The innovation is transferred to new initiative(s) with substantial adaptation

The extensive Rain Garden Project underneath the Begumpet flyover was carried out in Hyderabad City of Telangana State in India as a beautification project, creating a wetland system banked by lush vegetation (1,2, 4). The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) developed this project to restore, conserve and regenerate the environment of stormwater drains (locally named as open 'Nalas') (1,2,3,6). This project is located at the intersection of Kukatpally Nala and Yousufguda Nala and stretches over 2 hectares and runs for 400 meters (1,2). The project was created for a more natural flow of stormwater to allow it to soak into the ground as well as reduce mosquito breeding on Nala (1,2). It was completed in 2018, creating a positive impact, through which the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) further decided to develop more such projects in other parts of the city (4). Hyderabad City was also awarded for this project under the green and clean city category - Smart Cities India (SCI) Awards (5).

The ‘City of 1,000 Tanks’ project offers a holistic solution to the problems of floods, water scarcity and pollution in Chennai (Ref. 1). The project's primary objective is to develop a "Water Balance Model" for the city, which involves collecting rainwater, treating wastewater and runoff pollution with decentralized nature-based solutions, as well as prevent climate-change-induced droughts and saline intrusion due to sea-level rise (Ref. 1, 2). This is achieved through developing various nature-based water management solutions and improving the recharge capacity of traditional temple tanks (Ref 1).
The project began in 2018, following the call for action event of the "Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia" (a bilateral program spanning several Asian countries). The Water Balance Model is developed as a strategy with an incremental implementation process (Ref 1, 2). The project started with pilot projects and then progressed to flagship projects before full city-wide implementation (Ref. 3).

The Ecological Education Center (EEC) is a nationally recognized institution committed to promoting awareness and sustainability through its environmental education programs in Mongolia. As the only organization in the country dedicated to providing such programs, the EEC operates under the National University of Mongolia (NUM) and was founded in 1957 as the "Central Station of Young Naturalists". With over 60 years of experience in environmental education, the EEC offers its programs not only to NUM students but also to children of varying ages. Since 2011, the center has developed and introduced various cognitive-based environmental training programs, providing visitors with interactive learning opportunities that takes them through different learning stations. The EEC has several facilities to support the learning experience, including a nature experience garden, a greenhouse, and a small zoological museum. The nature experience garden is continuously enriched with new tree species each year, and as a result, it is now home to over 3500 trees and bushes of 30 different species. In addition to its educational programs, the EEC also provides advice on gardening and plant care to further promote environmental sustainability. (Ref. 1, 2, 3)

Clifton Urban Forest was initiated by an individual named Shahzad Qureshi after Karachi witnessed its first “official” heat wave in 2015. More than 2000 people died in the region when temperatures reached over 120 degrees Fahrenheit in Karachi (Ref: 1,4). The major culprit for this heat wave was the ‘Urban heat Island’ effects, resulted from the congested concrete build-up and less green cover. At that time everybody started realizing the non-existence of green cover in the city is the reason behind the city being very hot. Qureshi saw a TED talk about the Miyawaki Method, a quickly growing dense urban forest and decided to give that a try. He believed that the Miyawaki Method, which promised a fast and sustainable forest within three years without using any pesticides and chemicals, could transform Karachi (Ref: 4,7).

Therefore, in December 2015, he and his team planted the first pilot forest covering about 300 square meters based on Dr Akira Miyawaki’s Methodology in a city-owned site in the Clifton area of Karachi. The area previously was used as an open dumping site. The project landscape design was developed by a German-trained landscape architect on 3 acres area and turned into an urban forest park (Ref: 6, 9). When the project became successful, they expanded the forest to the whole park, which is almost 12,000 square meters. The current project envisions increasing the green cover to restore Karachi's degraded environment by creating evergreen and sustainable forests. It targets to feature 50,000 trees, more than 50 native species, 1.2 km of nature walkways, vegetable gardening, community composting, a butterfly garden, a children's natural playground, a fruit forest, a central lake and a skywalk (Ref: 2, 4).

The created forest is self-sustaining with recycled wastewater. It has an organic vegetable garden that provides food for the community, a natural playground for kids, a lake for excess water storage, and a composting and recycling area that absorbs waste from 100 households around the park. Multiple school field trips have been arranged in the park to create awareness among the children about biodiversity and the natural ecosystem (Ref: 5, 6). Moreover, people have been actively visiting the Urban Forest and enjoying the interaction with native plants, and biodiversity and spending some peaceful time for relaxation and leisure (Ref: 9).

The project has received a lot of national and international recognition and funds from Sugi Projects, the Rotary club and crowd-sourced from various corporations and individuals (Ref: 7). Since then, Qureshi and his team have created 24 more forests in Pakistan (Ref: 5, 6).

Penang is a state located in north-western Peninsular Malaysia with an area of 1,049 km2. It comprises two local authorities, Penang Island and the mainland. The former is further divided into five administrative districts which are further divided into mukims (sub-districts). Two urban mukims located on the island – George Town and Bayan Lepas – are the focus of the proposed nature-based solutions (NBS) climate adaptation programme. The programme was launched in 2022 by UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) of Malaysia, Penang Island City Council (Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang - MBPP), Department of Irrigation and Drainage (Jabatan Pengairan Dan Saliran - JPS) and Think City (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad (the sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Malaysia)). (Ref 1)

The implementation of the project responds to several challenges posed by climate change including heatwaves and flooding (Ref 4). The main goal of the programme is to enhance urban resilience and reduce human and ecosystem health vulnerability to climate change impacts and extreme weather events by implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) such as tree-lined streets, pocket parks, green parking spaces, green facades and rooftops, urban agriculture and blue-green corridors to reduce surface temperatures and stormwater runoff, as well as to increase social resilience and build institutional capacity (Ref 1, 3).

To mitigate environmental pressures, including air pollution and urban heat island effects and to improve urban resilience, the municipal government in Beijing has launched the largest afforestation Programme in 2012, Beijing Plain Area Afforestation Programme (BPAP). The aim was to create huge forest patches, develop urban forest park clusters and optimise the large-scale forest patterns. By 2015, BPAP has created green strategies with nine green wedges, multiple green belts, and green corridors around Beijing's old city centre. More than 70,000 hectares of forest (more than 54 million trees) have been planted, and the survival rate has exceeded 95%. BPAP has been considered one of the most ambitious projects for a high-density urbanised area like Beijing. [1, 5]

One of the first public institutions to rise to the climate change challenge in the Philippines is the LLDA, which unveiled a two-wing, four-story green building in Quezon City to mark its 48th anniversary in 2014.
Reflecting the critical mandate of the LLDA to protect the country’s largest freshwater lake, the LLDA building features its own water treatment facility, material recovery facility, and a rain collection system that can hold 60,000 gallons of water. In order to be certified by the Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence, several greened areas have been installed in the building: two “pocket gardens” on intermediate levels and a green roof (Bio Roof) which covers an area of 208 m2. The Bio Roof is integrated within the building’s structure. Its vegetative layer protects the waterproofing membrane from climatic extremes, which allows for the reduction in maintenance and the reduction in the size of stormwater handling facilities. [1]

In 2019, the public initiative "Let's return the rivers to the city" campaign united public forces around the Podborenka river, which flows through the territory of Izhevsk along its entire length [1, 4, 5]. In an urbanised environment, the river was abandoned due to water pollution, poor treatment of stormwater, road and industrial runoff, soil erosion, and due to presence of landfills in the valleys [1, 4, 7]. Therefore, the project's primary goal is to increase the efficiency of urban resources and the creation of new scenarios for resource use on the example of the space of the riverbed of a small river [3]. The project implementation contributes to improving the ecological situation of the Podborenka River, its embankment zone and biodiversity [1, 9]. Also, the project implementers paid particular attention to the education of young people, the development of volunteer movements, and raising the level of the ecological culture of the population [1, 2, 6, 7].

Xalapa is located beneath towering volcanic peaks in the Sierra Madre Oriental, and the city is crossed by at least five minor streams, seven rivers, and it has four man-made lakes and one lagoon in its territory. Its natural ecosystem represents “1% of the national forest area and hosts more than 12% of forest biodiversity” [1]. However, unplanned expansion has resulted in deforestation and the inadequate management of its waterways. In addition, forests, riparian corridors and wetlands have been cleared for agriculture and urban infrastructure. These disruptions to the environment have increased the frequency and intensity of flooding in the city [2]. To meet the environmental challenges, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Mexico's Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources-SEMARNAT launched an initiative as part of UNEP's multi-city CityAdapt Project, backed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) [3]. The project focuses on four interventions to improve resilience to climate change through NbS: 1) riparian restoration along the Papas urban river; 2) ecological restoration of the Estropajo Hill; 3) installation of rainwater systems within the most vulnerable areas in Xalapa; and 4) implementation of an artificial wetland at schools [2,4].

The green belt was created not only as an aesthetic element but also to serve as the lungs of the city. The forest planting works around Nur-Sultan have been carried out since 1997 [6, 7]. The area of ​​the green belt of Nur-Sultan is 100 thousand hectares, of which 15 thousand hectares are planted within the city limits. The main idea of the project was to provide comfortable conditions for the residents of Nur-Sultan city, which would serve as a mechanism for improving air quality, mitigating climate and as a natural barrier to protect the city from dust winds and snowstorms [2, 4, 5, 6, 7]. An important aspect that was taken into consideration are the animal species of the forest, as the territory of the green belt is inhabited by foxes, hares, corsacs, white and grey partridges, roe deer, wild boars, etc [1, 2, 7, 8]. The primary importance of biodiversity efforts is assigned to the breeding of birds, especially pheasants [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], as pheasants are an element of local cultural heritage, and on the territory of the green belt, traditions and cultural events related with the pheasants are organised every year [2, 4]. The young forest should turn into an improved recreation area, a favourite pastime for city residents at any time of the year [2,7].