Dissemination of information and education

The garden is an opportunity for training, leisure and coexistence where the teaching of ecological gardening is combined with the love of plants and the social use of land. Consolidated in just one year as a training point for the unemployed without losing that playful-neighborhood component with which it opened its doors. In it the volunteers develop a methodology of teaching that facilitates the socialization and the reintegration work when acquiring knowledge in gardening and carpentry. (ref 1)

Bee-friendly Nottingham is a campaign run by Nottingham City Council to make Nottingham a more pollinator-friendly city, promote pollinator-friendly gardening at council events and to protect bee populations by planting pollinator-friendly plants via planting schemes (Ref. 1). It aims to make some lasting changes to the way people manage open spaces in order to help wild and domestic bees and provide more flowers for foraging and more habitat for nest sites (ref. 1).

Wildlife in the City is a project led by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, with Nottingham City Council, to promote, protect and celebrate the nature reserves, wildlife sites and green spaces across Nottingham City (ref. 2). Wildlife in the City is a project run by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust was originally designed to raise awareness of the value of urban wildlife and to inspire people to get involved with caring for wildlife sites on their doorstep. The project aimed to engage people in their local green spaces and wildlife. Wildlife in the City ran lots of activities and events, volunteering opportunities, training opportunities and more (ref. 1). It began as a three-year project funded by Natural England through Access to Nature, as part of the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme. The project worked with local people to undertake vital habitat creation and management works throughout the city. It particularly worked in areas of Nottingham with previously little wildlife activity from the partners. These areas were Bestwood, Bulwell, Aspley/Broxtowe estate, Clifton, The Meadows, and Sneinton (ref. 6). After the funding for the project has ended, its objectives and the partnership between the City Council and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust remained and the Trust continues managing many of the Council's wildlife sites and using local volunteers to help out with essential tasks such as scrub management, gardening, litter picks and floral surveys (ref 2).

Working with Cardiff local authorities, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water's (DCWW) upgraded Trelawney Avenue to its RainScape Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) (Ref. 4) which alleviated risk to residents and nearby highway which were at a 2 in 10 year flood risk (highly-risky) (Ref. 3). Flooding commonly occurred due to rainwater run-off from the roofs and roads of upstream catchments that drained into a combined, overburdened sewer network. Traditional systems of increasing pipe-size and storage were not cost effective (Ref. 3). A sustainable solution was developed which combined road surface drainage (gullies and slotted grates) and provided water-butts (200 liter reservoirs for roof drains) to 101 properties in Trelawney Avenue and to 75 properties in the upstream catchment (Ref. 3). Additionally, a wall was built to protect properties from the potential effects from surface water run-off (Ref. 1).

The project of Nature Oasis Auwiesen is creating new habitats for animals and plants in Stuttgart. The project is one of a total of six “Neckar pearls” that are to be completed by 2022 as part of the Neckar Landscape Park master plan in Stuttgart. In the project with a predominantly ecological focus, grassland in the Neckaraue near the Aubrücke is to be transformed into a near‐natural, ecologically valuable wetland biotope. In the course of straightening the Neckar, the wet and floodplain biotopes that were typical and widespread in the floodplains have been lost. The aim of the project is to restore these habitats for animals and plants, which have become very rare today. A network of marshes, water surfaces, islands, and bushes is to be created in the district of Hofen. On an area previously used as grassland, new habitats will be created for rare animals and plants, which are dependent on water areas. Initially, the planned implementation time was 2016-2022, but now it has been delayed and is expected to start by the end of 2021. (2, 7).

The project called “The Apiary of Kraków” includes several interrelated initiatives to establish beehives on the rooftops of various institutions in Cracow. The aim is to provide habitat for bees, and protect biodiversity, support urban pollination, increase social awareness on the topic. Urban honey is of better quality than honey produced in rural areas where pesticides are more common. The local administration-led initiative aims to promote Cracow as a pro-ecological city which soon will be selling its honey [1,2,3,4].

Landscape Park Neckar is a multi-place NBS intervention that is being realized along the banks of the river Neckar in 27 cities, including Stuttgart. Along the river axis, the free spaces between the dwelling buildings, industrial areas, and transport terminals are identified to be transformed into green areas, parks, and new recreational facilities. With this step-by-step approach, it succeeds in regenerating green areas for natural and social functions and helps drawing attention to the diverse benefits of Green Infrastructure. There are now eight master plans for the different landscape areas, which fit together like pieces of a puzzle to form the Stuttgart Region Landscape Park. Each sub-concept is tailored to the characteristic conditions. Since 2005 the Verband Region Stuttgart has been calling on cities and municipalities to submit project ideas. From this, the projects are selected in a competition in which the region pays up to 50 per cent of the costs. In this way, total investments in the Stuttgart Region Landscape Park of around 45 million euros have been triggered in recent years and around 200 projects have been co-financed by the region. The redevelopment of the landscape is in the ongoing phase. (ref. 1, 2, 7).

This NBS is part of a national campaign that was first implemented in 1936 and it deals with an entire month through which local authorities alongside public institutions proceed at plant a large number of trees. The action was resumed in 2008. The Forest Month, how it was named initially, has been over time an opportunity to raise public awareness of the importance of forests, and their essential role in maintaining ecological balance. The current name - Planting month Tree- is regulated by the Romanian Forest Code. (1)

The Liège Expo 2017 Masterplan was developed for the city of Liège, as part of their bid to organize the International Expo of 2017. In this plan, the Expo was not just an exciting stand-alone event, but rather the start of a sustainable transformation and an ecofriendly future of the city. The proposed development on both banks of the River Maaswill aimed to create new access to the river and improve the quality of life and the sustainability of the city, all at the same time (Ref. 1). While Liege was not awarded the 2017 Expo, the decision was made by the City to continue the competitive dialogue procedure initiated with a view to developing the Coronmeuse site into an eco-district (Ref. 12). Construction was launched in 2020 (Ref. 14).

The City of Milan intends to carry out a functional intervention in the valley of Ticinello for the strengthening of the environmental matrix and of the structural characteristics aimed at improving the ecological connection. The project, which aims to contribute to the valorisation, strengthening and conservation of the natural heritage, as well as expand local biodiversity, through the realization of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, is necessary for the realization, development and enhancement of large-scale ecological corridors already identified by the instruments of territorial planning (1).