Sustainable consumption

Climate change has become a constant topic for the administration of Israel, mainly due to the country's exposure to the effects of climate change. These include water shortages and pollution, the shrinking of the Dead Sea, waste production and disposal, air pollution and increased population density. Haifa is no stranger to these changes and the administration of the city is trying to align itself with international organisms that can help it to overcome such critical situations. The City of Haifa’s leadership strives to join the capitals of the world, share knowledge and establish operative cooperation. In December 2020 it joined the Paris Agreement, and in July 2021 signed the Urban Nature Declaration pledging a greener and more sustainable city with the 40C Cities Climate Leadership Group, an international organization of about 100 major cities worldwide. On a local level, the city initiated Haifa2030, a program that aims to prepare for global warming and to develop strategies for urban resilience. Among the actions taken into account by the municipality refers to green roofs, which the city intends to transform into an overall city program. Two demonstration roofs have been erected on municipal buildings, and additional roofs are planned. (2,3)

Kibera is Nairobi's largest slum/informal settlement. Kibera houses about 250,000 people and is the biggest slum in Africa and one of the biggest in the world. The Government owns all the land in this settlement. 10% of people are shack owners and many of these people own many other shacks and let them out to tenants. The remaining 90% of residents are tenants with no rights. Most of the inhabitants confront themselves with a food crisis. The project at Kibera is a recent initiative of the National Youth Service (NYS), a government agency that promotes youth affairs through the ministry of devolution and planning. The approach is seen as a cheap and healthy solution to food insecurity and runaway unemployment in Nairobi’s slum. The project also addresses climate change as food insecurity is related to an intense period of droughts: longer periods of drought (likely a result of climate change) in sub-Saharan Africa, meant the farmers had to depend on rainfall to water their crops. From a biodiversity point of view, the project will help with the urban biodiversity restoration (1,3)

As of 2011, Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, has a population of approx. 330,000 people. By 2018, an estimated 40% of Namibia’s 2.4 million population were living in shacks and Windhoek makes no exception. Approximately 30% of the capital population lives in unplanned informal settlements struggling to access basic services such as water and sanitation. Worse than that informal settlements are especially vulnerable to environmental hazards: they are squeezed in next to each other on the slopes of mountainsides. When there's the occurrence of floods, they do so with such force and wash away people’s homes and their belongings. Even more distressing, people often lose their children due to rapid and unannounced flash floods. As a response to these threats and challenges the inhabitants of an informal settlement, Onyika (located in Okuryangava - which is a suburb of Windhoek, situated in the north of the capital city) paired with local authorities, donors and climate change experts to embark on a community-led process of creating a climate-resilient community. Being especially vulnerable to climate change, these forms of settlements require special attention in the development of climate resilience strategies. (1, 6)

From 1998-2002 Argentina went through an economic depression, which began after the Russian and Brazilian financial crises, caused widespread unemployment, riots, the fall of the government, and a default on the country's foreign debt. Rosario, the third-most populous city in the country, was not a stranger to the crisis' effects as many of its inhabitants were now living under the poverty line. Coupled with this, climate change was heating up the city and making rainfall more erratic, leading to both flooding in Rosario and fires in the nearby river delta. To tackle urban inequality and climate change the Municipality of Rosario developed a program called "Urban Agriculture Program" which aims to give low-income residents access to underutilized and abandoned public and private land to cultivate food. Over the years, the municipality evolved the program into a cornerstone of its inclusive climate action planning. (1)

This intervention was initiated in 2014 in Agege, a slum and a city in itself belonging to Lagos. Agege is one of the 7th most populated low-income communities in Lagos with a total population of around 1,033,064 people. Climate change in Nigeria led to seasonal droughts and floods, causing pressures in terms of food security as well as high temperature and humidity levels which affect directly the economically disadvantaged population in the slums of Lagos. In 2014 a research team at the University of Cardiff alongside community leaders of a Yoruba community in Agege implemented a study on vertical gardens in residential areas with the purpose of alleviating local temperatures and enhancing biodiversity. The implementation started with a study and was continued with the introduction of practical gardens maintained by the local community of 3 residential buildings (one in Suru Street, another in Lagos Street in Agege, and a third in Abeokuta Street). (1,2,3,4)

The Xochimilco borough of Mexico City is a World Heritage and Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System wetland site, with significant cultural and ecological importance in food cultivation and water ecosystem (1). Due to the deterioration of the area and lack of top-down initiatives for the restoration and conservation of the area, a number of grassroots initiatives trying to revive the traditional chinampa cultivation and restore the natural state of the ecosystem function and its native species such as the Xochimilco axolotl through reinvigorating sustainable practices that produce quality food and foster water supply. This NBS introduces 3 such grassroot intiatives: (a) Cooperativa Chinampayolo (b) Restauración Ecológica y Desarrollo A.C. (REDES) with its EcoQuilitl producer-consumer network and (c) Umbral Axochiatl A.C. (local community organisation). (1)

Parc Marianne is an ecodistrict that aims to address multiple challenges such as climate action for adaptation, environmental quality, flooding, and in response to the high population growth in Montpellier. Parc Marianne is connected to public transportation, has bicycle lanes and car parks, and the sidewalk is shared between pedestrians and bicyclists and structured with trees and other greenery. The park was certified with the ecodistrict label in 2015 following requirements like environmental sustainability, thermal performance, quality of life, nature and biodiversity, and mobility (Ref. 1). Parc Marianne is a mixed neighbourhood with an ability to combine city and nature, quality of life and centrality (Ref. 2).

The 16-storey EnBW Administrative Complex and planned office district in Stuttgart's industrial area of Fasanenhof has three wings and a high-rise for about 2,000 employees on the 35,000 square meter sites, with many extensive green roofs and usable intensive roofs over underground parking. With the new office complex, EnBW wanted to create a modern and pioneering work environment for its employees. Different green system solutions were used on the project including a "Natural Roof", "Garden Roof", "Public Roof" and "Landscape Roof", with both extensive as well as walk-intensive plantings. The resulting green roofs offer respite and recreation for employees and visitors. [ref 1, 2]

The proposed masterplan for the "Città della Scienza" or the City of Science by Vincent Callebaut Architectures and Studio d'Architettura Briguglio Morales focuses on sustainability with history to propose a self-sufficient urban ecosystem in Italy. More than a spatial work of art, it encourages the promotion of sustainable design, low carbon transportation, renewable energies, automation technologies, and green building materials. Because of these features, the project has many examples of nature-based solutions (e.g.vertical gardens, green roofs/walls, orchards). Operating on the principle of living facades, the Città della Scienza revitalizes Rome's forgotten military district into a vibrant, regenerating living city. [1][3]

The creation of pocket parks is an urban initiative that has steadily grown throughout Budapest since 2010 (Reference 1). Most of these projects are citizen-led, but there is often support provided in the form of education and consultancy by initiatives such as the Contemporary Architecture Center (KÉK), or sometimes the local government (Reference 8). These spaces, typically covering an area of 1400 square meters only, are multi-functional and provide a space for small-scale food production, recreation, community sharing, and can be a fundamental element of neighbourhood rehabilitation. Moreover, it provides positive environmental effects such as water retention and the improvement of the area's micro-climate. Pocket-parks are critical in increasing the number of green areas in neighbourhoods that have limited space. (Reference 9)