Waste management

A project of 200 plots for an urban orchard on-site at Parque de las Aguas was created, where individual citizens, social groups, and companies can rent the lots to cultivate their own produce. The orchards hold educational programming for patrons and visitors as well. (Ref. 1,2,4)

The Paul Verlaine Garden received the "EcoJardin"(Eco-Garden) label in 2014 (Ref. 2). The EcoJardin repository is intended to be a methodological tool to guide good practices for gardeners and managers of green spaces (Ref. 6)."This garden is labeled as "Tourisme et Handicap". Work has been done so that this place takes particular account of the accessibility to the people with reduced mobility and the visually impaired. The Jardin Paul Garden is a succession of environments and vegetation architectures" (Ref. 1). At the entrance of the park, there is a playground, a garden of le Petit Poucet, and further the forest of birches, vegetable garden and the garden of tall grasses (Ref. 1).

The neighbourhood intervention is designed as an eco-neighbourhood with an abundance of green space and facilities to connect its residents to the outdoors and to each other. (Ref. 2, 13) It is part of the European Union Renaissance project that is associated with Lyon, France and Lombardy region, Italy (Ref. 12). In Zaragoza, this district, situated on the south of the city, provides about 10,000 homes (most of which are social housing). From design to construction, the district was developed with bioclimatic criteria. (Ref. 8, 12)

The Sun Lane nature reserve in Burley-in-Wharfedale is the second site in Bradford to receive the Local Nature Reserve (LNR) status. The land was used as a garbage dump and reclaimed in the 1970s. (ref1) Pollution from the landfill site was leaching into nearby watercourses and in 1993, Bradford Council undertook a scheme to cap the landfill and restore the site. They installed a reed-bed purification system, to eliminate pollution from contaminated water and add to the reserve’s biodiversity. The Burley Village Wildlife Group began conservation work to enhance biodiversity. (ref4) In 2003 a group of volunteers took over the maintenance of the area and now help to manage it in collaboration with Bradford Council (ref 5). As the site heals at its best, forty-two Common Blue butterflies were recorded together in 2006 (ref 5).

The sustainable garden was created in 2013. Based on the gold award-winning RHS flower show entry in 2012 by the university’s ‘water@leeds’, the garden is an excellent example of collaborative working between the Facilities Directorate, Leeds University Union and academic staff. The garden provides a multi-functional space for staff, students and visitors to campus to enjoy quiet contemplation but also to cultivate an allotment-and-forest-style edible garden. It is a great example of a functioning ecosystem with wildflower areas, soft fruit hedgerows, insect houses and pocket habitats. (1)

In September 2011, a new eco-friendly student village ‘The Green’ opened to students at the University of Bradford. The new eco-village "The Green" has been designed to incorporate a range of features to enable students to live in a more sustainable way. It is part of a broader sustainability initiative by the University of Bradford called 'ecoversity' and its development is clustered around a pond, which is a part of a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDs). The Urban Pond/biodiversity pond – at The Green increases the biodiversity of the site. The site has been designed and landscaped with nature in mind, consisting of grassed areas, a wildflower border, shrubberies and native trees. (ref 3) The £30.4million development was the first multi-residential building in the UK - and one of only 15 buildings worldwide (ref 7).

Vine Court is a student residential complex located at the heart of the University’s city campus. It is equipped with both green and brown roofs, providing environmentally friendly habitats for local flora and fauna, utilizing local plant mixes and building material rubble from the excavated site. (Reference 2). It is at the forefront of sustainable residential development in the UK higher education sector and it was built to a high standard of sustainable design and energy performance. In addition to the eco-technologies incorporated into the structure, the brickwork includes built-in nest boxes for swifts and bats. It has been awarded a design stage BREEAM Excellent certification (Reference 1).

In their application for funds from the city’s participatory budget, the citizens introduced the cleaning of the river Glowna (riverbed and riverbank) in Poznan along the entire length of the river within the city area (excluding private and inaccessible areas). The initiative aimed to clean the stream and to increase the attractiveness of the riverside. The action was implemented with the voluntary help of the residents as a way of promoting ecological behaviours [1].

LIFE VIMINE is a project that aimed to define and apply a new type of integrated approach to the management of the territory, based on the erosion protection of the most indigenous barns and marshes in the Laguna of Venice. These unique habitats are rapidly disappearing due to natural processes and human impacts of varying nature. The project has contributed to repair and protect salt marshes borders as soon as erosion starts, build micro soil bioengineering works that are able to absorb wave energy, reduce erosion, promote sedimentation with a low effort and cost and improve coastal resilience and protection (1).

A modern office building in Poznan and a headquarter of a large company was designed to include multiple environmentally friendly solutions like cycling facilities, energy-efficient appliances in the building, roof gardens, the use of rainwater in the sanitary facilities, waste segregation system and the overall energy-efficient design of the building façade to let in as much natural light as possible [1].