A new open access publication analyses 2.5 years of citizen engagement methodologies to implement urban-greening measures (also known as 'co-creation of nature-based solutions'), providing evidence that EU pilot projects are helping co-creation to become more widespread, structured and institutionalised.

The paper "Co-creation Pathway for Urban Nature-Based Solutions: Testing a Shared-Governance Approach in Three Cities and Nine Action Labs", authored by Israa Mahmoud and Eugenio Morello from the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Politecnico di Milano, examines cities' practical experiences with co-creation, including the experiences of ICLEI Member Hamburg (Germany).

The results reinforce how involving citizens in the co-implementation of urban-greening initiatives brings concrete benefits not only for the environment, but also for society, such as by enhancing social cohesion, building local identity, increasing citizens’ senses of safety and security, and increasing inclusivity in decision-making for urban transformation.

There are, nevertheless, practical challenges to embedding participatory processes into urban planning practices and bringing them to local authorities’ headquarters. For instance, breaking silos in decision-making procedures and managing the costs of continuous back-and-forth dialogue between owners, authorities, and stakeholders is demanding in terms of effort, time and money. Those responsible for the implementation of nature-based solutions tend to avoid sharing decisions with the public to reduce conflicts and delays.

Despite the many potential obstacles, the paper shows that co-creation is worth the effort. "If applied from the very beginning and with all stakeholders, co-creation can give a boost to urban regeneration processes", state the authors.

"Although NBS are lately gaining a widespread consensus among researchers and are supported by the European Commission funding schemes with a remarkable outreach, there is a further need to formalise their impacts and potentials with a multitude of actors and implementation mechanisms, taking into account the variety of NBS types, scales and applications", concludes the study.

The paper was published as a chapter of the book "Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions", part of Springer’s Green Energy and Technology book series. It draws specifically on knowledge from the CLEVER Cities project, in which ICLEI Europe is a partner.

For more information, read the full article here.