Urban nature has the potential to provide many benefits for society and the environment. As an example, urban green and blue can reduce the negative impacts of heat waves and heavy rainfall events. This makes the creation and protection of urban spaces for nature indispensable in the context of the climate and biodiversity crises.
Underutilised spaces such as brownfields, abandoned industrial areas, oversized roads and parking lots as well as roofs and facades of buildings offer a unique opportunity to increase the share of urban nature. However, such transformations are often associated with challenges.
The City of Chemnitz, upcoming cultural capital of Europe, in cooperation with Climate Alliance and Ecologic Institute invites you to a two-day conference on how to achieve such a green transition in cities. Topics include: enabling policy and governance frameworks, identification of key actors within city administrations, how to foster cross-sectoral collaboration and citizen participation, financing options, managing conflicts of interest and potential trade-offs between green and grey options for different stakeholders. The conference targets municipal actors and practitioners interested in tapping into the potential of underutilised areas to expand urban nature.
Programme
Join us and other municipal representatives at the Pentagon3 in Chemnitz for two days of keynote presentations, pitch sessions, interactive workshops (day 1) and field trips (day 2)!
| DAY 1 | 11 May 2023 | Moderator: McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow, Ecologic Institute | |
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9:00 - 9:30 |
Registration |
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9:30 - 9:35 |
Conference opening: Welcome to the City of Chemnitz! Börries Butenop, Head of City Planning Office, City of Chemnitz |
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9:35 - 9.40 |
Introduction: Ecologic Institute |
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9:40 -9:55 |
Local situation: Florian Etterer, Green Space Department, City of Chemnitz |
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9:55 - 10:15 |
Keynote 1: Dusty Gedge, President of the European Federation of Green Roof & Green Wall Associations |
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10:15- 10:35 |
Keynote 2: Using brownfield restoration to increase urban nature: the example of the Emscher Landschaftspark Dr. Anne Budinger, Team Manager Project Development, Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR) |
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10:35 - 11:00 |
Urban nature lounge Audience discussion with keynote speakers |
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11:00 - 11:15 |
Coffee break |
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11:15 - 11:30 |
Signing ceremony: |
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11:30 - 12:30 |
Pitch session: Urban nature stories |
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12:30 - 13:30 |
Lunch break |
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13:30 - 14:45 |
Workshop session 1
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14:45 - 15:00 |
Coffee break |
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15:00 - 16:15 |
Workshop session 2
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16:15 - 16:45 |
Workshop summaries |
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16:45 - 17:00 |
Conference closing |
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19:00 |
Get-together with the European Creative Rooftop Network (ECRN) |
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9:00 - 15.00 (lunch pack will be provided) |
Field trips to visit different green transformation initiatives under development by the city of Chemnitz:
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Workshops
Workshop session 1 | Day 1 | 13.30 – 14.45
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Workshop A | English, German & Spanish |
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Ecosystem service assessment This workshop focuses on an integrated assessment of ecosystem services at a city-wide scale using three different case studies. After a short introduction to ecosystem services and the assessment approach, the workshop participants will discuss and assess the priorities of different ecosystem services for their chosen case study in order to obtain the best result for their case.
Dr. Isabel Melo, Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute Dr. Sara Maestre-Andrés and Dr. Johannes Langemeyer, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
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Workshop B | English |
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Turning parking spaces into parks Roads and car parks occupy large amounts of urban space. Yet, in the context of the climate crisis, it will be increasingly necessary to reduce motorised private transport. Repurposing this transportation infrastructure provides an opportunity for bringing nature back into the city. However, processes of transforming grey into green infrastructures are often accompanied by conflicts of interest. In this workshop, two cities present how they convert(ed) a parking space into a park. Participants will learn what framework conditions are necessary for such processes, what possibilities a city administration has to initiate and implement grey-to-green transformations, and which arguments can be effective for convincing politicians and residents.
Xavier Romero Hidalgo, City of Granollers Kathrin Kneita, City of Chemnitz |
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Silo busting with nature-based solutions The work within city administrations is organised around the daily business and tasks within the respective departments. However, projects involving urban nature involve shared responsibilities, and require input of know-how from different departments and stakeholders. This workshop explores how nature-based solutions can most effectively be implemented in your city, using a project-logic rather than a classic line organisation approach. This workshop will undertake a business simulation using Lego® to transform predefined conventional quarters into multi-functional neighbourhoods.
Sarah Arnold, Climate Protection Manager, City of Chemnitz Doris Knoblauch, Coordinator Urban & Spatial Governance, Ecologic Institute |
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Workshop D (part 1) | English |
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What does nature mean to us – exploring our connection to and with urban nature Stories help us to communicate and share experiences. They connect us – to our families, our communities, and to the places in which we live. Stories give shape to living, they draw on our memories, capture our present, and give us means to imagine our future.
Dimitra Xidous, EM | Path |
Workshop session 2 | Day 1 | 15.00 – 16.15
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Workshop E | English & Spanish |
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Policy instruments to successfully implement nature-based solutions Nature-based solutions (NBS) are multifunctional and cost-effective solutions that can deliver greener and more inclusive cities. To achieve this potential, it is critical to mainstream NBS into policy and planning processes. During this workshop, participants will familiarise themselves with a diverse range of policy instruments that support urban NBS and ecosystem restoration, all featured within the INTERLACE Urban Governance Atlas. Building on these good practice examples, an interactive discussion using an agile approach will follow. Discussion topics include: instruments’ characteristics, scales and potential synergies (policy mix), and challenges for their implementation.
Natalia Burgos Cuevas, Researcher, Ecologic Institute |
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Workshop F | English & German |
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How to strategically revive city partnerships using urban nature Use urban nature to revive existing city partnerships! Many cities are connecting to one or more municipalities across Europe or the globe via twinning partnerships. At the same time, urban nature is a topic that is high on the agenda of many municipalities, looking at how it can be used to alleviate the climate crisis, to maintain and increase biodiversity, and/or as a recreational space that their citizens are able to relate to and learn from. In this workshop we aim to inspire participants to develop strategies around using urban nature initiatives as a new focus of ongoing or reinvigorated city partnership exchanges.
Marie Kleeschulte and Svenja Schuchmann, Climate Alliance Municipal example (tba) |
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Workshop C (part 2) | English & German |
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Silo busting with nature-based solutions Continuation of the workshop (see above). |
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Workshop D (part 2) | English |
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What does nature mean to us – exploring our connection to and with urban nature Continuation of the workshop (see above). |