Periodic Reporting for period 3 - CONEXUS (CO-producing Nature-based solutions and restored Ecosystems: transdisciplinary neXus for Urban Sustainability)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-09-01 bis 2024-08-31
Cities and regions in Europe and Latin America (CELAC) face shared and urgent global-local challenges to integrate practical actions with strategies to achieve greater inclusion, biodiversity, climate change adaptation and environmental quality.
CONEXUS brings together community, private, public and research partners to experiment with novel co-production methods to deliver context-appropriate NBS innovations in ‘Life-Lab’ pilots (in São Paulo, Bogotá, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, Barcelona and Torino). It seeks to solve problems together with citizens by using a place-based approach. Our website is: www.conexusnbs.com.
Many cities share problems of landscape fragmentation caused by rapid growth, urban sprawl and economic restructuring. Poorly planned urbanisation leaves a legacy of cities lacking the green areas needed for ecosystems to provide the services essential to human life. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) have the potential to help reverse these trends, and our combined palette of socio-cultural, ecological and governance contexts represents a huge opportunity to move forward - faster, together.
Conexus will co-produce, structure and promote access to the shared, contextualised knowledge needed to support cities and communities to co-create NBS and restore urban ecosystems, and to help drive the required step-change in urban policy and practice. This transdisciplinary project uses nature-based thinking mindsets to bring together partners and stakeholders to help meet this challenge, and experiments with NBS innovations in the 7 life-labs and beyond.
CONEXUS brings together community, private, public and research partners to experiment with novel co-production methods to deliver context-appropriate NBS innovations in ‘Life-Lab’ pilots (in São Paulo, Bogotá, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, Barcelona and Torino). It seeks to solve problems together with citizens by using a place-based approach. Our website is: www.conexusnbs.com.
Many cities share problems of landscape fragmentation caused by rapid growth, urban sprawl and economic restructuring. Poorly planned urbanisation leaves a legacy of cities lacking the green areas needed for ecosystems to provide the services essential to human life. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) have the potential to help reverse these trends, and our combined palette of socio-cultural, ecological and governance contexts represents a huge opportunity to move forward - faster, together.
Conexus will co-produce, structure and promote access to the shared, contextualised knowledge needed to support cities and communities to co-create NBS and restore urban ecosystems, and to help drive the required step-change in urban policy and practice. This transdisciplinary project uses nature-based thinking mindsets to bring together partners and stakeholders to help meet this challenge, and experiments with NBS innovations in the 7 life-labs and beyond.
The project involves 7 live work packages, on communication, contextualisation, implementation, analysis, valorisation, sharing/learning, and leadership.
Conexus engaged stakeholders to share evidence and best practice, maximising impact potential, increasing skills, involving wider audiences, moving curricula, and assisting cities with NBS (>2400 participant engagements; >70 events, virtual workshops, meetings, dialogues, talks, training).
Focusing on NBS in contexts we are building shared understanding of settings, barriers and responses, establishing what may be transferable and what depends on geo-political contexts. Project case studies are all freely available and easy to find on Oppla; further in-depth analysis tackled integration, comparing planning cultures and governance contexts, and key trends, options and futures for NBS implementation.
We established 7 transdisciplinary city life-labs, providing for strategic learning and ecosystem restoration via city-led pilots (urban food and amenity, sustainable water management, river corridor restoration, urban heat and air quality amelioration; all seek to understand environmental justice and biodiversity credentials of NBS).
NBS impact indicators are also linked with societal and economic values. We appraised valuation approaches based on the state of the art, cities' experiences, and the wider literature. This has supported valorisation of NBS business cases, programmes, and projects with communities and investors.
Internally, great emphasis is placed on sharing, learning and clustering, building common infrastructure and capacity for knowledge exchange, and sharing resources (monthly meetings, >30 participants) with results being harvested to generate impactful products from strategic lessons learned.
Conexus has produced 18 high quality, free to use and readily accessible deliverables, here: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/867564/results.
Furthermore, the project has co-produced, refined and disseminated tailor-made results in tandem with specific user groups, in the Conexus ‘ecosystem of guidelines’. This comprehensive set of resources includes extensive capacity-building and educational materials communicated via Oppla, Conexus social media, films including guidance on NBS concepts, policy briefs, and factsheets (34 in total), all available in perpetuity.
These guidelines have been carefully tailor-made for segmented target audiences and intended impacts as described in the report. Please see https://zenodo.org/records/13384788(öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Overall this represents a major step forward in improving the cataloguing, sharing and utilisation of reference materials, from Europe, Latin America and beyond. It is a collection of guides, handbooks, manuals, toolboxes, and other guidance materials, specifically designed to facilitate knowledge brokering and capacity-building for a diverse group of non-academic actors. The guidance materials contain information on actions supporting the governance, planning, implementation, management, and monitoring of NBS or related concepts that work with nature, such as green infrastructure, urban forestry, and ecosystem-based adaptation. Additionally, they address challenges related to planning and implementation, including issues with climate change adaptation, biodiversity enhancement, and environmental justice.
Conexus engaged stakeholders to share evidence and best practice, maximising impact potential, increasing skills, involving wider audiences, moving curricula, and assisting cities with NBS (>2400 participant engagements; >70 events, virtual workshops, meetings, dialogues, talks, training).
Focusing on NBS in contexts we are building shared understanding of settings, barriers and responses, establishing what may be transferable and what depends on geo-political contexts. Project case studies are all freely available and easy to find on Oppla; further in-depth analysis tackled integration, comparing planning cultures and governance contexts, and key trends, options and futures for NBS implementation.
We established 7 transdisciplinary city life-labs, providing for strategic learning and ecosystem restoration via city-led pilots (urban food and amenity, sustainable water management, river corridor restoration, urban heat and air quality amelioration; all seek to understand environmental justice and biodiversity credentials of NBS).
NBS impact indicators are also linked with societal and economic values. We appraised valuation approaches based on the state of the art, cities' experiences, and the wider literature. This has supported valorisation of NBS business cases, programmes, and projects with communities and investors.
Internally, great emphasis is placed on sharing, learning and clustering, building common infrastructure and capacity for knowledge exchange, and sharing resources (monthly meetings, >30 participants) with results being harvested to generate impactful products from strategic lessons learned.
Conexus has produced 18 high quality, free to use and readily accessible deliverables, here: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/867564/results.
Furthermore, the project has co-produced, refined and disseminated tailor-made results in tandem with specific user groups, in the Conexus ‘ecosystem of guidelines’. This comprehensive set of resources includes extensive capacity-building and educational materials communicated via Oppla, Conexus social media, films including guidance on NBS concepts, policy briefs, and factsheets (34 in total), all available in perpetuity.
These guidelines have been carefully tailor-made for segmented target audiences and intended impacts as described in the report. Please see https://zenodo.org/records/13384788(öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Overall this represents a major step forward in improving the cataloguing, sharing and utilisation of reference materials, from Europe, Latin America and beyond. It is a collection of guides, handbooks, manuals, toolboxes, and other guidance materials, specifically designed to facilitate knowledge brokering and capacity-building for a diverse group of non-academic actors. The guidance materials contain information on actions supporting the governance, planning, implementation, management, and monitoring of NBS or related concepts that work with nature, such as green infrastructure, urban forestry, and ecosystem-based adaptation. Additionally, they address challenges related to planning and implementation, including issues with climate change adaptation, biodiversity enhancement, and environmental justice.
Wild et al. (2020) report 7 knowledge gap priorities to provide a basis to understand progress and the state of the art, as follows. (1) Investment in NBS and underpinning R&I; (2) policy- and governance- research; (3) technically oriented scientific research; (4) policy development and associated advocacy; (5) co-production of educational programmes and initiatives; (6) economic and financial instruments; (7) decision support systems, tools and models. This is used to report and classify key innovations and expected results in Conexus (in brackets as no.1 etc).
We reached board audiences, through >9500 participant engagements (Scientific Community 25%; Industry 5%; Civil Society 38%; General Public 38%; Policy Makers 6%; Customers 15%; Other 3%).
A strong focus has been on policy, advocacy and cooperation (no.4) with Conexus inputs at NetworkNature, COP26, EU Week of Regions and Cities, UNEP governmental training, EU-Brazil Sector Dialogues, Mercociudades, UrbanbyNature, Nature of Cities, and Biodivercities.
We provide rich cases of NBS in contexts (nos. 2, 4, 6) here: >2000 visits(öffnet in neuem Fenster). Deeper analyses followed on governance and planning processes in 7 cities, evaluating characteristics of NBS in place, space, time and actor networks. This brings together EU and CELAC approaches, enables benchmarking and improves prospects for transnational NBS programmes and interventions.
Conexus drove up investment in NBS capacities and delivery (nos. 1,4, 6, 7); and made good progress despite Covid. Our life-labs provided strategic learning alliances and supported city-level NBS programmes. We involved citizens, academics, public, private and third sector partners directly in the planning and delivery stages. Each life-lab has terms of reference and an action plan, strengthening legitimacy, accountability, and co-productive innovation prospects (nos. 1,2, 3, 7).
We developed innovative decision support systems, tools and models (no.7; no.3) and researched the use of NBS guidance (see www.conexusnbs.com/bcn24). Our participatory impact monitoring process enables societal application of NBS indicators. This offers improved prospects to measure NBS benefits, including: biodiversity, urban liveability, climate change resilience, social inclusion and cohesion, regeneration (green economy, employment and place identity), and public health and wellbeing (physical and mental).
We reached board audiences, through >9500 participant engagements (Scientific Community 25%; Industry 5%; Civil Society 38%; General Public 38%; Policy Makers 6%; Customers 15%; Other 3%).
A strong focus has been on policy, advocacy and cooperation (no.4) with Conexus inputs at NetworkNature, COP26, EU Week of Regions and Cities, UNEP governmental training, EU-Brazil Sector Dialogues, Mercociudades, UrbanbyNature, Nature of Cities, and Biodivercities.
We provide rich cases of NBS in contexts (nos. 2, 4, 6) here: >2000 visits(öffnet in neuem Fenster). Deeper analyses followed on governance and planning processes in 7 cities, evaluating characteristics of NBS in place, space, time and actor networks. This brings together EU and CELAC approaches, enables benchmarking and improves prospects for transnational NBS programmes and interventions.
Conexus drove up investment in NBS capacities and delivery (nos. 1,4, 6, 7); and made good progress despite Covid. Our life-labs provided strategic learning alliances and supported city-level NBS programmes. We involved citizens, academics, public, private and third sector partners directly in the planning and delivery stages. Each life-lab has terms of reference and an action plan, strengthening legitimacy, accountability, and co-productive innovation prospects (nos. 1,2, 3, 7).
We developed innovative decision support systems, tools and models (no.7; no.3) and researched the use of NBS guidance (see www.conexusnbs.com/bcn24). Our participatory impact monitoring process enables societal application of NBS indicators. This offers improved prospects to measure NBS benefits, including: biodiversity, urban liveability, climate change resilience, social inclusion and cohesion, regeneration (green economy, employment and place identity), and public health and wellbeing (physical and mental).