Debrief - European Conference Renaturing Cities: Systemic Urban Governance for

Social Cohesion

Milan, 1-2 December, 2014

Under the auspices of the

©lamio, #68562951, 2014. Source: Fotolia.com

1. The set-up

The European Conference on "Renaturing Cities: Systemic Urban Governance for Social Cohesion" was

jointly organised by Directorate I 'Climate Action and Resource Efficiency', the Municipality of Milan

and the Scientific Committee for Milan EXPO 2015, under the auspices of the Italian Presidency of the

Council of the EU.

The theme of this conference complemented the one identified for the European Conference "Renaturing

Cities: Addressing Environmental Challenges and the Effects of Economic Crisis Through Nature-Based

Solutions", held in Brussels on 13-14 May 2014 under the auspices of the Hellenic Presidency of the

Council of the EU.

The conference was set-up in line with a systemic and multidisciplinary approach in order to allow a

fruitful exchange of experiences among different stakeholders on the link between renaturing cities,

social cohesion, resilience, health and wellbeing both in urban and peri-urban areas. Moreover, the

Conference explored new instruments of urban governance, facilitating the interplay between policy-

making, market-driven actions and grassroots initiatives. In the context of Milan EXPO 2015 the event

served as a showcase to demonstrate how Europe is leading the process of renaturing cities and how this

European expertise could be up-taken at the international level.

2. Participants

205 participants attended the conference, out of

which 35 were research students from the

Urban Simulation Laboratory of the

Politecnico di Milano. Many different

stakeholders were represented in the

conference: leading universities and research

institutes on sustainable urbanisation,

municipalities and local governments, industry

sector (i.e. construction, dredging, engineering

SMEs, utilities), landscape contractors,

financial institutions (i.e. Environment Bank), civil society organizations (i.e. AGE Platform Europe,

WWF, Parents Against Smog and Pollution) and start-ups.

3. Four Thematic Sessions

The conference was structured in four sessions, each one responding to a specific aim:

Plenary Session "Renaturing Cities: Research and Innovation Policy Priorities for Systemic

Urban Governance". This session acknowledged that cities have to increasingly rely on systemic

governance, advanced planning capacities and effective management to address complex and

interrelated economic, social and environmental challenges. R&I actions in the field of sustainable

urban development were discussed in order to steer appropriate governance structures and

mechanisms able to make the link between urban and peri-urban areas while promoting economic

growth, social cohesion and environmental sustainability.

In particular, it was stressed that the EU R&I Policy Agenda on "Innovating Cities with Nature"

strongly relates to the priorities announced by President Junker, notably 'A new boost for Jobs,

Growth and Investment' and 'A resilient Energy Union with a forward looking climate change

policy'. Moreover, it was pointed out that the new orientation of EU R&I policy towards

Renaturing Cities through Nature-Based Solutions is instrumental in tackling urban challenges,

such as climate change and related natural hazards as well as energy, water and resource

efficiency and turning them into opportunities for the creation of new local jobs, new investments

and markets.

It was also highlighted the big opportunity offered by nature-based solutions in the face of

planetary urbanisation which leads to massive soil sealing. In an integrated landscape perspective,

city regions can act as drivers of food system innovation: well-planned urban food systems can

produce healthier, more bio-diverse

and socially equal cities. Several

examples of best practices in Europe

were presented such as Parco delle

Cave and Parco Nord which provide

the city of Milan with important

ecosystem services; Almere

Oosterwold, NL where 15000 new

houses are being built together with 50

urban farms, stimulating a do-it-

yourself-urbanism (DIYU); New York where the Big!Compost project is turning food scraps into

compost for urban greening. Always in NYC the 1-acre Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm was

presented as the world’s largest rooftop soil farm which in addition to growing and distributing

fresh organically-cultivated vegetables and herbs also provides urban farming and green roof

consulting and installation services to clients worldwide and promotes healthy and strong local

communities.

The Vertical forest by Stefano Boeri, the world

famous architect and pioneer in green buildings, was

also presented. Building the two forest towers is

setting new engineering and technological

requirements for building structures, choice of

materials, quality of soil, irrigation techniques, but

also involves Social Sciences and Humanities since

the next step after the construction is to study and monitor the behavior of residents of such green

housing as well as the indoor quality. It was estimated that the ecosystem services from the two

towers (CO2 storage, air quality, biodiversity improvement) is equal to that of 2 hectares of

forest. Further research and time is needed to tell whether this project will have a large replication

potential.

The plenary session also stressed the importance of social innovation for renaturing cities. In this

regard, it was pointed out that the distinction between public and private innovation is

disappearing, with more attention to systemic innovation. Working as an organisation is outdated,

working as a movement is the new approach, leading to much more impact also in the field of

nature-based solutions. This is happening increasingly in science, with cooperative, big multiple-

authors publications in a kind of Wiki-science. Open data and transparency should be imposed

not just on the public but also on the private sector. Transparency was indeed described as one of

the best drivers for innovation.

Session 1 "Innovating Cities with Nature for Economic Profitability and Social Cohesion".

The aim of this session was to present how European cities and city regions are adopting nature-

based solutions in order to improve urban socio-ecological and economic functioning while

developing innovative business and financing models. In particular, presentations focused on

three cities – Rotterdam, Berlin and Copenhagen – and one city-region –Flanders-.

Rotterdam: the transition to urban resilience. The Sustainability program refers to greening of

the city as a key priority to contribute to climate regulation, to regulating heat stress, to improve

health, and to buffer industrial noise. This is the first program that addresses the many benefits of

green spaces for citizens and explicitly shows its multivariate contribution to urban sustainability.

The Green Program for the inner city proposed in 2013 specifies that the strategies on greening

aim at improving the quality of green space, the reestablishment of green in neighbourhoods that

are impoverished of green space, and the maintenance of tree diversity in the city. In this regard,

the Boompjeskade is a riverbank location where impermeable pavement has been replaced with

grass creating space for water to infiltrate and to be retained as well as space for people to use.

Berlin: a thriving city embraces its green spaces. In total, Berlin contains more than 100 parks

making an area of around 2000 ha. The transformation of the former city airport Berlin

Tempelhof is a clear example where changing land use has created green space. The former city

airport was converted into the largest publicly available urban green space with an area of more

than 300 ha (as a reference point, New York City’s Central park is 500 ha). Tempelhof was

opened for public use in May 2010 and the area contains huge public green spaces which include

specific areas for nature conservation and leisure activities.

Copenhagen: Healthy therapy urban

gardens and the value of applied

research for health promotion. On

Friday 28th

November, 2014 there was

the official opening of the University of

Copenhagen’s Nature, Health and

Design Laboratory. The Laboratory is

located in Denmark’s largest arboretum

and consists of two sites: the forest

therapy garden Nacadia, where people suffering from severe stress are treated with a specially

designed nature-based therapy program and the Health forest Octovia which was planned with

the aim of promoting mental health and well-being. Both sites have been used for research and

education activities. These sites also serve as demonstration for practitioners working on the link

between nature-based solutions, health and well-being and show that not all gardens are healing

gardens. Different patient groups need differently designed gardens and treatment programs.

Flanders in action. By 2020, Flanders aims to stand out as an economically innovative,

environmentally sustainable and socially caring society. Twenty objectives have been laid down

in the Pact 2020 by the Government of Flanders, focusing on 5 priority areas: increased

prosperity and wellbeing; competitive and sustainable economy; higher employment with longer

average career terms; higher living standards; efficient and effective governance. Moreover, a

new industrial park is planned in the south of Antwerp, on the site of the former Petroleum Zuid

complex. Blue Gate Antwerp is one of the most important economic projects in the region and

will initially generate 1,500 to 2,000 jobs. While sustainability is the key word in the Blue Gate

Antwerp project, eco-effectiveness is the guiding principle. That means closing cycles: no waste,

and maximum reuse of water, materials and energy. New and innovative concepts in that field

will provide a unique location for green companies. Blue Gate Antwerp will therefore start up its

own production of renewable energy. This will allow the development to score even better than

the mandatory carbon neutrality imposed by Flanders on industrial parks.

Session 1 also addressed regulatory bottlenecks and market obstacles for Innovating Cities with

Nature. In this regard, a concrete example was presented by the European Dredging Association

which stressed the existing inconsistencies between the European Framework Directives and the

EU Member States legislations for using dredge material for the built environment. While the

Waste Framework Directive (especially in its late developments from 2008) considers dredge

material as being a resource rather than a hazardous waste, the Water Framework Directive

brings constraints to dredging projects because, although it doesn't refer to dredge material, it

adopts a more precautionary approach towards groundwater protection. This inconsistency

between the two EU Framework Directives has also an implication at Member States level, where

some MS (i.e. Germany) accept dredging material for building infrastructure and others (i.e.

France) consider it hazardous. Therefore, there is a need to integrate and harmonize fragmented

pieces of existing environmental legislation at national level and European directives, removing

inconsistences across different sectors (i.e. soil, land-use management, water, waste, marine and

coastal management). Moreover, nature-based solutions should be technically recognized and

approved to be used for the built environment. This is crucial since the construction sector is

highly regulated with several quality standards to be applied, especially when private companies

are participating in green public procurements.

Session 2: "Renaturing Cities for Healthier, Happier and Safer Societies". The aim of this

session was to show the positive effects of nature-based solutions for improving human health,

enhancing wellbeing and making cities a safer place to live in, taking into consideration both

intra- and inter-generational justice. In particular, the session focussed on the link between

renaturing cities and the decline in healthcare and security spending.

It was also stressed that renaturing cities should be seen as a process that enables people of all

ages to actively participate in community activities and treats everyone with respect, regardless of

their age. In this respect, it was noted that AFE-INNOVNET Thematic Network on Innovation

for Age-Friendly Environments has been launched in February 2014 - with the support of the

European Commission and in

collaboration with World Health

Organization - to set up a EU- wide

community of local and regional

authorities and other relevant

stakeholders who want to work together

to find smart and innovative evidence-

based solutions to support active and

healthy ageing. By following this

approach, AFE-INNOVNET aims to

launch a new EU Covenant on

Demographic changes.

Nature-based solutions have also been presented as effective measures to contrast urban heat

island effect. In this respect, according to the European Cool Roof Council, cool materials can be

a viable solution even for industrial buildings where usually there is a significant burden in the

cooling load due to machinery and production lines. Cool materials also improve the life

expectancy of the roof system and significantly reduce both the thermal fatigue and expenses for

maintenance. In addition, it was pointed out that green facades contribute to a reduction of 5.5°C

in the outside temperature of the building. Green facades also decrease by 50 - 70% the amount

of energy needed for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).

Nature-based solutions have also been presented as new frontiers for Disaster Risk Reduction

(DRR). It was highlighted that cities are often located in hazard prone areas (coastal

lowlands, unstable slopes, volcanic and seismic areas, etc.). Therefore, the complex

interaction between nature, the economy and society suggests the need to change our perspective

in facing old and emerging challenges: hazards are increasingly becoming the result of human

activities and people cannot be considered just passive agents, vulnerable to disasters. The

multiple links between human activities, land uses, ecosystem degradation, risks and the

consequent increased level of uncertainty require a systemic approach able to integrate risk

issues in land use planning. Thus, there is a pressing demand for an in-depth investigation of the

role of ecosystems management for DRR, by integrating climate change adaptation strategies

and disaster risk management.

Session 3: "Social Innovation for a Sustainable and Inclusive Urban Development". The aim

of this session was to highlight the importance of citizen engagement and creativity for promoting

the adoption of nature-based solutions at the local level. Social innovation was considered as a

key factor for innovating cities with nature, since it creates a sense of ownership and commitment

needed to foster participative environments where citizens, businesses and the public sector are

willing to contribute and cooperate.

The City of Milan has chosen to promote social innovation as one of the aspects of the smart city.

In Italy, the concepts of social innovation and smart cities has already been linked and explored

by responding to the calls for proposals from MIUR (Italian Ministry of University and Research)

in 2012 and from the Regional call “Smart cities and communities” (funded through structural

funds) in 2013. Following this perspective, smart cities are those which also foster governance for

social innovation. A recent report from the Italian UNIONCAMERE published in 2014 shows

that cohesion fosters companies’ growth: cohesive companies - with strong ties to local

communities, institutions and the territory in which they operate - have a higher comparative

advantage in terms of growth. According to this report, annual employment rate growth is 22% in

cohesive companies, compared with 15% in other companies. FabriQ is the first space of the

Municipality of Milan specifically dedicated to the promotion of social innovation. FabriQ is a

business incubator for the transformation of ideas into concrete projects. The incubator is located

in the north-west area of the city and host 15 young entrepreneurial start-ups whose activities

have a socio-economic and environmental impact.

Nexthamburg was also presented as a success story from Hamburg municipality. This action was

launched in 2009 as a pilot project and was one of the first innovative experiences of citizens'

participation. From 2009 to 2011, Nexthamburg had the opportunity to test its approach by

collecting ideas for the future city, link them with each other and encourage the dialog among the

community.

Sharing Copenhagen was also discussed as a very innovative multi-level, multi-stakeholder and

multi- purpose initiative to involve children and youth in the green city transition. Children and

youth make up 20 % of the population in Copenhagen and the number increases every month.

Urban spaces are a big part of the Copenhagen children’s reality. That is why the Environmental

School Service works at pulling down the boundaries between children and adults, schools and

city planners. Children are being involved, influencing the way the city is developed and planned.

The city’s school yards, parks, squares and safe routes to school are the hub of Urban X’s

activities, when students from local schools learn about city planning, design processes and

democracy, it generates opportunities for them to help design their own neighbourhood. With

their newly acquired knowledge the children and youth build models, work out blueprints and

offer qualified and concrete suggestions on renaturing the city of Copenhagen.

The need to involve children as catalysts

for social innovation in green cities was

also stressed by Nucco Brain, an

animation and visual storytelling studio

based in London which is now launching

the business initiative Book on a

Tree to disseminate scientific and

complex knowledge to the general

public. In this respect, the "30

Cities" project was presented as a way to

involve both parents and children in

capturing their vision on sustainable

urbanisation. They are asked to make films by walking in the streets with two Go-Pro

cameras. One Go-Pro camera is in the head of the parent, the other one in the head of the child.

The visual information collected in the city is then used to draw new maps of places that are

considered to be relevant according to children's eyes.

According to the experience coming from the "30 Cities"

project, conceiving the city as something we make

(instead of something which exists apart from us) helps

children not only to use their imagination, but also to

pursue a very personal and committed civic-mindedness.

In a playful way, the maps created by children remind the

observer that everything we do, read, think, build and

even dream plays a crucial role in the construction and

conservation of a place.

"No Dalmatian puppies like to stroll in a filthy park full

of rubbish. No Peter Pan flutters about in a thick

smokescreen of pollution. The way we imagine cities can

change the way we plan them".

4. Key messages for R&I actions for Innovating Cities with Nature

Need for clearer definition, delimitation and explanation of the concept of nature-based solutions,

including examples and success stories coming from all over the world.

Need for co-designing and co-creating the city and its surroundings, through a nexus or systemic

approach, involving very different stakeholders: policy and public authorities at all levels,

universities/ schools/ learning institutions, businesses of all sizes and types, the financial and

insurance sectors and citizens of all ages. In this respect, innovation appears to be strongest in the

cross-roads of sectors and complex systems like cities are also the most inspiring and dynamic

ones.

Need for social innovation as much as technological and business innovation to drive the

transition towards sustainable urban pathways: this includes new inclusive governance forms

empowering the various actors, re-defining ownership and reliability, re-imagining authorities and

leadership, re-inventing business and financing models. Trust among partners and transparency in

both public and private sectors is considered to be crucial and based on a sharing and open source

philosophy, possibly promoted through various incentives. Common goals and language are to be

developed and therefore time is needed for such a systemic approach to be fully implemented.

Need for experimentation to overcome obstacles and barriers for the up-scaled use of nature-based

solutions and to find the right framework conditions as well as balances and trade-offs (including

accepting that the first attempt is not the right one).

Need to develop new compelling and robust evidence of the cost-effectiveness of nature based

solutions, which also requires to take into account the costs for maintenance over time.

Need to foster multi- and trans-disciplinary approaches and further integrate Social Sciences and

Humanities in future actions on renaturing cities. In particular, there is a need to evaluate and

assess better the impact of urban green not only on health and wellbeing but also on social

security and crime. In this regard, values, social norms and behavioural patterns of different social

groups should be further investigated (for instance by including children and immigrants as

categories of analysis).

Need to focus not only on megacities but also on medium and small cities - including historic

towns rich in cultural heritage - where the trends of urbanisation are even more evident. In these

contexts, processes of urban gentrification should be also investigated in relation to renaturing

cities and its effects on the real estate markets.

Need also to disseminate and raise awareness of the very varied initiatives/ experiments already

existing in the field of nature-based solutions: the vertical forest created in new buildings, the

evidence-based health and therapy gardens, the green and cool roofs and facades to remedy heat

island effects, urban gardens and farming, etc.

5. Comments from Twitter and Urban bloggers

Link to the urban blog: http://blog.acceleratingtransitions.eu/?p=1911