Integrating natural elements into cities for climate resilience
These tools are critical in promoting awareness and overcoming implementation barriers related to nature-based solutions.
Laura Wendling, UNaLab project coordinator
The UNaLab project contributed to the development of smarter, more inclusive, more resilient and increasingly sustainable cities through the implementation of nature-based solutions. “Our work highlighted a number of challenges faced by cities in the development and implementation of effective strategies to enhance water and climate resilience,” says Laura Wendling, project coordinator of UNaLab on behalf of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. “One major challenge lies in siloed knowledge or function within institutions.” The key to addressing this challenge was for cities to collaborate more widely. “Co creation is essential for enduring solutions addressing climate challenges that affect all aspects of our lives,” adds Wendling. “With this approach, we ensured the inclusion of diverse perspectives and knowledge, leading to tailored nature-based solutions and action plans for each local context.”
Selecting cities as living labs
In light of their readiness and commitment to co-create and implement nature-based solutions, three cities – Eindhoven in Netherlands, Tampere in Finland and Genoa in Italy – were selected for large-scale demonstrations. “The three front-runner cities already had existing or planned related initiatives that UNaLab could enhance,” Wendling explains. In Tampere for instance, the municipality had recently established a new greenfield district surrounded by natural water bodies in the Vuores district. The UNaLab team took this opportunity to complement existing infrastructure with a retention pond, alluvial meadow and biofilter to treat storm water from residential blocks and streets. For Wendling and the rest of the team, success lies in devising solutions that would allow other cities to follow suit and increase their own resilience. To that end, the project created tools and guidelines for planning, implementing and evaluating nature based solutions. These include the Urban Living Lab Handbook, a Co-creation Toolkit, Municipal Governance Guidelines and various resources for impact assessment and decision support. “These tools are critical in promoting awareness and overcoming implementation barriers related to nature-based solutions,” Wendling says.
Keywords
UNALAB, EU missions, cities mission, adaptation mission, climate change, projects info pack, research, innovation, resilience, sustainable, urban, climate-neutral, smart mobility, clean energy