Health and well-being (SDG 3)

In 2014, the Bielefeld Botanical Garden was expanded with a 2,700 land, previously owned by the local municipality. The extension area and the “old” part of the Botanical Garden were visually and functionally separated by the dense, sometimes gloomy woody vegetation of the "new" area where the watercourse and the small reservoirs were barely noticeable. The aim of the redevelopment is to integrate the entire extension area into the old botanical garden using pathways between the old and the new areas of the botanical garden, the improvements of water body and vegetation areas. The redevelopment also includes the renovation of buildings in the "old" area of the botanical garden, the installation of new recreation facilities and the building of a pharmacy garden. The planning and implementation process is lead by the Friends of the Botanical Garden Bielefeld Association (Verein Freunde DesBotanischen Gartens Bielefeld e.V) in close cooperation with the Environmental Agency of the local municipality (1,2, 7,10,11)

The city of Malmö works for a sustainable urban environment, e.g. through planning the city's new construction, working on existing buildings and at the same time striving to reduce the environmental impact. Västra Hamnen (Western harbour) is a new and ultra-modern district in Malmö. It is located on a former shipyard area right beside the sea, only less than a kilometer north-west of the medieval old town of Malmö (ref. 10). In the Western Harbour where land was available after the shipyard’s closure, high sustainability has been sought from the beginning. In dialogue with builders and other actors, Malmö City has developed guidelines for energy use, green structure, waste solutions and a healthy indoor environment. (Ref. 1)

This NBS site is part of the Bratislava Zelenaj Project. This particular NBS involves the creation of vegetation on buildings as a means to mitigate the effects of climate change in cities due to urban overheating caused by global warming. It targets the residents of the Archa House of Seniors (Domove seniorov Archa) in Bratislava as part of the citywide project “Bratislava is preparing for climate change” with the aim of protecting and promoting the welfare of the city’s vulnerable citizens from climate change effects. The roof's main function is buffering the discharge of excess rainwater. (10)

The area was planned to be the Öresund Region's most climate-smart city district: an energy efficient, resource-saving and green district with a hundred percent renewable energy use.” (ref. 2). The area's development program focused on the ecological aspect of sustainability and took responsibility for that part of the city's sustainability work (ref. 7).

The square is located in the most stigmatized area of Budapest, in the 8th district. The project was part of the third phase of the socially sensitive urban regeneration programme of the neighbourhood, the so-called Magdolna Quarter Programme III. Within the renovation of the park, 12,000 plants were planted and 8,125 square metres of grassland was created, which has its own irrigation system. During the rehabilitation, the green area was expanded to one hectare. The park was renovated with the involvement of local people. The local participants later established an association that provides them a legal framework for taking care of the park. The aim of the project was to strengthen social cohesion, sense of security, and to ensure the sustainability of the newly renovated park. (Reference 3)

The Sprouting Building is an apartment complex which was built in 2000 in such a way as to have seeds grow from the exterior walls of the building. "There are "balcony-gardens" to dine in with many friends, "balcony-cabins" perched among the trees for more intimate encounters, "balcony-lookouts" to curiously explore the foliage of the treetops, and "balcony-terraces" for reflection and contemplation. The project could have been called “the balcony in all its forms" but instead it was named "the building that grows." The building "grows" thanks to plants on the building's walls. Its skin has become a kind of mini-ecosystem" (Ref. 1).

The Green and Blue Network in France is a national policy which "aims to restore ecological continuity in order to promote the migration of species and the resilience of ecosystems to face habitat threats and climate change. It also aims to strengthen the place of nature in the city and public awareness." In Montpellier, implementation of "this project has improved knowledge of the city's natural heritage and enhanced ecological continuity, as well as protecting, and sustainably managing high-potential sites and integrating the social dimension, raising public awareness, the observation of nature"(Ref. 2).

El Paseo de Canalejas is "an alley of trees inside the city tracing a central green corridor which exhibits its old ficus whose shades provide a pleasant refuge to the visitors during the hottest days of the year. Those ficus trees are considered as natural heritage." (Ref. 1). "In order to protect the Monumental Arboreal Heritage, Alicante City Council has worked on the elaboration of a Catalog of Unique and Monumental Trees of Local Interest that reflects the inventory of this heritage and provides these specimens with protective measures" (Ref. 3).

“Xarxa de Sendes Urbanes de Alacant(Catalan)/Red de senderos urbanos (Spanish)” (Red of Urban Trails) is a network project developed by the city council consisting of urban trails classified into three types: environmental or natural trails, cultural or heritage trails and city trails, the latter as network connectors. The NBS focus on the first type (environmental and natural trails). (Ref 1) With the implementation of interconnected trails system and signage, the trails offer walks, educative explanation on the different species found in the area and provide leisure, relaxing and physical (running, hiking) opportunities to visitors and citizens. (Ref 2)

The initiative is comprised of a project to recover the coastal line of Alicante, from El Campello to Elx (approx. 21 km long). The Municipality called an ideas' competition with the aim of developing a sustainable coastal corridor project that includes an intervention on the entire Alicante coastline and generates a continuous itinerary integrated into the landscape with new places of opportunity for the residents of the city (Ref. 7). The two-stage competition sought proposals for a new ‘coastal passage’ featuring the creation of new multi-purpose public spaces promoting biodiversity and accessibility (Ref 13). The winner was announced on the beginning of 2019 and the Municipality planned to start the development of the first 2 parts of the project. The winning project of the competition bears the slogan "My connected archipelago" and is the work of the Grupo Aranea and Subarquitectura studios from Alicante (Ref 14), a project that considers ecological and sustainable principles (Ref. 9).