Greening Hannover - Hannover

"Greening Hannover" (Begrüntes Hannover) is a 2012-2022 subsidy programme for greening buildings and minimising land use (e.g. unsealing of asphalted and concreted courtyard areas that are no longer needed in Hannover, Germany. The subsidy is coordinated by the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland - Hannover Region (BUND - a registered German association) and the Environment and Urban Greening Department of the state capital of Hannover acting as the funding cooperationpartner. Together with the state capital of Hannover the funding principles were drawn up and project processes were coordinated. The aim is to create incentives for individuals to green their environments and thereby transform as many barren house walls, grey roofs and asphalted areas into green areas throughout the city as possible. Target groups include private homeowners and landowners, tradesmen property owners, tradespeople, housing companies/cooperatives and multipliers (e.g. architects, specialist firms). In the longer term, house and land owners are to be motivated to carry out greening (on buildings) and unsealing without financial support. Since May 2013, all house and landowners, housing associations and building communities have been able to apply to the BUND for a subsidy for green roofs and facades. In 2017, the project was expanded to include the unsealing of areas like inner courtyards and driveways, thereby creating new green areas.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Economic and fiscal instruments›Payments as rewards/for ecosystem services, subsidies, incentives

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Air quality
Noise
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The Greening Hannover program takes nature-based solutions into consideration when it comes to greening buildings and including nature into existing grey infrastructures. The program allocates subsidies to projects that build green roofs, green walls, facades or that unseal previously sealed soil surfaces.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Support multifunctional NBS

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Innovative

Inclusivity

Governance

Non-governmental actor(s)

Initiating body:

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND), Kreisgruppe Region Hannover and the Department of the Environment and Urban Green Space of the state capital of Hannover were the initiating bodies of the program. The BUND acts as a grantee of the instrument receiving the funds of the the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). Whereas the state capital of Hannover, involved in the development of funding principles and the project processes, is the cooperationpartner of the BUND.

Targeted actors:

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Details about the implementation:

Land and building owners or other genuine beneficiaries with the owner's declaration of consent are eligible to apply for the subsidy. Funding is available for greening and unsealing buildings on private, public (with the exception of municipal) and commercial properties in Hannover. As a contact partner, the BUND project team advises on the funding requirements, possible greening measures and the application process. Furthermore, the BUND also provides information material and a list of specialist companies and accepts applications, checks the completed measures and disburses the subsidies.

How did the government support the instrument?:

The state capital of Hanover is funding greening of buildings continuously since 2012 with annually under 100000 Euros. The region Hannover, an authority with the tasks of a district administration, expanded the funding framework to surface unsealings with the "Greening Hannover" program since 2017 contributing annually under 200000 Euros. Since 2020, the state capital of Hannover has therefore only provided funding for unsealing measures. The state capital of Hannover is the cooperation partner of the BUND and is involved in the development of the funding principles and the project processes.

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public regional budget

Budget:

Unknown

Details about instrument financing:

The project is funded by the state capital of Hanover the region Hanover, the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), the Sparkasse Hannover and by proKlima. For facade greening, funding of up to 3500 Euros is possible per application; for roof greening or unsealing activities, funding up to 10000 Euros can be financed. Until 2020, 124000 Euros were provided. For 2022 200000 Euros in funding is available.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

More than 18000 square meters of roof surfaces and various facades have been newly greened through the subsidy and 1800 square meters of unnecessarily sealed surfaces (e.g. in courtyards) are to be reopened and re-vegetated. Around 33% of the 48 funded green roofs were located on single-family houses and garages/carports. A total of 11 unsealing activities have been promoted, with an upward trend.

Success factors and lessons learned:

Contacting the large number of homeowners through their organization ´Haus und Grundeigentum Hannover e. V.´ with its member magazine ´WohnArt´ and directly approaching the large housing associations has proven to be particularly effective - both in terms of building greening and unsealing. Yet despite intensive advertising, green facades were only installed seven times after 23 on-site consultations. During the implementation of the programme, it became visible that there is a need to catch up in terms of knowledge about the sensible combination with solar systems. Furthermore, as long as the subsidy only supports the comparatively low investment costs and does not consider the maintenance costs of large green areas, it is not a sufficient incentive to intensively green facades that can contribute to improving the microclimate and enhance urban biodiversity.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Hannover.de. Begrüntes Hannover. Available at: https://www.hannover.de/Leben-in-der-Region-Hannover/Umwelt-Nachhaltigkeit/Naturschutz/Mehr-Natur-in-der-Stadt/Projekte-f%C3%BCr-%E2%80%9EMehr-Natur-in-der-Stadt%E2%80%9C/Begr%C3%BCntes-Hannover (Accessed: 13.09.2022)

BUND - BUND für Naturschutz und Umwelt in Deutschland. Begrüntes Hannover. Available at: https://bund-region-hannover.de/bund-aktiv/begruentes-hannover/ (Accessed: 13.09.2022) Una.city. Greening Hannover. Available at: https://una.city/nbs/hannover/greening-hannoverhttps://una.city/nbs/hannover/greening-hannover (Accessed: 13.09.2022)

Hannover.de. Gut für die Artenvielfalt und das Kleinklima: Geld für Gründächer | Förderprogramme im Klimaschutz | Beratung und Förderung | Klimaschutz & Energie | Umwelt | Leben in der Region Hannover. Available at: https://www.hannover.de/Leben-in-der-Region-Hannover/Umwelt-Nachhaltigkeit/Klimaschutz-Energie/Beratung-und-F%C3%B6rderung/F%C3%B6rderprogramme-im-Klimaschutz/Gut-f%C3%BCr-die-Artenvielfalt-und-das-Kleinklima-Geld-f%C3%BCr-Gr%C3%BCnd%C3%A4cher (Accessed at: 13.09.2022)

Photos

@hannover-entdecken.de