Nature in the City

Earlier this week, I attended the first annual Nature in the City conference hosted by Sciences Po (Paris), focusing on ‘Harnessing Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) for Resilient and Sustainable Cities.’ While all tracks presented compelling discussions, I was particularly drawn to those on urban planning and community-led blue infrastructure. The morning commenced with a keynote address by Professor Vanesa Castan Broto of the University of Sheffield, who explored Urban Transformations from the Bottom Up. Following this, Sharon Gil from UNEP provided real-world examples illustrating the need to connect innovation with community needs. A central message from the keynote was the crucial interplay between innovation and the fight against climate injustice. Professor Castán Broto highlighted that groundbreaking solutions often emerge from communities most impacted by environmental challenges, even in marginalised or resource-limited areas, underscoring the importance of paying attention to mundane innovation initiatives in driving sustainable urban development.

Day One

The first day featured a diverse program with parallel sessions exploring various facets of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS). Key themes included:

• Cross-disciplinary Perspectives: Analysing NbS from diverse cultural and scientific viewpoints.

• Global and Local Governance: Exploring the integration of NbS into local adaptation strategies and regional climate action plans under local climate conditions [ Gaby Hansen (Schmidbauer)]

• Implementation Challenges: Examining the practical aspects of implementing urban greening policies and NbS projects [Carolina Rojas Quezada].

• Case Studies: Exploring successful and unsuccessful examples of building local Nature-based Solutions projects with co-benefits for the environment, society, and biodiversity [ Philip Roche].

Due to the different tracks, I could only attend six presentations. Still, despite their diverse geographic and thematic focuses, all of them strongly resonated with the keynote's emphasis on the need for context-specific and bottom-up approaches. These presentations highlighted the critical importance of:

• Cross-cultural perspectives: Recognising the diverse values and knowledge systems surrounding nature [Priscila Franco Steier].

• Local ownership: Ensuring local communities are actively involved in the planning and implementing NbS projects [Alexandra Tsatsou].

• Addressing social and environmental justice: Prioritising the needs of vulnerable communities and mitigating potential negative impacts (by listening to the needs of the communities) [Marta Vicarelli].

The day concluded with a meaningful outdoor audiovisual performance by Carmen Bouyer, which connected us with the building we had spent the day in. The performative walk explored the historical relationship between the city of Paris and its surrounding landscape and the ongoing influence of nature on the lives of its inhabitants (on campus, in the community, and the city).

Day Two

Like the first, the second day’s morning program offered a rich array of sessions highlighting the crucial role of integrated city planning. For example, Track 1 explored the use of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) for disaster risk reduction, Track 2 focused on ensuring the inclusivity of NbS projects in marginalised communities, and Track 3 looked at different frameworks for building alternative visions and scenarios for managing nature in cities. These diverse tracks underscored the critical need for:

• Context-specific solutions: Anna Taylor demonstrated how different strategies can address groundwater depletion, highlighting the importance of a multi-faceted approach for communicating the importance of responsible groundwater management.

• Meaningful community engagement: Arvind Lakshmisha highlighted the persistent gap between the aspirations for inclusive NbS and their actual implementation, echoing the keynote speech from the first day on the importance of local communities and their potential for mundane innovation.

• Grassroots action: Garret Gantner showed how successful projects in Rwanda can drive change through community-led initiatives and network building, which align closely with the concept (“ripples”) of the New European Bauhaus.”

This approach, characterised by “ripples of change,” is also evident in Tannya Pico's work in Quito, Ecuador, where the local communities are creating small green oases in their neighbourhoods to improve the quality of life by having green spaces. The importance of context-specific solutions was further emphasised in Francesca Ferlicca’s and Cassandre Rey-Thibault’s presentations by showing the shifting approaches to Flood Risk Management in a North-South Comparison of Nature-Based Solutions in Boston (USA) and Buenos Aires (Brazil).

CLOSING PLENARY

The theoretical part of the day concluded with a keynote address by Professor Thomas Elmqvist on ‘How Nature May Help Solve Challenges for Cities and Citizens.’ Professor Elmqvist introduced an alternative concept of diversity, emphasising the importance of functional diversity over absolute species diversity. When designing urban ecosystems for sustainability, he argued that focusing on the range of functions species perform within an ecosystem is more effective than simply maximising the number of species. In this framework, sustainability efforts should prioritise maximising species contributions that perform the most critical functions for a given area.

This concept of prioritising functional diversity resonates with principles observed in other fields, such as finance. For example, in portfolio diversification, investors prioritise assets with different risk profiles to minimise overall portfolio risk. Both approaches prioritise efficiency and resilience by optimising the distribution of key contributors to minimise systemic failure, whether in financial markets or ecosystems. This analogy underscores how strategies in ecology and economics can inform one another, highlighting the interdisciplinary value of concepts like functional diversity.”

SITE VISITS

The event concluded with two site excursions, and I participated in the visit to Place de Catalogne, an urban forest project organized by Ville de Paris, PARIS NATURE - Ville de Paris - Espaces verts et environnement :

• 14th arrondissement: From a stony roundabout to an urban forest, Place de Catalogne

• 18th arrondissement: when Rue de la Chapelle becomes a planted promenade

The guided tour provided valuable insights into the planning and implementation process of the urban forest, which features a diverse range of trees, shrubs, and ground cover, creating a vibrant and biodiverse ecosystem within the city.

The transformation was remarkable, even in winter. Stepping from a busy Parisian street into the unexpected calm of the urban forest was a truly inspiring experience; I wouldn't have thought that such a small distance, of only a few meters, could make such a difference. I can only imagine how this space will evolve and enhance the neighbourhood's well-being in the coming years.

Lastly, I would like to thank Tommaso Vitale for his hospitality and Francesca Ferlicca for the excellent organisation of the event. I truly hope that this was the first of many annual events, and that the Urban School of Sciences Po continues to organize annual meetings, bringing scientists together to discuss NbS and exchange ideas on how Urban Planning can contribute to creating more livable and resilient cities in the face of climate change.

Link: Book of Abstracts - https://www.sciencespo.fr/ecole-urbaine/sites/sciencespo.fr.ecole-urbaine/files/Nature%20in%20the%20City%20Annual%20event%202024%20Book%20of%20abstract.pdf