Nature, Democracy, and Sustainable Urban Transformations

Clément, Sarah; Mell, İan

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-18268-6_4

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…A full portfolio of investments can be accessed via the project webpages: https://www.urbangreenup.eu/solutions/, accessed 7 th July 2023. Both policy and research on NBS underscore the need for participatory planning and co-design [26,27]. Over its lifespan, URBAN GreenUP worked extensively with local government, the environment and business sectors, technology start-ups/companies, engineers, landscape architects, and, to a lesser extent, local communities.…”

Section: The Urban Greenup Project and Greenspace Planning In Liverpoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the case of NBS, the use of "solutions" is viewed as problematic if or when interventions are not linked directly to context-specific issues. In Liverpool, the city's Green Infrastructure Strategy [26] and the URBAN GreenUP project proposals identified a range of core climatic, socioeconomic, and health issues that NBS could address. However, although this information was integrated into the framing and project documentation, development, and delivery of URBAN GreenUP, it may not have been effectively communicated to all communities in the city-especially residents (see Table 5, which presents resident awareness of URBAN GreenUP interventions).…”

Section: Project and Locational Influences: Communication Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nature can do a pretty good job on its own." (Elected official) URBAN GreenUP may have succeeded in extending the foundations of the city's Green Infrastructure Strategy and the LG&OSR [25][26][27] by building additional momentum for interventions in nature-led planning that can subsequently be used to shape policy. In such a scenario, NBS can be used to explore new delivery pathways in terms of innovative design, the choice of projects and the location they are placed in, and the role of experimentation in terms of the benefits associated with each NBS, which provides scope to rethink environmental planning across the city [44][45][46].…”

Section: Locating Nbs In Local Development Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Project partners in Liverpool and elsewhere could benefit from more attention being placed on the needs and aspirations of the diverse communities that stand to benefit from NBS interventions. The promise that NBS can deliver more democratic and sustainable outcomes is central to arguments for their use [26]. The "NBS with and for people" approach can help deliver on such promises, enhancing equitable distribution of benefits, minimizing disbenefits, and underpinning successful delivery [48].…”

Section: Elements Functions Benefits and Beneficiariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…URBAN GreenUP highlights that this is not a simple process and requires ongoing collaboration between multiple sectors. If such relationships can be curated, all parties can better engage in knowledge exchange activities and arrive at more appropriate nature-focused solutions [26].…”

Section: Elements Functions Benefits and Beneficiariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions in City Planning: Examining Scale, Focus, and Visibility as Drivers of Intervention Success in Liverpool, UK

Mell

Clément

O’Sullivan

2023

Land

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Nature-based solutions (NBS) have been central to the European Union’s drive to address climate change, ecological degradation, and promote urban prosperity. Via an examination of the Horizon 2020-funded URBAN GreenUP project in Liverpool, this paper explores mainstreaming NBS in city planning. It uses evidence from pre- and post-intervention surveys with Liverpool residents and interviews with local business, environmental, government, and community sector experts to illustrate how a complex interplay of scale, location, focus, and visibility of NBS influences perceptions of the added value of NBS. This paper highlights the requirement that NBS interventions be bespoke and responsive to the overarching needs of residents and other stakeholders. Moreover, we underscore the importance of expert input into the design, location, and maintenance of NBS and call for these key drivers of successful delivery to be better integrated into work programs. This paper also notes that the type and size of NBS interventions impact perceptions of their value, with smaller projects being viewed as less socially and ecologically valuable compared to larger investments. We conclude that while small-scale NBS can support climatic, health, or ecological improvements in specific instances, strategic, larger-scale, and more visible investments are required to accrue substantive benefits and gain acceptance of NBS as a legitimate and effective planning tool.

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Section: The Urban Greenup Project and Greenspace Planning In Liverpoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Project and Locational Influences: Communication Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Locating Nbs In Local Development Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Elements Functions Benefits and Beneficiariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Elements Functions Benefits and Beneficiariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions in City Planning: Examining Scale, Focus, and Visibility as Drivers of Intervention Success in Liverpool, UK

Mell

Clément

O’Sullivan

2023

Land

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Learning from Experience: Reflections on the Delivery of Nature-Based Solutions as Part of a Multi-Partner Collaborative Project

Mell,

Clement,

O’Sullivan

et al. 2023

Urban Sustainability

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Action research for transformative change

Croeser,

Clement,

Fernandez

et al. 2024

Sustain Sci

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As major policy actors (e.g. governments, global organisations) grapple with 'wicked’ sustainability challenges, the use of demonstration projects or ‘living labs’ has promise in showcasing potential solutions. However, these projects can struggle to realise enduring change, with initial experimental deliverables tending not to be replicated and remaining as once-offs. As well as demonstrating solutions, projects also need to overcome the considerable inertia in the complex systems of organisations and institutions that govern (or indeed generate) sustainability problems. Here we argue that demonstration projects, while initially impactful, could be more likely to realise transformative change if they were designed more thoroughly as action research projects, working with partners to not only deliver and measure demonstrations of solutions, but also demonstrate changes to organisations and institutions to remove barriers and facilitate replication. We note the important role of both engaged leadership and explicitly-stated theories of change in maximising the potential of projects designed in this way.

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Nature, Democracy, and Sustainable Urban Transformations

Cited by 3 publications

References 69 publications

Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions in City Planning: Examining Scale, Focus, and Visibility as Drivers of Intervention Success in Liverpool, UK

Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions in City Planning: Examining Scale, Focus, and Visibility as Drivers of Intervention Success in Liverpool, UK

Learning from Experience: Reflections on the Delivery of Nature-Based Solutions as Part of a Multi-Partner Collaborative Project

Action research for transformative change

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