Nature close-by - Flanders

‘Nature close-by’ (Natuur in je Buurt) is a 2016 project call from the Agency for Nature and Forests (ANB) of the Flemish government in the Belgium to subsidise, encourage and support greening projects in (semi) urban settings. The financial instrument offers financial support to projects that provide an increase in net green elements or improve existing natural quality in urban areas, with the aim of maintaining these areas for at least 10 years after implementation. The main goal is to contribute to the realisation of a nature-based solutions with clear benefits for biodiversity and society. In this way, the projects contribute to the resilience and robustness of Flemish nature and serve a social or economic purpose. Large proposals (requesting more than €15.000) are to submit a project with a clear focus on a predefined social need. Proposals can be submitted by governments, associations, organisations and coalitions.

Overview

Type of instrument:

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

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Soil quality
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Watershed restoration/water quality
Drought and fire risk
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Heat stress and heat island effect
Social cohesion
Nature appropriation / stewardship
Human health, comfort and well-being

Challenges addressed depend per submitted project

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

All projects should set the objective to realise a nature-based solution. The effectiveness is evaluated by a jury. Generally, the project call recognizes that greening projects in urban areas contribute to social cohesion, human well-being and health, climate resilience, reducing the heat island effect, etc. Each proposal is embedded in their own local context and addresses different challenges. For larger proposals (> €15.000), a clear social need of challenge should be linked to the proposal and is part of the evaluation criteria. The project call recently implemented the obligation to choose a pre-defined thematic focus, e.g. health, recreation, water management and climate adaptation. Some examples of projects that address multiple challenges include: “Genk - Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg'' (2019), a project that wants to connect care, city and nature on the campus of a hospital; “Het Snoezelbos Wintam - Sociaal Huis Bornem” (2020), a newly designed nature park for people from residential care centres; ”Limburg - Beleef de Ecocampus Diepenbeek” (2021), a plan for an ecological school campus; and “De Gruune Steen - WADI natuur XXL”(2021) a project that transforms wadi’s into a place to experience and enjoy nature.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Allotments, community gardens or agricultural areas

Green areas for water management

Derelict areas

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Support multifunctional NBS

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

(Flemish) Agency for Nature and Forests

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The financial instrument was designed internally within the Flemish Agency for Nature and Forest and the project call started as a competition to encourage cities, communities and provinces to realise ecological projects, and learn more about these topics in doing so. The call was adapted in 2019 to accommodate the Flemish demands and reality of being a densely populated and built region. This broadened the scope from addressing ecological challenges to also targeting social and economic challenges.

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The Flemish Agency for Nature and Forest launches a call for new projects on a yearly basis. Local governments, public sector institutions and schools, associations, organisations and coalitions are invited to submit proposals. A jury assesses the quality of the proposals and evaluates the sustainability of the project according to a Planet-People-Profit approach. For ‘planet’, the ecological components and the relevant ecosystem services are assessed. Within ‘people’, an assessment is made of how stakeholders that are not partners of the project are involved. ‘Profit’ evaluates the economic aspects and the durability of the project, such as the investments and management of the project (including of the natural components). The jury consists of members of different governmental bodies and also functions as a knowledge sharing opportunity, which is appreciated by the jury members and results in a richer evaluation process. The evaluation of the proposals are presented to the Minister of Environment, who makes the final decision on which projects receive funding. When submissions are approved and the finance is acknowledged, projects are to start within a year and be finalised within 3 years.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Citizen councils or consultation for co-planning (e.g. workshops, surveys)

Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Targeted actors:

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

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Coalition, please specify

Local governments

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public regional budget

Budget:

Above 10 000 000€

Details about instrument financing:

In 2022, 24 projects were approved for a total of €1.5 million. Interested parties can apply for two types of funding. First, if the requested funding is above €15,000 then ‘Nature close-by’ will fund 75% of the project budget up to a maximum of €100,000. Second, if the requested funding is above or equal to €3,000 then ‘Nature close-by’ will fund 75% of the project budget up to a maximum of €15,000. The first type of projects must address a social need, which is not obligatory for the second category of projects.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

After the project has been completed within 3 years, a report is requested from the project partners consisting of a financial report and an overview of how the initial project has been implemented and what changes have been made. The project also receives an on-site visit from the Flemish Agency for Nature and Forests and, once both the financial report and the on-site report have been approved, the project receives its final payment.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Yes

The call for projects is evaluated every year by the Flemish Agency for Nature and Forests, and any necessary changes are made to the rules or evaluation criteria. For example, there has been an increase in the number of qualitative projects, as more thought is given to the projects before they are submitted.

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

In the period from 2019 to 2021, 72 submitted projects were accepted and funded by ‘Nature close-by’. In 2022, a total of 24 projects were approved, representing an increase of 90 hectares of nature in Flemish cities.

Success factors and lessons learned:

To ensure locally appropriate solutions, the instrument obligates applicants to specify a clear societal need that their project will address which also forms an important element of the evaluation criteria. Furthermore, the call requires the implementation of a project to last at least 10 years, contributing to long-term initiatives. Moreover, this is a recurrent call which allows interested parties to apply on a regular basis and increase the scope of impacts on urban nature over time.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Agency for Nature and Forest (2022) Projectoproep Natuur in je Buurt. Available at https://natuurenbos.vlaanderen.be/subsidies/subsidies-inrichting-van-natuur/projectoproep-natuur-je-buurt#toc-nuttige-informatie (accessed on 28-09-2022)

Agency for Nature and Forest (2022) Reglement projectoproep Natuur in je Buurt 2022. Available at https://natuurenbos.vlaanderen.be/sites/default/files/documenten/infobundel%20projectsubsidie%20natuur_2022_LR_V2.pdf (accessed on 28-09-2022)

Agency for Nature and Forest (2022) Projectoproep Natuur in je Buurt - Weerhouden projecten. Available at https://natuurenbos.vlaanderen.be/projectoproep-natuur-je-buurt-weerhouden-projecten (accessed on 28-09-2022)

Weliswaar (2021) 'Iedereen wordt beter van meer natuur in de zorg'. Available at https://weliswaar.be/welzijnsgroen (accessed on 28-09-2022)

HLN (2022) 32 hectare extra natuur in West-Vlaamse dorpskernen. Available at https://www.hln.be/kortrijk/32-hectare-extra-natuur-in-west-vlaamse-dorpskernen~adf81da2/ (accessed on 28-09-2022)

Further documents

Weblinks:

https://natuurenbos.vlaanderen.be/subsidies/subsidies-inrichting-van-natuur/proj…

https://natuurenbos.vlaanderen.be/subsidies/subsidies-inrichting-van-natuur/subs…

Photos

@T.Linster