The Urban Nature Atlas is a collection of more than 1000 inspiring nature-based solutions from European cities and beyond. 

Use the Quick Filter by selecting an icon or the Advanced Filter to identify specific nature-based solution projects of your interests. The map will be updated to show the results of your search, and a list of all relevant projects will be displayed below. Click on the title of the nature-based solutions to see further information. If you would like to remove a selected quick filter, click on it to reset.

 

Key challenges

Nature-based solution

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Bjerkedalen Park and Reopening of the Hovin River

Oslo, Norway

Bjerkedalen is a recently constructed park around the Hovin creek in Bjerke District. It is situated in the middle of a settlement block, which used to have few public spaces. The park now acts as a recreational area with lots of green space, a river and several facilities for outdoor activities. The construction of Bjerkedalen park incorporated the installment of several important blue-green structures and features such as planting native trees and plants along the river, providing open grassy areas as well as reopening the Hovin river from underground pipes, with the aim of improved water quality and flood prevention.(Ref. 2)
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Blackburn Meadows Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade

Sheffield, United Kingdom

Blackburn Meadows Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) has a mesophilic anaerobic digestion facility, which enables the recycled sludge to be used on neighbouring farmlands as manure. It also enables the generation of renewable energy using combined heat and power units. All the upgrade works were to improve the quality of effluent being discharged into the River Don (ref 3). Sheffield City Council and Yorkshire Water leased an unused part of the former sewage works, to turn into a nature reserve which provides habitat for migrating birds. A water meadow created on vacant land promotes ecological biodiversity and floodwater attenuation (Ref5). In 2013, the works handle a dry weather flow of more than 158,000 cu m of sewage per day, with the treated effluent pumped into the river. It is one of Yorkshire Water’s biggest assets, but with a projected dry weather flow set to hit 368,000 cu m per day by 2025, it is in need of an upgrade (ref 6). The project is fragmented into two phases as the 1st phase was completed in 2013 and the 2nd phase will be completed by 2021 (ref 3).
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Blossoms Day Nursery Garden

Medway, United Kingdom

The 'Painting the Town Green' project got to work with Blossoms Day Nursery, based at Wayfield Primary School. Working with parents of the two-year-olds who attend the nursery, they added more wildlife-friendly areas to the outdoor play space. The grounds are now home to colorful planters hung on the low fences, filled with bulbs which will flower in the Spring, and topped with miniature firs and winter pansies; a beehive-shaped compost bin. All of these things provide rich wildlife habitats and educational opportunities (Ref 1, 4).
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Blue Green Infrastructure Mapping

Kathmandu, Nepal

The Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) Mapping is the initiative for Identification, Mapping, and Promotion of Blue and Green Infrastructures for Sustainable Urban Ecosystem in the city of Kathmandu. In line with the 2021 World Environment Day (WED) theme “Ecosystem Restoration”, the consortium of NAXA and Institute of Himalayan Risk Reduction (IHRR) officially launched the initiative. All the datasets will be made public through both the open data portal and the OpenStreetMaps. The mapping has only started and until now, it has only mapped the blue infrastructures (rivers, canals, ponds, wetlands, floodplains and water treatment facilities). The green infrastructures will include lawns, parks, fields, forests, greenprints, natural asset maps, ecological networks and street trees. [1, 2]
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Blue-Green Infrastructure in Neighborhood

Antwerpen, Belgium

The project aims to completely redevelop ‘Rozemaai’, a neighborhood in Antwerp, focusing on climate change adaptation, green spaces, and recreation. This includes a sustainable drainage system in which storm water flows via swales into a water stream with nature-friendly river banks, trees and bushes in the neighborhood, green parking lots, allotments and recreational facilities such as picnic tables (Ref. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Since 2019, the district has had a new, accessible park in which the Donkse brook plays a leading role (Ref. 7).
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Boathouse in Podjuchy by the Regalica river

Szczecin, Poland

The initiative aims to ensure open access to the river Regalica for the local community and to create a multifunctional recreational area there. Given current spatial development plans, the chosen location is the only feasible solution to facilitate public access to the river. The project will address multiple NBS domains as its plans include: building new water stand, fishing place, and an observation deck, developing an ecological and educational path along the riverside, developing recreational spaces for the community including outdoor and cultural activities. The project relates to the long-term brand strategy of the city: ‘Szczecin floating garden 2050’[1]. The architectural plan was accepted and put forward for the implementation in 2019; currently, in July 2020, the project is still in the planning phase [4].
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Bog Meadows Enhancement Project

Belfast, United Kingdom

Bog Meadows is the last surviving remnants of the river Blackstaff's floodplain, which originally extended over 1,000 acres (Ref 3). This is an urban oasis composed of a mosaic of wetland, meadows, ponds, woodland, shrubs, and stream (Ref 1). It situated at the heart of Belfast City and is the last large area of the Blackstaff floodplain that has not been developed. The area is an important site for both breeding and overwintering birds(Ref 3). The Bog Meadows Enhancement Project aimed to improve the access, grazing infrastructure, and overall appearance of the site. It was hoped that cattle grazing will encourage wildflowers to attract insects, birds etc. (Ref 2).
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Bohnenbach Park

Bielefeld, Germany

The Bohnenback Park project was one of the first urban redevelopment measures in Bielefeld and was opened its gates for the public in May 2017. The park is the combination of blue and green areas in the Bethel district. It was created by exposing the Bohnenbach stream which previously had been piped and been flowing underground. The park consists of free, bright spaces and lawns with few individual groups of trees. Along the naturally meandering course of the brook, there is a long, north-south oriented promenade, which also forms the backbone of the park. It separates the neighbouring buildings from a parking lot while also connects the Bethel district to its surrounding areas via a green corridor favourable for recreation (1, 7).
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Botanical garden and its greenhouses renovation

Rouen, France

Located in the south of the town, this garden is an ideal place for family walks. Very popular, it also responds to a scientific vocation for the conservation of plant species from the five continents. In the spring of 2013, the Jardin des Plantes was enriched by a honey garden with a pedagogical vocation, which houses plants whose juice is used by bees to produce honey. The City of Rouen undertook the renovation of historic greenhouses, work on which was completed in 2019. The objective is to enhance the treasures of this extraordinary greenery (Ref. 1). "The collections reach more than 6000 species and the garden contributes to the development of sciences, to the preparation of medical students and to the dissemination of species, thanks to the exchange of seeds" (Ref. 10).
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Botanical garden enhancement

Saint-Etienne, France

The Jardin des Plantes represents a space rich in nature in the heart of the city and also hosts the Opera Theater of Saint-Etienne (Ref. 2). In 2015, "A thematic urban commission (with the citizens' district representatives) is set up to enhance the "Jardin des Plantes" while keeping its wild side but with a controlled vegetation." For instance, the social center proposed a fitness trail and elected representatives propose a signage of trees, the integration of design, thanks to urban furniture and ephemeral works" (Ref. 1). Citizens requested that vegetation of walls be undertaken to "avoid the flourish of unattractive tags" (Ref. 1).
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