Transforming cities, enhancing wellbeing innovating with nature-based solutions


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ADDRESSING SOCIETAL CHALLENGES THROUGH NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS

The “Horizon 2020 European Dialogue and Clustering Action Transforming cities, enhancing wellbeing: innovating with nature-based solutions”,  will gather in A Coruña more than 160 experts, cities and SMES to discuss the implementation and impact assessment of the nature-based solutions.

The event will take place in the City of A Coruña (Spain), next May 16-18, 2018 (Venue: Fundación Barrié). This is a joint initiative of two European projects Connecting Nature and the support platform Think Nature and is co-organized by the University of A Coruna (Spain).

The event will focus on 3 main themes:

  • Sustainable Urbanization in Cities and Restoration of Degraded Ecosystems. Critically reviewing the lessons from the practical implementation of nature-based solutions in cities and distilling what is best practice in achieving more liveable and resilient cities through nature-based solutions.
  • Robust assessment of NBS impacts: creating the evidence base to inform urban policy-making. How the latest developments monitoring, evaluating and data gathering can contribute to the evidence on the comparative advantage of these interventions stronger.
  • Enhancing innovation potential through new governance and funding models for NBS. Focusing more on the management side of nature-based solutions, and the role these new approaches may play in upscaling the multiple benefits of this type of interventions.

The event will adopt the highly dynamic and interactive format of a pressure cooker, with guiding questions and specific outcomes prepared for each day aimed at learning and exchange among participants.

The event will bring together representatives from the European Commission and other international institutions dealing with the funding, monitoring evaluation of nature-based solutions. Several European-wide research projects, CONNECTING NATURE, THINK NATURE, Urban GreenUP, GROWGREEN, UNALAB, PHUSICOS, ISOCARP and NAIAD, will showcase their demonstration actions of large-scale design, implementation evaluation of NBS.

Among the participants, we have representatives of the United Nations Environment Program, the European Environment Agency, EU-Brazil – Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication, the European Dredging Association – EuDA, the European Platform of Construction Technology (ECTP), the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, WWF.

Likewise, the ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability network and a selection of European cities, pioneers in the implementation of solutions based on nature, will present their experiences and challenges in the design and financing of ecological infrastructures. Among these are Glasgow, London, Genk, Poznan, Nicosia, Bologna, Ioannina, A Coruña, Malaga, Tampere, Karlova Ves-Bratislava, Regensburg, Stavanger, Tbilisi, Sarajevo-Bosnia & Herzegovina, Prague, Paris region, Vitoria-Gasteiz or Santiago de Compostela (Download the complete description of the sessions here).  

Relevant keynotes and speakers are Josefina Enfendaque, DG RDT European Commission; Marcus Collier, Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), coordinator of the Connecting Nature project; Andreas Litkopf, European Environment Agency; Kristyna Pelikanova, European Investment Bank, Nick Pearce, director of the Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath; David Maddox, The Nature of Cities; Jennifer Senick, Rutgers Center for Green Building, New York; Kate Reilly, IUCN; Julie Barnett, University of Bath, and Clare Twigger-Ross, Collingwood Environmental Planning, Dr. Adina Dumitru, , University of A Coruña, and Professor Ricardo García Mira, University of A Coruña.

The main conclusions from the Horizon 2020European Dialogue and Clustering Action Transforming cities, enhancing wellbeing: innovating with NBS  will be elaborated to take the form of a “Roadmap for Research and Action on establishing a reference framework for NBS in addressing social challenges”. This will be made publicly available and will mark a milestone in the streamlining of efforts from both cities, policymakers, academics for accelerating transitions to more vibrant cities and sustainable cities in Europe and beyond.

Also, and based on the main discussions regarding the NBS impact evaluation, a white paper will be produced offering an overview of the current developments in the NBS field, identifying new tools and opportunities for  monitoring of NBS and showing the added value of it, all illustrated with  examples and aimed at informing the EU urban planning & sustainability policies.

AGENDA

The event agenda is being updated constantly as new speakers join our panels.  The latest agenda is available on the link below.

  • Download the agenda
  • Detailed information about the content of the sessions on the agenda is available to assist you in planning what sessions to attend. Download this information here.  

  • Information about  Nature- Based Excursions can be found here.  

    Information on travel to and accommodation in A Coruna can be accessed here

  • A Google Map with all of the main venues, airports  accommodation can be downloaded here

Technical Secretariat

Isabel Lema Blanco (Researcher – People-Environment Research Group)

Email: isabel.lema@udc.es

Phone:+34 881 011 882

NBE Expo and Pitch Battle

Isobel Fletcher (Senior Project Manager – Horizon Nua)

Email: isobel.fletcher@horizonnua.eu

Phone:  +353 1 493 5942


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