Achieved impacts

The ‘Mountain Forest Initiative’ was launched in 2009 by the Bavarian Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry to restore the protective function of the vulnerable alpine forest in light of climate change, and was ongoing until 2014. To create a general sense of ownership in the process, the Mountain Forest Initiative sought the involvement of different stakeholders at the local level (e.g., private forest owners, land-use related authorities, hunters, nature conservationists, and tourism associations) (Ref. 1).

The intervention is a project of historic memory, it seeks to pay tribute to those individuals who were taken and assassinated as part of the resistance movement during the Civil War and the Franco dictatorship by planting a forest with Mediterranean species. In the forest, each tree represents one of these persons, thus combining aspects of recent history with the natural environment. (ref 1) Each tree represents real people, as the project collaborated with the families of the victims (Ref 1), to create a space of conscience about what happened in the Franco's period, as well as a memorial for them.

Huerto del Miravete is one of the several school gardens that have been supported by municipal, regional and national policies for environmental education on orchards. Huerto del Miravete was a two-year-long project, for the creation of a school garden and irrigation system for use by students in the elementary school system. (Ref 1)The presented intervention is an effort to introduce students to the traditional orchards of the region and the labours involved with them, and to educate on ecological processes through student participation in the garden.

In 2017, one of Gdynia’s squares was renovated to provide a friendly green public area with aesthetic and social functions. The terrain was regulated by restoring its slope and providing more soil to protect the protruding roots, alleys were reconstructed, lawns created and new vegetation planted [1,3].

The first new park in Sofia since 30 years was created, which had very positive reviews from the citizens of the capital. The park features attractive grey infrastructure, grass lawns, and more than 600 planted trees. It has become a popular place for recreation. The aims of the project were to improve the public environment so that it is more suitable for rest; create conditions for sport and recreation in an urban park environment; and to thereby improve the economical state of the region by attracting investments and new employment opportunities. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3). Extension of a 6.6 acre water park and additional 18.2 acre green area was also completed in 2020 (Ref 8 and 9).

The Hofgarten is a green area in the old town of Augsburg. It is part of the former prince-bishop's residence rebuilt in the 18th century and was built between 1739 and 1744 by Johann Caspar Bagnato (Ref. 1). The park was reconstructed in 2006 providing a barrier-free access to the park for disabled people (Ref. 2).

The Sea Heroes Garden is a community garden that was initiated by citizens on an empty lot with the goal to create a garden in which children can play, fruit and vegetables are grown organically and social activities are organized.(1) In the garden, multiple measures allow for storm water retention and the vegetation provides habitat for a broad variety of species. (5).

The aim of ReWaM was to show ways how different forms of use of water bodies can be reconciled with their protection in order to sustainably maintain the diversity and efficiency of the different water ecosystems. This applies to both rural, suburban and urban regions (ref. 8). Increased sealing of urban surfaces and combined sewer systems for rain- and wastewater pose major challenges for urban water management. Therefore, the university of applied sciences and the city of Münster participated in a research project as one of three pilot cities running from 2015 to 2018 concerning improved rainwater management and the development of respective planning instruments. Several green roofs at the university campus were used as test spaces to explore and monitor rainwater infiltration efficiency and feasible green roof compositions. Also, different permeable surface coatings were tested at the urban depot (Ref. 1 and 4).

3000 trees were planted on 7 decares of land by 500 volunteers in park Zapaden on Earth day (22 April) in 2017. The initiative was supported by the Municipality of Sofia, and had the aim of making the city cleaner, greener, and more beautiful. The initiative also compensated for the illegal logging which had taken place in the park. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3)

The Naturfreibad Haunstetten is an artificially designed bathing lake in the south of Augsburg with a water surface of 9,200 m² and a maximum depth of four meters. After the regeneration of 1,5 hectares of green space surrounding the lake, the baths were reopened in 2010 (Ref. 1).