Enabling opportunities for physical activity

The Villa Turrisi park has been the subject of a regeneration process request, implemented by some associations and citizens in order to protect the park. The goal of this citizen-based initiative is to regenerate the area with the expansion of the urban park, by adding several trees and plants. The main benefits of the project, apart from the cultural and social value of the new area, is the mitigation effect of the park in response to threats such as urban pollution, improvement of air quality, and biodiversity conservation (both plants and animal species). (Ref.1.)

The Grand Park Garonne urban project aims to rehabilitate and develop the banks of the river Garonne that runs 32 kilometers through the city. From 2015, several development projects was planned to be carried out for a total of 28.7 million euros across 3 areas: the Garonne downstream, Toulouse center and the city's "green lung" Island of Ramier (Ref. 1, 4). Within these are 12 sites that consist of 40 pilot projects for operations. Among these are projects focused on protecting and restoring natural habitats and species in order to create a citywide green corridor (Ref. 8).

The planned intervention focuses on creating accessible green spaces for meaningful social exchanges. The City Council seeks to achieve this through a ground plan of connecting green spaces and ease of access into buildings. The intervention, proposed as a lineal green area, centers its structural organization around green spaces and public spaces. Accessibility for pedestrians is facilitated through spines of green spaces that cross the planned neighbourhood horizontally and vertically. These green spaces are planned to be watered with collected rain water, consequently the smart use of water is also a focus of the intervention. (ref 1)

A 5km section green corridor in the province of Malaga. The initial intervention was planned and opened in 2015, converting non-operational train tracks into a green path for pedestrian and cyclist use. (ref 1,4). The whole corridor will unite the Natural Site of the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes with the natural site of the mouth of the Guadalhorce river. (ref 3)

In 2012 Marks & Spencers funded a volunteering initiative, the Big Beach Clean-up, through which their staff were able to volunteer to clean local beaches and waterways to make local environmental improvements. This initiative is part of M&S’ Forever Fish campaign which is funded by the profits from the 5p carrier bag charge in M&S foodhalls. The 4th annual Big Beach Clean Up (which took place in 2015) aimed to clean 135 beaches and canals up and down the country with over 8,000 people (3,000 M&S employees and 5,000 M&S customers) (ref. 5). As part of this initiative, around 30 members of staff from Nottingham’s local high street store went down to the canal, between Castle Meadow retail park and Meadow Lane Lock, and spent the day removing masses of litter from the water (ref. 3).

Since October 2015, the City of Marseille has implemented a vegetation permit called "Visa Vert" (Green Visa), as well as a "Charter for the vegetation of public spaces in Marseille", which allow individuals to install plants in public spaces
while respecting the safety and use of the tracks by other users. Plants, flowers and shrubs can thus contribute to the beautification of the living environment and "bring a bit of nature into the city" (Ref. 1). The charter aims to “ accompany and support initiatives to revegetate the streets and promote collective actions that contribute to embellishing the living environment ”, but also to “ enhance the presence of plants in the city, to respect the public space which belongs to all and thus to improve living together ” (Ref. 5).

Funded by the ERDF through the financial instrument JESSICA, the aim of the ecopark is to compensate for the tree felling during the construction of the second rowing canal by the river Maritsa, provide a natural place for recreation, and restore the ecological stability of the area. This is accomplished by restoring elements of the natural habitat in the river and the land nearby: trees, terrestrial and water plants, and small islands.
(Ref. 1; Ref. 2)

The Climate Friendly Gardeners Project is based at Windmill Community Gardens in the Bobber’s Mill area of Nottingham. The project teaches local residents about sustainable gardening practices in the context of the climate change affecting the UK, through a renovated community allotment garden.”
(ref 1, 2)

The Belvoirpark has its origins in the 19th century and is one of the oldest landscaped gardens in the region. Set on a beautiful location close to the lake with views of the city and the mountains, the Belvoirpark has retained its specific topography with large level differences and exotic trees. Since the twenties, Gastrosuisse operates here a Hotel Management School with an upscale, publicly accessible restaurant. The former school building was spatially and functionally not integrated into the parkA huge transformation of the Belvoirpark area was done to make the park more green from 2004 – 2015. The transformation of the area around the new construction of the replacement building allowed a reappraisal of the previous situation. (Ref 1)

The Bahlui river was prone to floods especially during spring and autumn and as a result of the fact that for almost 40 years there has been no work for the decolouration and sanitation of the river and the industrial enterprises in the county have discharged polluting substances in water (mainly nitrogen and phosphates), Bahlu River has become a polluted river. In addition, some citizens of Iaşi have discarded waste in its bed (especially in peripheral areas). In 2011, a larger project funded by the EU, implemented the regularization of the river. (1)