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Holscher, K.; Frantzeskaki, N.; Kindlon, D.; Collier, M.J.; Dick, G.; Dziuba"a, A.; Lodder, M.; Osipiuk, A.; Quartier, M.; Schepers, S.; Van De Sijpe, K.; van der Have, C., Embedding co-production of nature-based solutions in urban governance: Emerging co-production capacities in three European cities, Environmental Science and Policy, (152), 2024, p103652 ,
Notes: [This paper seeks to understand how co-production can become embedded as a collaborative governance practice by which city governments plan, deliver, and steward nature-based solutions. To these ends, the paper analyses how policy officers manifest capacities for co-production in three European cities " Genk (Belgium), Glasgow (United Kingdom), and Poznan " (Poland) " while experimenting with co-production to develop and scale nature- based solutions. Co-production capacities include conditions and activities to (1) create space for co-production, (2) safeguard inclusive and legitimate co-production, and (3) link co-production processes and results to contexts. The results demonstrate how policy officers in the three cities have mobilised and created resources, skills, institutional support, and partnerships to implement diverse processes to co-produce nature-based solutions. While these conditions mark starting changes in urban governance, engaging with and embedding co-production causes tensions between the dynamic and diffuse nature of co-production and existing formal governance settings and processes. Lessons for strengthening the capacities to embed co-production as a collaborative governance practice in nature-based solutions planning, delivery, and stewardship are: (1) embedding a tailor-made approach for inclusive co-production to meaningfully engage diverse actors in place-based settings, (2) embedding open-ended co-production with long-term benefits, and (3) embedding new relations and roles to sustain co- production.],
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Cooper, C.; Cunningham, N.; Bracken, L.J.; Collier, M.J., Distribution of Nature-based Solutions in cities across Europe, Land Use Policy, 141, 2024, p107160 ,
Notes: [Nature-based Solutions (NBS) is a conceptual framework that seeks to use properties of nature to co-produce ecosystem services to build climate change resilience and improve quality of life by mitigating the relationship between health inequality and socio-economic adversity. This study investigates how the distribution of these forms of urban nature relate to trends in demographic change and social and economic indicators that influence material aspects of quality of life (QoL) in cities. Using macro-scale spatial mapping and descriptive pattern identification, we examine the relationship of distribution trends in the key characteristics of NBS across European cities and social and material factors that influence QoL. Our findings suggest that less than 6% of NBS aim to address poverty or deprivation and fewer than 25% relate to housing or neighbourhood regeneration. We argue inattention to the complex intersectional relationship of socio-economic disparities, historical structural conditions, and the impact of changes to the structural policy on economic convergence across regions leading to the concept being used to address green-growth imperatives in Western Europe rather than mitigate inequalities across eastern and parts of Southern Europe. Failure to address these considerations in the design and deployment of NBS could lead to cities reinforcing or even worsening inequalities within deprived communities, particularly in these areas.],
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Rodriguez Castañeda, N.; Pineda-Pinto, M.; Gulsrud, N.M.; Cooper, C.; O"Donnell, M.; Collier, M.J., Exploring the restorative capacity of urban green spaces and their biodiversity through an adapted One Health approach: a scoping review, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 2024, p128489 ,
Notes: [The One Health framework was proposed by the World Health Organisation to explore human, animal, and environmental health interfaces using a holistic and interdisciplinary approach. Yet, the application of this framework to study urban green spaces has been poorly explored in the literature. As the amount of evidence on urban green spaces for citizens" health and well-being is increasing, the use of a One Health framework may contribute to understanding urban green spaces from a comprehensive, interrelated and multidisciplinary perspective that comprises people, biodiversity and the urban environment. To explore this gap in the literature, this study presents a scoping review which analysed 50 studies through an adapted version of the One Health framework, using the interfaces between human mental health, urban green spaces and urban biodiversity as analytical lenses. The review yielded three main findings: the restorative capacity of urban green spaces as a critical aspect of overall human health, the values of restorative capacity from having contact with urban biodiversity, and how ecological knowledge promotes biodiversity conservation in cities. This paper also discusses opportunities to continue expanding One Health by engaging with interdisciplinary discussions and cross-sectoral collaborations. We conclude with an invitation to explore and extend the One Health framework with respect to augmenting urban green spaces as restorative settings and valuing their capacity to contribute to public awareness of biodiversity and, in turn, contribute to improving human and environmental health in cities.],
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Pineda-Pinto, M.; Kennedy, C.; Nulty, F.; Collier, M.J., Leverage points for improving urban biodiversity conservation in the Anthropocene: A novel ecosystem lens for social-ecological transformation, Environmental Science and Policy, 162, 2024, p103926 ,
Notes: [Environmental governance faces persistent challenges worldwide, with traditional conservation and restoration policies often proving ineffective against ongoing environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. This is driven largely by complex regulatory procedures and an outdated understanding of ecosystem dynamics and change which often fail to effectively engage stakeholders or acknowledge the emergence and value of disturbed or novel ecosystems. This paper advocates for a paradigm shift in conventional environmental policy in the Global North to embrace ecological novelty and reevaluate conservation strategies, particularly within urban contexts. Drawing on case studies from Ireland, Australia, and the United States, it examines existing environmental legislation and identifies critical leverage points for transformative change utilizing a systems thinking and multispecies justice perspective. The findings highlight cross-cutting themes, similarities and differences across regions. We conclude with recommendations for alternative approaches to biodiversity conservation that account for the global redistribution of species and the prevalence of novel ecosystems. This may enable policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders to envision more flexible, nimble, and adaptive policy frameworks that strive toward mutual flourishing and address the evolving challenges of the Anthropocene.],
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Pineda-Pinto, M.; Collier, M.J.; Cooper, C.; O"Donnell, M.; Nulty, F.; Rodriguez Castañeda, N., Exploring urban novel ecosystems: understandings, insights and recommendations for future research and practice, Futures, 2024, p103487 ,
Notes: [Novel ecosystems are those that have been altered by human activities and have afterwards experienced abandonment or human disuse, allowing for a new assemblage of species to establish. In urban areas, these ecosystems, are commonly found in post-industrial sites, vacant lots, and other unmanaged spaces. The informality of these ecosystems, assumptions of their low ecological value, and associations with negative attributes continue to prevent recognition of their social-ecological value. Although research in the last decade has started to show the potential of novel ecosystems to address several challenges such as biodiversity loss, there remains a need to understand what areas of research are needed to progress our understanding of these ecosystems in urban areas. This paper uses a modified Delphi methodology, in which a panel of knowledge-holders provided their understandings and insights of urban novel ecosystems. Through this process, we distilled key questions for future research and practice that should drive the investigation of these wild ecosystems for improved decision-making. This study sets out recommendations on how to progress the research questions as part of urban transformative agendas in which urban novel ecosystems offer new possibilities for climate experimentation, social-ecological stewardship and biodiversity conservation.],
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Molloy, A.; Collier, M.J.; Buckley, Y.M., Identification and assessment of best practice in nature-based solutions for climate action and ecosystem restoration in Ireland, Final, Working paper #26, commissioned by the Climate Change Advisory Council, Ireland., 26, March, 2024, 39,
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Galle, N.; Brinton, W.; Vos, R.; Duarte, F.; Collier, M.J.; Ratti, C.; Pilla, F., Spatial variability of urban forest topsoil properties: towards representative and robust sampling design, Open Research Europe, 2023, p00 - 00,
Notes: [The use of EC testing as a baseline measure to determine spatial variation in the topsoil is proposed, to alleviate the financial implications of more expensive BSR testing. Factors of topsoil disturbance and soil access restrictions at sites with severe rootside walk conflicts and the overall generalizability of the results are also discussed.],
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Grey, T.; Xidous, D.; O'Neill, D.; Collier, M.J., Growing Older Urbanism: exploring the nexus between ageing, the built environment, and urban ecosystems, Urban Transformations, 5, 2023, p8 ,
Notes: [Background Some of the main urban issues we currently face include ageing populations, the impact of the built environment, and the treatment of urban ecosystems. Yet the dynamic relationships and synergies between these issues, and how they are influenced by urban growth and evolution, receive little attention. Research focus We explore the nexus between people, the urban built environment, and ecosystems as they grow, age, change, and evolve and propose an integrated approach to examine the relationships, synergies, and challenges that may emerge over time within urban neighbourhoods. We argue that this should draw on the lived-experience and wisdom of older people as part of an intergenerational approach underpinned by local, traditional, and ecological knowledge. We propose Growing Older Urbanism as an ecological, co-evolutionary, and complex-adaptive-systems-based framework to explore the nexus between ageing, the built environment, and urban ecosystems and to reveal the synergies and antagonisms that might exist between these three elements. This framework is designed to be used for various types of urban neighbourhoods, and by a diverse range of stakeholders. As part of this approach, we provide a preliminary visual canvas to illustrate how the framework might be used within a selected neighbourhood over an agreed timespan. Conclusion This paper presents some early thinking around the Growing Older Urbanism concept, while also outlining questions and a proposed transdisciplinary research programme to further develop the framework. We argue that understanding the relationship between ageing and the co-evolution of people, place, and ecosystems may teach us about our past, present, and future, and help us grow towards inclusive and sustainable communities.],
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Pineda-Pinto, M.; Kennedy, C.; Collier, M.J.; Cooper, C.; O'Donnell, M.; Nulty, F.; Rodriguez Castaneda, N., Finding justice in wild, novel ecosystems: a review through a multispecies lens, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 83, 2023, p127902 ,
Notes: [Though most cities, particularly in the Global North, have been intensely modified by human activities certain locations still exist in varied forms of abandonment or disinvestment, often allowing for new species assemblages to flourish. These urban novel ecosystems or informal wild spaces are often perceived as in-between or overlooked, calling into question their value and social-ecological role, while also creating tensions amongst different groups and stakeholders who share different visions for their use and management. Within these tensions, issues of justice and equity can be more pronounced and surface historic legacies of environmental contamination, inequitable development, and extraction. Despite this, very little is known about the social-ecological role informal wild spaces play in urban areas, and how best to interrogate and understand the equity and justice dimensions they elicit. To fill this gap in knowledge, this paper critically examines the literature on urban novel ecosystems in relation to justice, with a particular interest in multispecies justice. Through this analysis, gaps in the literature are exposed, while also arguing the informality, neglect and contestation of wild urban spaces provides opportunities to explore issues of access, benefits and harms, particularly in light of global climate and ecological crises. A systematic approach is utilized to search the literature, identifying 45 papers which are thematically analyzed under a justice lens. The study identifies three themes that thread throughout the literature: distributional injustices relate to perceptions and attitudes, which give rise or arise from injustices; the regeneration discourse focuses on a 'new nature', which is based on social-ecological displacement and devaluation; and the potential of urban wild spaces to generate new multispecies sensibilities. The paper concludes by discussing trends, gaps, and emerging discourses, and proposing a multispecies justice approach for urban planning through the learnings and engagement with urban wild, novel ecosystems.],
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Collier, M.J.; Frantzeskaki, N.; Connop, S.; Dick, G.; Dumitru, A.; Dziubała, A.; Fletcher, I.; Georgiou, P.; Hölscher, K.; Kooijman, E.; Lodder, M.; Madajczyk, N.; McQuaid, S.; Nash, C.; Osipiuk, A.; Quartier, M.; Reil, A.; Rhodes, M-L.; Rizzi, D.; Vandergert, P.; Van De Sijpe, K.; Vos, P.; Xidous, D., An integrated process for planning, delivery, and stewardship of urban nature-based solutions: the Connecting Nature Framework, Nature-Based Solutions, 3, 2023, p100060 ,
Notes: [Mainstreaming nature-based solutions in cities has grown in scale and magnitude in recent times but is still considered to be the main challenge for transitioning our cities and their communities to be more climate resilient and liveable: environmentally, economically, and socially. Furthermore, taking nature-based solutions to the next level, and scaling them out to all urban contexts to achieve a greater impact, is proving to be slow and often conflicts with other transitioning initiatives such as energy generation, mobility and transport initiatives, and infilling to combat sprawl. So, the task is neither easy nor straightforward; there are many barriers to this novel transition, especially when it comes to collaborative approaches to implementing nature-based solutions with diverse urban communities and within city authorities themselves. This paper reports on a new process that is systematically co-produced and captured as a framework for planning nature-based solutions that emerged during the Connecting Nature project. The Connecting Nature Framework is a three-stage, iterative process that involves seven key activity areas for mainstreaming nature-based solutions: technical solutions, governance, financing and business models, nature-based enterprises, co-production, reflexive monitoring, and impact assessment. The tested and applied framework is designed to address and overcome barriers to the implementation of nature-based solutions in cities via a co-created, iterative, and reflective approach. The planning process guided by the proposed framework has already yielded promising results with some of the cities of the project, though further usage and its adoption by other cities is needed to explore its potential in different contexts especially in the Global South. The paper concludes with suggestions on how this may be realised.],
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