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Environment

Urban Nature Platform

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Urban Nature Platform

Supporting towns and cities in restoring nature and biodiversity

Objectives

This platform aims to provide guidance and knowledge to support of towns and cities in enhancing and restoring their urban nature and biodiversity, along with links to other relevant European Commission initiatives and policies.

Urban Nature Plan Guidance and Toolkit

As part of the Biodiversity Strategy -  in order to bring nature back to cities and reward community action - the Commission called on European towns and cities of at least 20,000 inhabitants to “..develop ambitious Urban Greening Plans” (now called Urban Nature Plans) including “measures to create biodiverse and accessible urban forests, parks and gardens; urban farms; green roofs and walls; treelined streets; urban meadows; and urban hedges.”

This guidance aims to support local authorities in achieving this objective. It has been developed in collaboration with Eurocities and ICLEI, and is based on discussion with many local authorities that have already gone through the process of developing and implementing successful urban nature plans.

It stresses the importance of the collaborative process of developing an urban nature plan, including the need for working with citizens and other stakeholders, and for cross-departmental working and integration of the nature plan with other aspects of urban development, from mobility and health, air and water, to energy and climate adaptation.

An Urban Nature Plan is not a stand alone document, it is a long term framework and strategy to ensure that towns and cities grow greener in the future.

You can find the draft Urban Nature Plan Guidance here.

The draft Urban Nature Plan Toolkit will be available shortly

These documents are currently in draft format. The finalised versions will be translated and published here shortly. (Please note the document still uses the term 'Urban Greening Plans' but this will shortly be changed to 'Urban Nature Plans')

Urban greening plan cycle steps: Secure a long-term political commitment; Establish a working structure; Establish a co-creation process; Develop long-term vision and goals; Analyse the current state of nature and biodiversity Set indicators and targets; Agree on priorities, actions, responsibilities, timelines, and financing; Develop a communication, education, and public awareness strategy; Establish a monitoring, reporting, and evaluation system; Adopt, publish and implement the plan

Urban nature plan cycle steps: (1) Political commitment; (2) Working structure; (3) Co-creation process; (4) Long-term vision and goals; (5) Current state of nature and biodiversity; (6) Indicators and targets; (7) Priorities, actions, responsibilities, timelines, and financing; (8) Communication, education, and public awareness strategy; (9) Monitoring, reporting, and evaluation system; (10) Adopt, publish and implement the plan

Related Policies and Initiatives

See links here to other European Commission flagship policies and initiatives that have a strong urban nature and biodiversity element.

European Green Capital logo

The European Commission's Green Capital Awards recognise and reward local efforts to improve the environment, and thereby the economy and the quality of life in cities.

Green City Accord_small

A European Commission initiative to make cities greener, cleaner and healthier.

Air
EU actions to improve air quality and reduce air pollution.
Circular economy visual
The EU’s transition to a circular economy to make Europe cleaner, resource-efficient, and more competitive.
The Covenant of Mayors
The Covenant of Mayors is the world's largest movement for local climate and energy actions.

Knowledge hub

Find links here to some of the most useful knowledge hubs relating to sustainable and green cities: 

Finance

The EU and the Commission provide support through a wide range of funding programmes, covering funding opportunities as well as advice on how to access funding and put it to use. See here for more information: 

European Investment Bank (EIB) report on nature-based solutions (NBS):Investing in nature-based solutions. State-of-play and way forward for public and private financial measures in Europe – this report investigates financial barriers and opportunities for the scaling-up of green actions that protect or restore natural ecosystems, while mitigating threats to society, such as floods, coastal erosion, and overheating cities.

Networking

Check back here soon for future events, workshops and other networking opportunities to discuss urban nature and biodiversity, and urban greening plans with other EU partners. If you have any events you would like to share here, please send them to ENV-GREENCITIESatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ENV-GREENCITIES[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Publications