Map of opportunities and city safari - Breda

The Map of Opportunities is a knowledge and innovation instrument created by citizens, communities and other local stakeholders together with experts around the GreenQuays project area in the Breda city centre (Netherlands), where the river Mark will be daylighted again. In other words, the previously buried watercourse will be opened up again and restored to more natural conditions. The resultant map shows (a) the identified problems due to the lack of urban greenspace and climate change impacts and (b) opportunities for improvement from a citizen / local stakeholder perspective. As the daily users of the space, citizens contribute valuable specific experience and knowledge. The first version of the map is a result of a first City Safari. Here, residents, local architects from the area, education-related person, representatives from housing corporations, and experts walked together and stopped at different places, where they checked and discussed the options to boost NBS in the city based on citizens' experiences and perception and expert's knowledge. The work on the Map of Opportunities was continued in further co-creation workshops with the local stakeholders and experts. The map has been taken up as a supportive tool to be used by the urban planning and other departments of the municipality as well as for planning and actions of the regional health service and the regional water board. This is thus a unique instrument that began as a bottom-up innovation instrument to collect local knowledge and perspectives, and was formalized by the local government upon completion.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Knowledge, communication and innovation instruments›Knowledge and/or innovation

Challenges addressed

Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The pilot action supports the creation / upgrading of NBS around a river stretch of 175m, which is scalable. In a multi-functional approach, the area shall also support climate change adaptation, health, social interaction and other functions of nature-based solutions. It will also increase societal awareness by ongoing co-creation processes.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Blue areas

Green areas for water management

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

Policy business case

Inclusivity

Governance

Non-governmental actor(s)

Initiating body:

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The instrument was designed by the non-governmental organisation BLASt, as a partner of the GreenQuays project led by Breda municipality in the Netherlands. Its development was supported by nature-related NGOs (The Baronie Area Federation of Nature Associations / RAVON), researchers from Wageningen University, experts of the regional waterboard and the health service.

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Details about the implementation:

Implementation was supported by the NGOs, researchers from Wageningen University, experts of the regional water board and the health service. The instrument informs the urban planning and management of the urban area, action of other stakeholders and services related to nature, health and water. It is supporting co-creation processes with citizens and local communities, which is in particular relevant for the ongoing design of the GreenQuays project, the New river Mark revitalisation project as well as the city’s strategy to become a city in Park. Here, citizens’ needs, knowledge and ideas are included enabling a better fit and feeling of ownership, which will be valuable for the maintenance of established NBS. Furthermore, the activity spreads knowledge on NBS, which citizens and others can apply to private areas. In this way, the instrument becomes supportive also for urban planning in other neighbourhoods, climate change adaptation planning, health planning, biodiversity, water management.

How did the government support the instrument?:

The development of the instrument happened as an integral part of the GreenQuays project, led by Breda municipality and co-financed by the European Union, Urban Innovative Action. In the development of the specific instrument, Breda municipality was one of the partners. The municipality is currently including the tool as one of the practical implementation tools of its municipal participation guidelines. These guidelines are approved by the city council and need to be considered when implementing new projects.

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public local authority’s budget

EU Funding

Budget:

Less than 50 000 €

Details about instrument financing:

The costs of the described pilot of the instrument have been around 6000 EUR. They have been pooled by BLASt and the contributing experts. The source of budget has been the broader GreenQuays project and each partner’s budget. The amount has been used for the preparation of the experts leading and contributing to the city safari and the workshops; the announcement of the event; workshop material, such as posters, post-its and similar; the workshop venue; and for designing the map of opportunity and its communication. Participants (citizens and other stakeholder) have not been paid.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

The instrument created increased awareness for the benefits and needs of nature-based solutions on both sides – experts and urban planners as well as citizens and other local stakeholders. It provides specific perspectives, local knowledge, and has thus revealed new insights for the experts while citizens developed a better understanding for boosting the use of NBS. The instrument identified problems and opportunities that would have been hardly discovered by expert knowledge only and generated new ideas such as hidden opportunities in courtyards, large roofs on a parking and the shopping centre or in a street, where the sewer had to be replaced anyway. The instrument is also a good example of how the implementation of collected ideas will be part of further decision-making processes of the municipality.

Success factors and lessons learned:

Success factors included the ties made in earlier in online and offline activities, treating the lay persons respectfully, and the experts' willingness to learn created an atmosphere of trust and better mutual understanding, thus, levering a higher creative potential than if experts would have worked on the topic in isolation. The residents themselves felt that they were taken seriously, and that their experiences were valued. The feeling of ownership will ensure high usability of the spaces and sustainable solutions. While it is not a legal instrument, the municipality of Breda has been involved in the development and has formally recognised the process and instrument. The instrument fits well in the long-established culture of participative engagement in Breda.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Breda municipality. (2022) GreenQuays. Available at) https://www.greenquays.nl/ (Accessed at 13/05/2022) Georgi, B. (2022). City safari and Map of opportunities – testing new co-creation forms in Breda. UIA initiative. online publication. Available at https://uia-initiative.eu/en/news/city-safari-and-map-opportunities-testing-new-cocreation-forms-breda (Accessed at 13/05/2022)

Interview(s):

BLAsT; Breda municipality, department Ruimtelijk Economisch Domein (Spatial Economy)

Photos

@T. van Beek