Health and well-being (SDG 3)

The catchment includes the River Avon (a major resource for recreational activities and public water supply) and its various tributaries. Coventry is the largest urban area in the catchment, and the catchment has a high value for wildlife. (Ref. 1)
Main priorities include engaging communities to take ownership of their local water environment, reducing urban and rural pollution; delivering enhancement projects in the 3 Priority Areas (e.g. Coventry Brooks) and Returning water corridors to a near-natural state. (Ref. 2). The Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) is a Government policy framework that empowers local action to improve the water environment through community partnerships. A renewed focus on the catchment-based approach has led to Catchment Partnerships (i.e. The Warwickshire Avon Catchment Partnership) being set up to drive local delivery of these projects. (Ref. 3)

As part of the restoration of park Denis Gardens, an innovative water element was built consisting of water flowing down the stairs, circulated and cleaned by a pump and filters. This helps regulate the local microclimate by reducing temperatures in hot days and creating humidity in the air (Ref. 1; Ref. 5). Also, the element allows people to walk bare-footed and cool off. In addition, the water reduces air pollution by extracting dust from the air, and the structure has an aesthetic and recreational function, with a restaurant underneath. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 6).

The city department for green space, environment and sustainability and the foundation citizens for Münster initiated a citizen-based intervention which aims at turning the park area at the "Spickmannplatz“ called "Grünschleife“ into a meeting point for residents and neighbours. The concept for its regeneration is based on workshops and ideation processes of citizens whose involvement goes beyond urban gardening activities but involves an active co-creation of the area by co-planning and development. Apart from several communal restorations works, vegetables, fruits and herbs plantations, a pavilion, a dog station and chessboards with benches were set up (ref. 1).

The initiative promoted by the event “Primavera Mediterranea” (Mediterranean spring) transforms the central pedestrian area of via Argirio into an urban park. The project is aimed at rethinking the urban spaces in a green way, as urban gardens are built within the whole central area. The main benefit of the initiative is to give a green view of the city centre, a new dimension of the lived urban space. In addition, workshops and manifestations are organized within the area, to promote also the social and cultural value of the zone. (Ref.1.) The intervention is an initiative taking place every year since 2011, which lasts for days. Private shops, associations and consultancies work together to realise the urban gardens in the main street in Bari. (Ref.1.2.&3.)

"This 26-hectare park, the largest in Clermont-Ferrand, offers a privileged view of the city. Several wooded areas serve as shelters for permanent and passing wildlife. For the last two years, gardeners in the park have no longer used pesticides to maintain Montjuzet Park, the effects are already measurable on the enrichment of flora and fauna." "During the development of the Parc Montjuzet, the choice was made to keep 9 hectares without intervention. These hectares could be a source of some ecological richness. Hives have been established near this area since 2009." (Ref. 1) This park has the Refuge LPO label. (Ref 2)

Champratel Eco-District is mainly a housing development plan with new green space areas which will be part of the green corridor of the city. "It will be a real "Garden-District" to offer participatory housing: "For La Grande Plaine, the city of Clermont-Ferrand wanted to go beyond the simple redevelopment of a neighborhood by implementing an innovative approach: participatory housing. It's a new way of collectively designing, creating and managing individual homes" (Ref. 11). It will offer harmonious urban forms and vast green spaces. It will mainly offer a concordance between two desires: the proximity of the city and a pleasant living environment" (Ref. 2). Three main green spaces have been created including a meadow in the north, a green square Rose-Parks to create a meeting place for the inhabitants, and diverse gardens (some of which are maintained and others which are wild" (Ref. 5).

In 2011 the Municipality of Lisbon promoted a project for urban gardens in the Horticultural Park of Telheiras (Ref.4).
The park is an allotment garden with the objective of supporting the urban agricultural practice for its own consumption. The residents of the locality had the possibility of renting at a symbolic price, one of the plots made available by the municipality (ref.5).
Beyond the provision of plots, the Council also provides fences, shelters for storage, water irrigation, training and technical support (ref. 1).

Park Lužánky underwent extensive reconstruction between 1991-2012 through five phases (Ref 2) to restore a recreational hub of the city's largest park through ecologically sound design (Ref. 1; Ref. 2). Each phase worked restored different sections of the park. This included modification of green areas, landscaping (treatment of trees, planting new trees and perennial plants, restoration of grasslands), building a children's playground, a fitness park, and an artificial water element that imitates the former stream of the river Ponávka. (Ref. 1).

The project involved the revitalization of the area in Cacovická island in order to create conditions for year-round recreation and relaxation in the natural environment and to restore the ecosystem in the floodplain of the river Svitavy (Ref. 3). The project also restored the cultural heritage of the area by integrating elements of Celtic heritage within the design, as well as environmental education (Ref. 4).

The city district Japigia in 2013 has proposed a project of a new park that links the necessity of housing, open spaces, urban sustainability. The park is centre of green spaces with a high level of accessibility, in a part of the city which was previously abandoned. The presence of hedges and trees guarantees the liveability of the area, while at the same time providing important ecosystem services such as mitigation of urban pollution and mediation of visual impact. The same can be said for the vertical gardens which will characterise the entrance of the park. (Ref.1.)