Municipal / city level environmental plan or programme

Bog Meadows is the last surviving remnants of the river Blackstaff's floodplain, which originally extended over 1,000 acres (Ref 3). This is an urban oasis composed of a mosaic of wetland, meadows, ponds, woodland, shrubs, and stream (Ref 1). It situated at the heart of Belfast City and is the last large area of the Blackstaff floodplain that has not been developed. The area is an important site for both breeding and overwintering birds(Ref 3). The Bog Meadows Enhancement Project aimed to improve the access, grazing infrastructure, and overall appearance of the site. It was hoped that cattle grazing will encourage wildflowers to attract insects, birds etc. (Ref 2).

The Bio Washing Machine is a combination of an Aquifer Thermal Heat Storage (ATES) system and biological natural attenuation of groundwater and is thereby mainly focused on groundwater decontamination and energy storage. The ATES system accelerates the biological degradation of groundwater contamination and provides sustainable energy because cold water is pumped through buildings during the summer to cool the buildings and hot water during winter for heating. The groundwater decontamination measurements are aimed at protecting water in order to provide safe drinking water (ref. 1, 2, 3)

The Bradford Beck project is a pilot project looking at new ways of managing and improving rivers. The Bradford Beck is a small river system of around 11km that flows through the City of Bradford. The beck used to be known as the filthiest river in England. In this project, activities are aimed at bringing the becks back to life and full health, for long term restoration of the Beck. It will provide a new focus of water-based socio-economic regeneration in Bradford (reference 1). The project established that a large proportion of the Bradford Beck catchment could be monitored with observations at just 12 strategic points along the course of the Beck, so observations would be made at all 12 points on different days of the week and at different times of the day (ref 6). A record of the status of the Beck at each point would be taken. This would include the level of the water, the colour of the water, smell, turbidity and a photograph of each site (ref 6).

The redevelopment of the Alcantara square is part of the program A SQUARE IN EACH NEIGHBOURHOOD, implemented by the Municipality of Lisbon in 2017 onward. Besides the road re-organization, the project includes specific elements. The NBS includes the creation of a public garden, cycling path, playground facilities and introduction of new trees (Ref.1). The residents of the neighbourhood were asked to participate. The participation process aimed at obtaining from the citizens an evaluation on different pertinent questions in the experience of the public space, results showed: space for pedestrians, improve green spaces and urban living (Ref.1).

"This disctrict of "Plateau de Haye" is part of the EcoQuartier approach, is one of the most ambitious urban renewal projects. In line with the development of the New Urban Renewal Program, work was carried out this year [2012] on the challenges of opening up territory to its urban and forestry environment in order to confirm the "Forest City" approach initiated by the architect-town planner Alexandre Chemetoff" (Ref. 1). It received the EcoQuartier National Grand Prize (Ref. 2). A forest, community gardens and a green corridor are being developed with a rainwater recovery system (Ref. 2). Work is set to continue until 2024 (Ref. 10). "It will first allow work to be done on the functionalities of the district : development of spaces freed up by the demolition of the Blanc Sycamore and the Purple Beech, reconversion of the Tamaris and Ombelles into housing, shops and spaces dedicated to companies, creation of green spaces , shared gardens and parking" (Ref. 10).

Park Sainte-Marie is the second largest park in Nancy (Ref. 8). "The park Sainte-Marie hides varieties of splendid oaks and many other rare plants. It also hosts that annual "Nature in Festivities" event in the first weekend of May which represents the largest plant market in the region (Ref. 2). "This park was awarded the "Tourism and Handicap" labels in 2007 and "Outstanding Garden" in 2010" (Ref. 1). "An old Alsatian House , created for the International Exhibition of the East of France in 1909" is conserved within the park (Ref. 8).

In Frankfurt, the "Gallus Garden" is a community garden built in 2016, which not only impresses with its 1000 m2 size but also reflects the cultural diversity in the district (4). The garden was initiated by the Kinder im Zentrum Gallus association in collaboration with the Gallus neighbourhood management with the help of many sponsors and donors such as the Open Space Office and Deutsche Bank (4). The garden consists of two areas with raised bed for families, kindergarten groups and individuals to cultivate their food there, while a third area is for community events with fruit trees. The aim of the Gallus Garden is to create a community place where old and new residents of the area get together, can share knowledge and spend time in nature (4,8).

An ephemeral garden has been set up in Stanislas Square each year since embellishment and pedestrianization works took place in 2005 (Ref. 2). The Parks and Gardens Department of the City of Nancy works around a topical theme, unveiled at the beginning of the summer: such as travel, history, or technology. The city imagines flowerbeds which cover up the square, with flowers and poetry. It is intended to offer visitors a new perspective on the square (Ref. 2). In 2015, the project's theme was "Connected Garden" combining technology and nature (Ref. 3).

"Renaturation and flood control works on the Grémillon stream are being undertaken in the Nancy agglomeration. The stream is subject to overflows and was highly artificialized during the urban development of the Nancy agglomeration, which caused a slow degradation of the natural environment during strong storms. In order to solve these problems, Grand Nancy has decided to implement a set of measures designed to protect the populations from overflowing of the stream and to support the regaining quality of the natural environment"(Ref. 1).

The Paul Verlaine Garden received the "EcoJardin"(Eco-Garden) label in 2014 (Ref. 2). The EcoJardin repository is intended to be a methodological tool to guide good practices for gardeners and managers of green spaces (Ref. 6)."This garden is labeled as "Tourisme et Handicap". Work has been done so that this place takes particular account of the accessibility to the people with reduced mobility and the visually impaired. The Jardin Paul Garden is a succession of environments and vegetation architectures" (Ref. 1). At the entrance of the park, there is a playground, a garden of le Petit Poucet, and further the forest of birches, vegetable garden and the garden of tall grasses (Ref. 1).