens underwent complex restoration, carried out by the Foundation and planned by the gardener and landscape architect Paolo Pejrone, student of Russell Page and Roberto Burle-Marx, while architectural renovation and the rebuilding of the greenhouse was planned by architect Alberto Torsello, based on a project drawn up by Carlo Aymonino and Gabriella Barbini. Reopened in December 2019, the Royal Gardens, rich in unexpected perspectives and luxuriant growth, have reacquired their formal excellence and botanical complexity, in coherence with their historic nineteenth-century design. (1, 2 and 7).

Situated on an area of 52 acres, Father Collins Park incorporates many sustainability-focused features and has won a number of awards. Over 1200 trees and 2000 native saplings were planted to help integrate the existing woodland, maximise biodiversity, and vastly increase the ecological value of the park. Also, wetland areas were created to filter and clean the water in the park as part of a recycling system that replenishes and helps clean the lake and water features. The wetland areas mimic the characteristics of natural wetlands and create a special ecosystem that encourages greater biodiversity in the park. (Ref. 1)

The civil society association "Permaculture vorm Eichholz" has made it their agenda to turn a since 2016 abandoned farmhouse into an experience-based, educational, co-design space around the concept of permaculture which is an ecologically inspired design concept for creating resilient and durable agricultural areas while maintaining the diversity of cultural and natural habitats. The farm, which was established in 2017, promotes alternative cultivation methods and energy concepts via seminars and workshops and constitutes an experimental lab for interested citizens who can implement their own ideas or even take over responsibility for parts of the farm they develop and cultivate themselves (Ref. 1, 2, 3). The leaders of the project also plan to implement a sustainable energy concept, with the goal of making the farm self-sufficient in it’s energy consumption by producing renewable energies in a variety of ways. (Ref. 9)

The biggest park to date for the new town of Cherrywood in South Dublin is being developed. Tully Park will be part of a major strategic development in the area which will contribute to the economic growth of the county through the development of a vibrant residential and economic community anchored around a town centre. The park will act as a recreational space, and the plan is to create a high profile, high quality and distinctive flagship park with a range of visitor attractions and diverse active and passive recreational facilities. Schedule of provision to be informed by the current Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Open Space Strategy and local needs at the planning application stage but may include e.g. flagship playground, local pitches, courts, tea-rooms, toilets, public art, litter bins, street furniture, interpretation. The development of Tully Park shall be appropriate to the tranquil character and setting of the cluster of national monuments at its centre. The mature trees in the vicinity of the Tully Church complex shall be retained in so far as possible. (ref 1, 3, 5)

As part of the EU Life+ CITYWATER project (of 3 cities), a sustainable stormwater management solution based on biofiltration was implemented in Maunulanpuisto Park in Helsinki, in order to purify rainwater and meltwater and improve water quality in the Haaganpuro Brook.
As the drainage area is heavily trafficked and paved with asphalt, high solid, nutrient and oil levels have occasionally been measured in the rainwater and meltwater entering the Haaganpuro brook. Such contamination is harmful to the fish stocks (e.g. trout) and other organisms in the brook. The biofiltration solution was the first of its kind in Helsinki. The solution also supported the City of Helsinki stormwater strategy, which aims at changing management towards sustainable solutions and states that stormwater should in first hand be infiltrated on spot, where it is created (ref. 1).

The Veneto Eye Bank Foundation, a social welfare organization and regional centre of reference for cornea transplantation and research into epithelial stem cells, is a distinct and iconic project which embraces architect Emilio Ambasz's philosophy of "The Green Over the Gray," or the landscape over the building. It is a triangular-shaped building with a series of landscaped terraces at each floor level on one side. On the opposite side, the building rises as a series of steps that lead to a flat planted roof garden turning it into an outdoor amphitheatre. The combination of the plantings and deep overhangs minimises the impact of heat loads by blocking sunlight during the middle of the day (ref 1).

After relevant local regulations had been adapted and allowed for keeping apiaries in the city of Białystok, in 2016, the Institute of Biology at the University of Bialystok put six beehives on its rooftop. The initiative aims at increasing biodiversity and pollination in the city. It promotes beekeeping and sustainable production and consumption patterns, and the honey is a brand product of the University [1,3,4].

The city of Wuppertal participates as a model region in the joint research project SAMUWA which aims at developing planning instruments which combine urban drainage with urban and open space development measures. With regards to the work package C.1: open space design strategies for a water sensitive city, one focus area and proposed measure, namely the "Varresbecker" flood channel is of special interest since it has been subject to comprehensive implementation plans in Wuppertal so that its implementation can be expected in the next years (Ref. 1, 2, 4 and 5). Alongside the water channel, a recreational area will be created with information to raise awareness about water management issues and climate change. (Ref. 2)

In 2014, students, instructors and representatives of an appropriate company built a "small green roof" on the balcony above the entrance to the Department of Architecture at the Bialystok University of Technology. The initiative was a part of the "Green City by nature" project - a nationwide educational campaign about nature-based urban solutions. It took only 5 hours to unfold the roll of grass and prepare the ground for all year thuja and vines [1,2].