nbs/gi policies on different levels · 14.2.1 proportion of national ... sustainable development...

1

NBS/GI Policies on different levels

Claudia De Luca, University of

Bologna (UNIBO)

Juraj Jurik, Global Infrastructure

Basel Foundation (GIB)

Presentation Outline

• Juraj

• Global Policy Frameworks reflecting NBS

• focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• EU Policy Frameworks reflecting NBS/G

• Link to the local level policies

• Claudia

• Urban agenda on Sustainable Land Use and NBS

• Example from local regulation and planning

• Governance scheme: bottom up and top down initiatives to boost NBS

3

Challenges

Habitat Fragmentation Hambach Forest, Germany

4

Challenges

Biodiversity Loss

5

Challenges

Climate change - induced risks

Paris, heat stress

Copenhagen, flooding

6

Challenges

• Depression • Obesity • Diabetes • Little human to human interactions

Human Health and Wellbeing

7

International Policies working with NBS

International Policies working with NBS

Note: There are 169 targets for the 17 goals. Each target has between 1 and 3 indicators used to measure progress toward reaching these targets. 17 SDGs 169 Targets 232 Indicators

?? How many SDGs and SDG targets (at least) could be catalysed by NBS ??

Question

Achieving SDGs through NBS:

Nature may have a role to play in achieving at least 12 SDGs and 41 targets focused directly on improving the environment and/or dimensions of human well-being.

Credit: Landscape News: https://news.globallandscapesforum.org/viewpoint/laying-road-map-nature-based-solutions-sdgs/

59%

41%

Achieving SDGs by NBS

1. With NBS

2. With other means

20%

80%

Achieving SDG Targets by NBS

1. With NBS

2. With other means

Results

https://news.globallandscapesforum.org/viewpoint/laying-road-map-nature-based-solutions-sdgs/














Targets Indicator NBS

15.1 By 2030, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements

15.1.1 Forest area as a proportion of total land area

• Forest

15.1.2 Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type

• Wetlands • Freshwater

ecosystems • Alpine ecosystems

15.2 By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally

15.2.1 Progress towards sustainable forest management

• Forest

Tatra National Park, Slovakia National legislation: • National Park International designation: • Natura 2000 network • IUCN Management Category 2

Kokorinsko , Czech Republic National legislation: • Protected Landscape Area International designation: • Natura 2000 network • IUCN Management Category 5


14.2 By 2030, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans.

14.2.1 Proportion of national exclusive economic zones managed using ecosystem-based approaches

• Mangroves

Seychelles National Strategy and Plan of Action (NSAP) Initiative: Mangroves for the future

• Promoting investment in conserving coastal ecosystems as development “infrastructure”

• Fostering collaborative action through a partnership approach

• Addressing long-term threats to coastal ecosystems and livelihoods

• Securing future development in the Indian Ocean region

Seychelles, La Digue


11.6 By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management

11.6.2 Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted)

• Trees

11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities

11.7.1 Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

• Open green public spaces such as urban parks

Open & inclusive green public spaces

An inclusive and green urban fabric is a central part of healthy communities and contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; e.g. SDG 11 ‘Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’).

Flicker: A Coruna

Human Health & Wellbeing

Utilisation of urban green

spaces

Increase


6.3 By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

6.3.2 Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality

• Forests • Wetlands (e.g.

Reedbeds)

Credit: https://www.naturalinfrastructureforbusiness.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Veolia_NI4BizCase-Study_Aquisafe.pdf (WBCSD,2019)

Mitigation of contaminants to protect water resources

Excess levels of nitrates in water (from agriculture)

Closure of water plant

NBS treatment system

(constructed wetlands)

Complying with the regulatory requirements (less than 50

mg/L)

19

EU Policies Policy Field EU Policy Instrument

Green Infrastructure Strategy (2013)

Biodiversity Habitat Directive (1992)

Bird Directive (2009)

Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 (2011)

Water Water Framework Directive (2000)

Floods Directive (2006)

Forestry Forest Strategy (2013)

Adaptation Adaptation Strategy (2013)

Agriculture and Regional Policy

Urban Agenda (2016)

Common Agriculture Policy (2013)

19

EU PoliciesPolicy Field EU Policy Instrument










Urban Agenda (2016)


19











Urban Agenda (2016)


19











Urban Agenda (2016)


20

EU Policies

Timeline of EU policies to the concept of NBS / GI / ES

Credit: Bouwma, I. et all (2018), p. 217

Types of NBS

interventions by

sector in analysed

EU policies

Credit: NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS IN EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL POLICY FRAMEWORKS (McKenna Davis, Katrina Abhold, Linda Mederake, Doris Knoblauch)

Nature based solutions in practice

Local regulation and Governance model

Claudia de Luca

Alma Mater Studiorum, Università di Bologna

THINKNATURE Summer School, Chania, 3rd September 2019

Urban Agenda on NBS and Sustainable Land Use

URBAN AGENDA for EU – Pact of Amsterdam

• May 30, 2016. 28 EU ministers responsible for urban policies sign the Pact of Amsterdam. This agreement establishes the Urban Agenda for the EU and lays down its fundamental principles.

• “The Urban Agenda for the EU is a new working method to ensure maximum utilization of the growth potential of cities and to successfully tackle social challenges. It aims to promote cooperation between Member States, cities, the European Commission and other stakeholders, in order to stimulate growth, livability and innovation in the cities of Europe”

URBAN AGENDA for EU

The heart of the Urban Agenda is the development of 12 partnerships related to 12 "urban challenges", thus allowing cities, Member States, EU institutions and stakeholders as NGOs and business partners, to work together to:

Better regulation - eliminate legislative barriers at local or national level

Better funding - ensure that funding actually reaches cities and funds are spent on their priorities; to talk more

about funding with the European Commission and with the Member States

Better knowledge base and knowledge exchange - make available the immense wealth of knowledge and

experience that each city develops.

URBAN AGENDA– 14 Priority Themes

From FUTURIUM platform: https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/urban-agenda

https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/urban-agenda




SUL and NBS Partnership: Members

• Urban Areas: Bologna (IT, Coordinator), Antwerp (BE), Cork (IE), Lille (FR), Águeda (PT), Stavanger (NO), Stuttgart (DE), Zagreb (HR)

• Member States: Poland (Coordinator), Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia

• Other participants and stakeholders: European Commission (DG REGIO, DG ENV, DG JRC, DG R&I), ICLEI,INCASÒL, European Investment Bank (EIB), EUROCITIES

• Observers: URBACT, The Netherlands, EEA, ISOCARP

SUL_NBS – objectives and vision

Inspiring principle • Ensure an efficient and sustainable use of land and natural resources, contribute to the development of

compact, liveable and inclusive European cities for all. General objectives • Promote a compact model of liveable city • Bring to the attention and spread the NBS as tools for the sustainability and liveability of urban spaces Priority focus • Land take/Land use • Under used urban area and brownfields • Functional Urban Areas - FUAs • Nature-based solutions - NBS

SUL-NBS: Action

Plan Work flow and process: • A year of participatory work, seven project meetings, definition of 9 ACTIONS → included in a most

exhaustive ACTION PLAN • For each action have been identified: obstacles → objectives → timeline → responsible partners in the

implementation → expected results

Action N. and name Field Action Leader

1 INCLUDING LAND TAKE IN IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES Bologna e UNIBO

2 FINANCING MODELS FOR BROWNFIELD DEVELOPMENT Luxembourg

3 IDENTIFYING AND MANAGING UNDER-USED LAND URBACT

4 INDICATORS OF LAND TAKE Bologna e UNIBO

5 PROMOTING FUA COOPERATION AS A TOOL TO MITIGATE URBAN SPRAWL Poland

6 BETTER REGULATION TO BOOST NBS AT EU AND LOCAL LEVEL Bologna e UNIBO

7 BETTER FINANCING ON NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS (7.1 & 7.2) Zagreb

8 AWARENESS RAISING ON NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS AND URBAN SPRAWL Bologna

9 DEVELOPING COMMON STANDARDS AND INDICATORS Stavanger

Action 6: Objectives

EU level: Based on the review of EU instruments and legislation available, the Partnership believes that

there is a need to better integrate NBS within existing directives and other existing EU-level legislation and documents. Reference to the “urban environment” needs to be better investigated to understand how the urban dimension should be integrated into EU policies and strategies

Local level: National and regional authorities and cities of the partnership intend to better understand to

which extent NBS has already been included and integrated into their national or local strategies (climate adaptation, urban and master plans, resilience strategies, etc.) and to what extent the existing minimum legal requirements already take NBS benefits into consideration, or the need to further integrate NBS.

Action 6: Expected Outcomes

EU level: • Recommendations to the EU Commission on a better integration of NBS’ within existing

Directives and other EU-level documents (reference to Water and Flood directive) Local level: • an overview of existing strategies where NBS play or could play an important role in the cities

participating in the action; • an overview of existing minimum legal requirement on NBS in their urban plans and

building regulations; • Proposing better integration of NBS into existing strategies (in terms of potential target and

actions to achieve those) and into minimum legal requirements

Can minimum legal

requirements and planning

standards boost NBS

uptakes?

Action 6: Can minimum legal requirements and planning standards boost NBS uptakes? Some thoughts from Paris Forum session:

Yes:

we should set compulsory standards such as xx m² of green area per inhabitant Yes, if we use measurable “green factors” for projects

Yes but: Yes, if we reverse the way of setting rules. For example: instead of setting a minimum of parking spots per building/district, set a maximum -> maximum instead of minimum

No: in some countries, e.g. USA, minimums might not work. It’s better to have guidelines

Action 6: Can minimum legal requirements and planning standards boost NBS uptakes?

If not, what could boost this process at local level?

Raising the awareness of citizens. With well aware people, regulations won’t be necessary

Start with a strategy and push it (especially by the mayor), if you want to achieve something

Provide more data and inputs, through several models, before making plans.

Further examples and thoughts from THINKNATURE Paris forum

Main thoughts of the session: • Several good practices including NBS

requirement into legal planning mechanisms, most of them coming from Third countries or EU Northern countries (i.e. NL obligates to have water storage on rooftops, Bilbao imposed a minimum of green areas in its master plan)

• There are often conflicting regulations (EU directives, national directives, local directives) Sometimes conflicting rules apply within a same city.

Example from local regulation – top down

From the partnership: Bologna and Zagreb

Zagreb:

• The spatial plan of the city (2018) defines that new parks within urban areas will be shaped in accordance with the natural features of the area and equipped according to the needs of the inhabitants of the settlement and will normally provide 5 m2 of park area per inhabitant.

Bologna:

• Building urban code related with soil permeability; indeed the minimum permeability should be ensured through the calculation of a specific indicator of reduced building impact (RIE).

• Emilia Romagna region just released the new urban planning law (Regional law 24/2017) where the former quantitative minimum legal requirements for green areas has been implemented considering a wider and more qualitative point of view.

London and Toronto

Toronto:

• Green Roof By Law established that green Roofs are required on: New commercial, institutional and residential development with a minimum gross floor area of 2,000 m² New additions to commercial, institutional and residential development where the new gross floor area added is greater than 2,000 m² Industrial buildings greater than 2,000 m² gross floor area

London:

• Green roofs (living roofs) and green walls (living walls) have, over the last decade, become the most obvious manifestation of urban greening in London. This has been driven by the ambitious and pioneering Living Roofs and Walls Policy which was first introduced into the London Plan in 2008 following the publication in that year of a technical report, Living Roofs and Walls, supporting the policy.

Bristol The Bristol’s Park and Green Space strategy set the Green Space Standard composed by:

Quality standard – a level of quality which all spaces should attain

Distance standard - how far should people have to travel to reach a particular type of space.

Quantity standard - how much green space of different types there should be.

Planning NBS- overview of 2 case studies

Bologna

Barcelona

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

HYBRID NSBs

ECOSYSTEM-BASED

NBSs and GREEN

INFRASTRUCTURES

Scale

Impact P

ha

se

Multiple Single

Small (building) Medium (district) Large (city, landscape)

Pla

nnnig

and

imple

menta

tion

Evalu

ation a

nd

assessm

ent

De Luca et al. 2018

Participatory approaches – bottom-up

Participatory processes: Bologna Bologna: participatory budgeting and neighbourhood labs

Participatory processes: Barcelona Bologna: Decidim process and platform

Conclusion

Conclusion - from theory to practice

• Normative and regulation are really strong

tool to support further implementation and

systematization of NBSs

• Need to change the approach and the

mentality within local authorities

• Regulation against guidelines

• Monitoring plan, strategies and criteria are fundamental to achieve the scope – very good plans and strategies are often ineffective

• Innovative governance and participatory methods can also boost NBS – there is an increasing request for greener and healthier cities from citizens

Thank you for your attention! [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

nbs/gi policies on different levels · 14.2.1 proportion of national ... sustainable development...

Documents