Health and well-being (SDG 3)

This local initiative has revitalized the most neglected places in the district and transformed them into green areas for leisure and recreation. The project resulted in the planting of new greenery (grasses, bushes, and flowers) and better maintenance of the existing plants, as well as installation of leisure and sports equipment (including benches and open-air gym) [1,2].

In this neighbourhood, this is the first initiative of this type which have utilized the neglected area for the creation of an open-air dog runway with agility track and a park for the residents. The project seeks to improve the aesthetics of the surroundings by planting greenery in the park and along the track. The wider goal of the initiative is to protect the area from further urban development in favour of more greenery in the city [1].

The Chartreuse Park has been chosen as a pilot site for the EU-funded VALUE project, enabling the City of Liège to finance and pilot a participatory requalification process for the Chartreuse Park. Since the acquisition of the site (about 20 hectares of park and green spaces), the City has taken several steps to recognize the historical and environmental potentialities of the Park and to integrate its values in the operations for the urban development of this old military site (the Fort de la Chartreuse). As a result of broad consultation with citizens, between 2012 and 2014, three circular walkways were created in the park connected to each other, enabling greater access to the park (Ref. 1).

The project aims at realizing a large urban park to link the city and the sea coast. It is a project of significant social value, as it takes place in a neighbourhood which has been in a state of decay for 50 years. The intervention includes new facilities for recreation and sport, but first of all new plantations and the creation of rooftop gardens. It would be the second-largest park of the city, by linking the city and the sea. (Ref.1.)

The aim of the project was to extend and cover one of Germany’s busiest highways, the south-north highway (A7). The highway had divided neighborhoods from each other and had had negative environmental effects like noise and air pollution. The new green roof will have three parts that connect the existing green surfaces to each other, these parts constitute the three phases of the construction. The urban areas in the vicinity of the noise-reduced motorway will be developed for residential construction. The project also includes the reconstruction of the Langenfelder Brücke in a way which makes the bridge wider, and also provides better noise protection for locals. (Reference 10) In September 2020, only the first phase has been completed, and the final completion is planned for 2028. (Reference 1, 3, 12).

The first external green wall in the public space in Poland was installed on the surface of a 30 square meters wall of the Infobox building in Gdynia [1,2]. The project serves aesthetic purposes and aims to improve air quality. The wall was composed of the plants suitable for the Polish climate conditions [3].

This pilot project to create social gardens in Gdynia was developed by a cooperative of the local government, NGO sector and businesses. The project involved creating 3 (and finally 6) social gardens in different locations of Gdynia (Oksywie, Grabówek and Redłowo). They serve ecologic (greenery planting), horticultural (jointly managed vegetable and herb gardens), social (community integration) and educational (workshops on topics such as healthy lifestyle or building bird boxes) purposes. The gardens are being co-managed on a voluntary basis by the local communities with the help of an appointed gardener and an animator [1,4]. The project is based on 4 pillars: 1) social participation; 2) innovation; 3) social sensitivity; 4) food anthropology [5].

Tondiraba is a green urban area located in Lasnamäe, it is a valuable area with a diverse landscape which at the start of the initiative was severely overgrown and randomly used. The city planned to build an eco-golf course where the diverse and species-rich landscape and protected species are preserved. The architecture of the golf course is based on the advantages of the natural location and an ‘eco-golf course' concept. These landscapes and their flora were generated with landscape maintenance methods, which results in ‘micro-communities’ in which the ecosystems characteristic of the given area would start developing (ref 1, 5).

The Strasbourg Grandeur Nature Plan is engineered by Strasbourg Metropole and is focused on optimising the actions and resources and resources of local authorities in the maintenance of local biodiversity and improving the living environment (Ref. 7). It combines with local associations and citizens through organising interfaces (e.g. workshops, online tools) that allow relevant local authorities to engage with local projects and make interventions on the basis of proposals made by the community. The project aims at improving the maintenance and development of green spaces and biodiversity due to the environmental issues surrounding urban sprawls (Ref. 4).

The main problem of Lake Ülemiste is high phytoplankton biomass, which increases the cost of water treatment (ref 1). Improving the water quality of Lake Ülemiste by biomanipulation has been considered as a management alternative. Lake Ülemiste was bio-remediated after reduction of external loading and the shifts in water quality were studied during the active-phase of the measure. (ref 1). Tallinn obtains 88% of the water it needs from Lake Ülemiste. Pine forest in the sanitary protection zone surrounding Lake Ülemiste offers several ecosystem services that help to improve the quality of the city’s drinking water (ref 4).