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The city garden was a 2000 square meter large communal garden in Nuremberg Eberhardshof district that invites all citizens to take part in gardening and co-operating activities without any costs attached. The project was aimed at promoting sustainability for Nuremberg and the Bavarian region (1). The gardeners try to rely on a variety of different plants, even in their last season, they planted 35 tomatoes, 14 chili, ten potato, and twelve bean varieties alone. In 2013, a bee colony was also established. (7) The project had its last season in 2018, after which it had to be closed because of plans to create a district park in its area. (5) The city garden has established itself as an important leisure facility in Eberhardshof by offering, for example, cooking courses and training courses on tree pruning as well as numerous other topics. (6)

Forest of Bere has been identified as one of the key project areas of the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) Green Infrastructure Strategy. The goal is to allow urban populations of south Hampshire to have better access to quality green space. (1) Part of the forest, called Portsdown Hill, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is on the boundary of urban Portsmouth and supports extensive areas of calcareous grassland where a wide diversity of typical chalk grassland plants and insects can be found. The last twenty years have seen extensive areas of scrub being removed and restored to open grassland. The project aims to restore the once flourishing natural habitat of the forest while providing more recreational opportunities to the growing number of residents in the surrounding areas, was well as improving the ecological connectivity of separate woodlands (1,2,4,5).

Portsmouth and its surrounding areas are under ‘serious water stress’ and water companies are being asked to take less water from some of their sources. This includes reductions to the amount of water that Southern Water can take from the rivers Test and Itchen in Hampshire. To address this, Portsmouth Water started the planning of a new Havant Thicket Reservoir.
The water to be stored in the reservoir will be supplied from surplus winter yield from the Havant & Bedhampton Springs. In winter, higher rainfall leads to a higher springs yield which flows into the sea, but a portion would now be pumped to the new reservoir. Long-term benefits of the proposed reservoir include enhancing the local environment and providing a new wetland habitat. (1,5)
In November 2020, the Havant Thicket Reservoir planning applications have been submitted to Havant Borough Council and East Hampshire District Council for validation. (7)

Based on an urban regeneration project in the city district of Arrenberg, an association called “Awakening of the Arrenberg” formed in 2008, consisting of citizens, entrepreneurs and real estate owners seeking to transform their district. Under the umbrella of the project “climate quarter Arrenberg” initiated in 2014, whose goal is to make the district CO2 neutral by 2030, the development of a city farm covering 60,000 sqm on former railway premises - a Europe-wide unique project in urban farming – is one of their most important plans that make up their vision of becoming carbon neutral. (Ref. 1, 2 and 3). The goal of the farm is to produce healthy and locally produced food, while creating employment opportunities and remaining carbon-neutral, using power only from the sustainable power plant that will be installed for the project. (Ref. 2) In February 2020, the implementation has not yet started, but the “Awakening of the Arrenberg” association says the vision of the urban farm is stronger than ever before and that the project has received funding approval, with experts now working on feasibility studies. (Ref. 8).

The project aims to completely redevelop ‘Rozemaai’, a neighborhood in Antwerp, focusing on climate change adaptation, green spaces, and recreation. This includes a sustainable drainage system in which storm water flows via swales into a water stream with nature-friendly river banks, trees and bushes in the neighborhood, green parking lots, allotments and recreational facilities such as picnic tables (Ref. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Since 2019, the district has had a new, accessible park in which the Donkse brook plays a leading role (Ref. 7).

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) ran a project to turn Belfast into the first-ever “Swift City”. The Belfast Swift City project aimed to bring nature back to the city and protect the swifts (ref 1). The aim was to find out where the birds are nesting, so work can begin to protect them. Additionally, there was said to be potential for the creation of community gardens in the area of residential buildings undergoing regeneration to aid this project. (Ref 2). As thousands of swifts migrate from Africa and nest in crevices in buildings, nesting boxes were put in a few locations like the parliament building to attract more swifts. (Ref 4)

A part of the Translink Biodiversity Project, the garden will support a wide range of native wildlife and plant species as well as enhance pupils’ learning experience. (ref 2). The children of An Droichead will gain a new understanding of the environment around and a biodiversity community garden that could be used by the children and local community as an integral learning resource. (ref 1)

A new wildflower meadow has been created at a new estate on the outskirts of Belfast. The Mount Eagles Drive Action Group held a wildflower planting event with two local Colin primary schools, namely, Christ the Redeemer and Our Lady Queen of Peace to provide a unique opportunity for children to learn about nature, and, in particular, how wildflowers are an essential part of our landscape, enhancing the biodiversity of our native insect, plant and animal species. (ref1) Pupils from Christ the Redeemer and Our Lady Queen of Peace schools spent a morning planting a wide variety of wildflower plugs and seeds in the Mount Eagles wildflower meadow, under the expert supervision of highly trained horticulturalists. (Ref 3)

The Dee Park Regeneration Project aims to rebuild the 1,100 homes from the 1960s-built estate, that has been worked on in close consultation with the community. The estate is one of the 20 per cent most deprived areas in the country. The vision for the regeneration project is to create “a safe, inclusive and sustainable community, economically, environmentally and socially, as part of the wider Reading, where people want to live and work, and which will inspire a sense of pride”. The third and final phase of the project is ongoing and is expected to be completed soon. (Ref. 1, 4, 8, 9)

On the territory of the former train station Vohwinkel (including the train tracks) a brownfield site of 15 ha was turned into a commercial urban area which was created as an economic driver for Wuppertal. However, the site was inhabited by the highly endangered sand lizard, which is why a species conservation island was created as the commercial park was being built. As a habitat of the endangered sand lizard species, the conservation area in the South-West of the commercial park remained free from construction development, and an adequate conservation concept was elaborated and implemented. The nature conservation area is maintained by the environmental protection department of the city. (Ref. 1 and 6). The project succeeded in its goal of creating a commercial area on the former Vohwinkel marshalling yard while simultaneously paying attention to the protection of the endangered sand lizard. (Ref. 2) Additionally to the conservation area within and around the commercial zone, lizards have also been relocated beyond the city limits as a biodiversity offsetting measure. (Ref. 8) Furthermore, the dried out Krutscheider stream, forming part of an important biotope system with its gravel surfaces, was dug out again to serve as a green corridor for compensation against the habitat loss. (Ref. 1, 4 and 6)