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Project

Sustainable Communities through Digitization?! A method to evaluate the sustainability of local projects

October 2017 to November 2017

The digitization of all spheres of life is progressing steadily, a mega-trend that will continuously and fundamentally change society. Municipalities are also making increasing use of the potential offered by digitization of political and administrative processes. Doris Knoblauch and Susanne Langsdorf (both Ecologic Institute) developed a method that allows municipalities to easily check their (digitization) projects for their contribution to sustainable development. The report and the questionnaire are available for download.Read more

Presentation

A Helping Hand or a Thorn in the Foot? Nature-based Solutions in European and National Policy Frameworks

TimeLoc

25 October 2017

Tallinn

Estonia

McKenna Davis

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly recognised for their potential to contribute to a range of urban challenges and policy objectives. But, to what extent do current policy frameworks support or hinder their implementation? At the international conference on "Nature-based solutions: From Innovation to Common-Use", Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis addressed this question in a session on 'Blue-green infrasturcture in smart cities'. Held in Tallinn (Estonia) from the 24 to 26 October 2017, the flagship conference was part of the Presidency of the Estonian Republic of the Council of the European Union.Read more

Presentation

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

Transforming Infrastructures towards Sustainability – lessons learnt from ICT-based peer-to-peer carsharing service Drivy in Germany

TimeLoc

24 October 2017

Geneva

Switzerland

Mandy Hinzmann

The World Resources Forum 2017 entitled "Accelerating the Resource Revolution" was held in Geneva from 24 to 25 October 2017. Ecologic Institute's Mandy Hinzmann presented the TRAFIS project with a lecture on "Transforming infrastructures towards sustainability - lessons learnt from ICT-based peer-to-peer carsharing service Drivy in Germany". The presentation slides are available for download.Read more

Presentation

Nature-based Solutions and Green Infrastructure: Current policy support and opportunities for mainstreaming

TimeLoc

20 September 2017

21 September 2017

Malmö

Sweden

McKenna Davis

Sandra Naumann

Green infrastructure (GI) and nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly recognised for their potential to contribute to a range of urban challenges and policy objectives. But, how can they be mainstreamed in practice and to what extent do current policy frame-works support their implementation? At the international conference on "Urban Green In-frastructure - Connecting People and Nature for Sustainable Cities", Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis and Sandra Naumann addressed these and other issues in targeted ses-sions. The conference, held in Malmö (Sweden) from 20 to 21 September 2017, was the final conference of the EU-funded GreenSurge project. Read more

Presentation

Nature-based Solutions and Green Infrastructure: Current policy support and opportunities for mainstreaming

TimeLoc

20 September 2017

21 September 2017

Malmö

Sweden

Publication

Making the Case for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems as a Nature-based Solution to Urban Flooding

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) as a promising nature-based solution are the focus of a new chapter, written by Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis and Sandra Naumann. The authors utilize a range of case studies and evidence from across Europe to underline the potential of SUDS as a tool to reduce the negative effects of urban flooding and resultant water pollution. The diverse environmental and societal co-benefits are also presented as well as insights on the potential cost-effectiveness of SUDS as compared to grey infrastructure solutions.Read more

Publication

Website

Biodiversity

Cities

NATURVATION – cities – nature – innovation

naturvation.eu

The NATURVATION Project has launched its website, which offers information on the project, nature-based solutions, six city profiles and much more. Alongside news and information about the project, the new website includes a blog, which will update readers on NATURVATION research and outputs as the project progresses.

Publication

Nature-based Solutions to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Urban Areas

Perspectives on Indicators, Knowledge Gaps, Barriers, and Opportunities for Action

Nature-based solutions promoting green and blue urban areas have significant potential to decrease the vulnerability and enhance the resilience of cities in light of climatic change. They can thereby help to mitigate climate change-induced impacts and serve as proactive adaptation options for municipalities. We explore the various contexts in which nature-based solutions are relevant for climate mitigation and adaptation in urban areas, identify indicators for assessing the effectiveness of nature-based solutions and related knowledge gaps.Read more

Presentation

Community Participation in Large-scale Urban Transformation Projects

TimeLoc

9 June 2017

Marseille

France

Brendan O'Donnell

Ecologic Institute's Brendan O'Donnell was invited to deliver a keynote address on the topic of community participation in large-scale urban transformation projects in Marseille (France), as part of the EUCANET project.Read more

Project

Enabling Green and Blue Infrastructure Potential in Complex Social-ecological Regions (ENABLE)

February 2017 to January 2020

Green and Blue infrastructure (GBI) in cities holds large potential to effectively address emerging global challenges, such as climate change impacts, increasing urbanisation and declining access to nature, as it can deliver multiple societal, ecological and economic benefits in parallel. This multifunctional potential of GBI has only recently begun to gain weight in research, policy and planning and has yet to be fully unlocked. The EU-funded BiodivERsA project 'ENABLE' responds to this gap by utilizing a transdisciplinary systems approach to examine the relationship between social-ecological dynamics and GBI's potential to meet multiple goals, including biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation. The four-year research project, funded by the BiodivERsA network, is led by the Stockholm Resilience Centre and supported by Ecologic Institute and nine other research partners.Read more