Achieved impacts

The green wall outside of the garden section of Leroy Merlin in Zlotniki near Poznan. First of such projects in a shopping mall in Poland which was designed already at the planning stages of the building infrastructure. It serves both ecological and marketing purposes [1,2].

A nature park in Bucharest containing the wetlands surrounding Lake Vacaresti. It was initially a swamp drained by the communist regime, which builds a complex of apartment blocks. In 2014 it was declared protected by the Romanian Government and named Văcărești Nature Park, and was approved as a natural protected area in 2016. (1)

A 1.96-hectare insidious unused land in the District 2 of Bucharest has been transformed into a modern park through a project funded by European funds. The project was selected in the top 100 Regional as an example of good European practice.Initially, the park was a storage space for household waste (1, 3).

A vegetable garden located on the property of an elementary school, allowing children to grow their own vegetables, minimizing the lunch costs for the school's management and bringing together parents, children and volunteers in creating a space for learning, relaxation and community all under the umbrella of environmental protection (1).

A community garden at the margins of Bucharest, which aims to serve both locals and tourists, and the only place of its kind for the 240.000 inhabitants of the quarter. Apart from its educational aspects, the garden is a living workshop and a place of relaxation for its visitors (1).

With the decline in industrial use, the grey harbour landscape of Frankfurt am Main became a habitat for rare plants. In 1986, the city council ordered transformation of the former industrial area into a public green space between the Main and the new residential area in the Ostend. The bright, spacious park with 2.1 ha surface was finished in 2000 (1) now welcoming locals for recreation and exercise while it also hosts a cultural summer festival and gives a home for local wall and fence lizards (1).

The aim of the project was to protect and enhance the areas of core nature conservation interest and adopt environmental management principles to help reduce the impact of management operations on the environment. Linn park and Local Nature Reserve (LNR) is the second-largest park in the city. Linn Park comprises a mosaic of riparian woodland along the White Cart corridor principally broadleaf in character, mixed woodland plantation blocks connected by a series of mixed-species shelterbelts, scrub, meadow, amenity grassland, and parkland trees. The woodland provides habitat for a great variety and number of birds both resident and migratory. Some areas of the woodland have good ground flora diversity including the occurrence of Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) in patches.
The park is particularly of note for its floristic and bird diversity with some 250 and 60 species recorded respectively. Some animals and plants of interest include Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), Otter (Lutra lutra) and Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) and Great-spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and Toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) in the woodlands. It is scarce in Scotland and Linn Park and is one of only 3 sites in Glasgow this species is found (Ref 4). Linn Park and Local Nature Reserve (LNR) was awarded a Green Flag in 2013. The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for quality parks and green spaces (Ref. 3).

The Green Axis is a belt of green areas and parks that stretches all the way from the Public Library of Bergen to The National Stage. It entails several parks, including Byparken, Ole Bulls Place, Logebakken, The Theatre Park and King Olav the 5th's Place. The Green Axis holds several culturally important buildings, statues, and landmarks. This green oasis in the heart of the city provides habitat for species and increases well-being for the citizens of Bergen. (Ref. 1, 2) The area is continuously upgraded with high maintenance standards. (Ref. 5)

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).

Nygård Park is an old, large park in central Bergen that has been undergoing transformation since 2014, as the park had degraded over the years and had been heavily used by drug users (Ref. 6). The restored park serves to act as a natural meeting place in the city, consisting of green areas, a pond, playgrounds, flower beds, an amphitheater, walkways and much more. The restored park retains its traditional British design, and also includes a more universal character allowing for more users of the park and facilitating access to the different parts of the park. (Ref. 1, 2).