Periodic Reporting for period 1 - JUSTNature (Activation of NATURE-based solutions for a JUST low carbon transition)
Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-02-28
Cities are a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and face several problems resulting from urbanisation, pollution and climate change impacts. These contribute to exacerbating social inequalities and environmental injustices, as particularly affecting low-income households and more vulnerable parts of the population, impacting their mental and physical health. The right to ecological space such as to clean air and indoor/outdoor thermal comfort, as well as thriving biodiversity and ecosystems, is pursued by the JUSTNature project. The project aims to contribute to the design of low-carbon cities of high air quality by developing a set of typical NbS in six European City Practice Labs. It will activate co-design, co-creation and co-decision processes in relation to four dimensions of innovation: 1) effective governance, 2) maintenance and operation of NbS systems, 3) innovative business models and market design, and 4) efficient technologies and applications.
More specific objectives are:
1. To develop set of Low Carbon | High Air Quality NbS in the City Practice Laboratories (CiPeLs);
2. To ensure a just transition through the acquisition of a city-specific knowledge base on low carbon | high air quality nature-building potentials;
3. To promote co-design, co-creation and co-decision of NbS interventions;
4. To strengthen the place-making capacity of a wide range of actors by defining typologies of governance capacities and possible interventions tested through the CiPeLs;
5. To activate local innovation ecosystems by launching bottom-up entrepreneurial discovery processes;
6. To assess the coherence and (cost) effectiveness of the impact of interventions by developing a life-cycle monitoring & evaluation framework;
7. To support the growth of a Low Carbon | High Air Quality NbS Community of Practice at local, European and international levels;
8. To transfer, scale up and sustain best practice through the Nature Building Cities Helix.
More specific objectives are:
1. To develop set of Low Carbon | High Air Quality NbS in the City Practice Laboratories (CiPeLs);
2. To ensure a just transition through the acquisition of a city-specific knowledge base on low carbon | high air quality nature-building potentials;
3. To promote co-design, co-creation and co-decision of NbS interventions;
4. To strengthen the place-making capacity of a wide range of actors by defining typologies of governance capacities and possible interventions tested through the CiPeLs;
5. To activate local innovation ecosystems by launching bottom-up entrepreneurial discovery processes;
6. To assess the coherence and (cost) effectiveness of the impact of interventions by developing a life-cycle monitoring & evaluation framework;
7. To support the growth of a Low Carbon | High Air Quality NbS Community of Practice at local, European and international levels;
8. To transfer, scale up and sustain best practice through the Nature Building Cities Helix.
During the first period of the project, the focus was on exploring the potential of low carbon and high air quality NbS in urban areas. A conceptual framework was developed to introduce the right to and duty of not constraining the ecological (space) of others and an ethical compass to guide actions based on ecological and environmental justice principles. The project also developed an action framework to identify NbS potentials that address multiple key challenges and injustices. The framework was refined through discussions with city representatives and the wider urban planning community. The results feed into the development of the ecological justice collaborative strategic planning toolkit, which includes modules for co-identifying low carbon and high air quality NbS potentials. Ongoing work includes enriching the knowledge base on how urban expansion and different climate scenarios impact NbS potentials and the link between urban form, physical activity, and health.
The project implemented a strong approach of co-designing, co-creating, and co-deciding. It resulted in 7 local stakeholder workshops (LSWs) with roughly 200 participants. To ensure effective co-governance key principles of NbS co-governance were established: empowering actors, collaborative decision-making, adaptive to diverse knowledge, and respect for democratic norms. They informed the development of protocol templates for the cities to assess co-governance and identify potential interventions. This aligns with the integrated life cycle monitoring and evaluation framework, which has taken shape. It was complemented by collecting information about existing monitoring infrastructure in the CiPeLs and informed the development of life-cycle decision-support tools for strategic, operational, and evaluation purposes, as well as the digital twins and governance platform.
The project also focused on conceptualizing the entrepreneurial activation process (EAP), identifying existing entrepreneurial initiatives and key stakeholders in the CiPeLs, exploring innovative value propositions and business cases, and financing mechanisms for NbS. This led to the development of a map of key stakeholders and an initial value chain mapping for the NbS sector, and the launch of the dedicated Nature-based Helix.
The project's results and methodologies have been tested in workshops, webinars, and consortium meetings. The project's dissemination and exploitation activities include academic papers and conferences, project website and social media presence, local engagement and cultural events.
The project implemented a strong approach of co-designing, co-creating, and co-deciding. It resulted in 7 local stakeholder workshops (LSWs) with roughly 200 participants. To ensure effective co-governance key principles of NbS co-governance were established: empowering actors, collaborative decision-making, adaptive to diverse knowledge, and respect for democratic norms. They informed the development of protocol templates for the cities to assess co-governance and identify potential interventions. This aligns with the integrated life cycle monitoring and evaluation framework, which has taken shape. It was complemented by collecting information about existing monitoring infrastructure in the CiPeLs and informed the development of life-cycle decision-support tools for strategic, operational, and evaluation purposes, as well as the digital twins and governance platform.
The project also focused on conceptualizing the entrepreneurial activation process (EAP), identifying existing entrepreneurial initiatives and key stakeholders in the CiPeLs, exploring innovative value propositions and business cases, and financing mechanisms for NbS. This led to the development of a map of key stakeholders and an initial value chain mapping for the NbS sector, and the launch of the dedicated Nature-based Helix.
The project's results and methodologies have been tested in workshops, webinars, and consortium meetings. The project's dissemination and exploitation activities include academic papers and conferences, project website and social media presence, local engagement and cultural events.
As the JUSTNature project progresses through the implementation of CiPeLs, we expect to contribute to five impacts:
1. Increased evidence and awareness re-naturing cities.
2. Creation of 'communities of practice' of tested, well-documented, scalable and marketable NbS.
3. Increased stakeholder and citizen ownership of solutions.
4. Improved implementation of relevant policies and programmes.
5. The creation of a EU reference framework and the establishment of EU leadership in a new global market for NbS.
Following the in-depth exploration phase of the first period, related to needs, identification of key challenges or injustice dimensions and the role of activating NbS as well as NbS potentials in the CiPeLs, blind spots became apparent and resulted into changes of the scope of some NbS interventions.
For example, in Merano (IT), the project expects the city to respond to the urgent need to rethink the management of green spaces. JUSTNature accelerates this rethinking with the planned best practice to make a show garden on a small public green space. For the city of Leuven, the Leuven Central Detention Center was added as a new site, offering rarely explored new insights on the co-creation and co-design of NbS interventions with prison inhabitants and related impact on the neighborhood.
Workshop outcomes allowed stakeholders to review their impact and asses the desired social and environmental outcomes and increased ownership of solutions. The creation of a collaborative strategic environmental justice planning toolkit will provide a showcase on how to playfully engage stakeholders and citizens on just NbS interventions.
Input to the scientific research part of the project provided conclusions of the key air quality (in-)justice challenges: the distribution of the Air Quality Monitoring Network (e.g. PM2.5) or certain neighbourhoods being less monitored although facing potentially high pollution levels. Not necessarily increasing the number of potential data providers and involved networks/associations might prove a countervailing measure as being potentially exclusionary as well. Thus, due attention should be paid to access to emission data, refined monitoring at smaller scales or evaluation of ethical monitoring practices. The Circular Indicator Framework currently being developed is planned as an indicator system that synthesizes NbS indicators, combining the principles of SUSTAINABILITY-CIRCULATION-JUSTICE.
In addition, the consortium has conducted a first exploration of innovative value propositions and business cases, as well as financing mechanisms for NbS, to establish the basis of future business models for commercialisation.
Overall, the JUSTNature project expects potential impacts on promoting a just transition, implementing NbS in urban areas, and promoting new technologies and new frameworks for sustainable positive impacts.
1. Increased evidence and awareness re-naturing cities.
2. Creation of 'communities of practice' of tested, well-documented, scalable and marketable NbS.
3. Increased stakeholder and citizen ownership of solutions.
4. Improved implementation of relevant policies and programmes.
5. The creation of a EU reference framework and the establishment of EU leadership in a new global market for NbS.
Following the in-depth exploration phase of the first period, related to needs, identification of key challenges or injustice dimensions and the role of activating NbS as well as NbS potentials in the CiPeLs, blind spots became apparent and resulted into changes of the scope of some NbS interventions.
For example, in Merano (IT), the project expects the city to respond to the urgent need to rethink the management of green spaces. JUSTNature accelerates this rethinking with the planned best practice to make a show garden on a small public green space. For the city of Leuven, the Leuven Central Detention Center was added as a new site, offering rarely explored new insights on the co-creation and co-design of NbS interventions with prison inhabitants and related impact on the neighborhood.
Workshop outcomes allowed stakeholders to review their impact and asses the desired social and environmental outcomes and increased ownership of solutions. The creation of a collaborative strategic environmental justice planning toolkit will provide a showcase on how to playfully engage stakeholders and citizens on just NbS interventions.
Input to the scientific research part of the project provided conclusions of the key air quality (in-)justice challenges: the distribution of the Air Quality Monitoring Network (e.g. PM2.5) or certain neighbourhoods being less monitored although facing potentially high pollution levels. Not necessarily increasing the number of potential data providers and involved networks/associations might prove a countervailing measure as being potentially exclusionary as well. Thus, due attention should be paid to access to emission data, refined monitoring at smaller scales or evaluation of ethical monitoring practices. The Circular Indicator Framework currently being developed is planned as an indicator system that synthesizes NbS indicators, combining the principles of SUSTAINABILITY-CIRCULATION-JUSTICE.
In addition, the consortium has conducted a first exploration of innovative value propositions and business cases, as well as financing mechanisms for NbS, to establish the basis of future business models for commercialisation.
Overall, the JUSTNature project expects potential impacts on promoting a just transition, implementing NbS in urban areas, and promoting new technologies and new frameworks for sustainable positive impacts.