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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NIA Dearne Valley Green Heart & Eco-vision

Doncaster, United Kingdom

Coal mining in the Dearne Valley damaged the Dearne Valley landscape. To address these problems the Dearne Valley Green Heart partnership was formed in 2006, but the intervention discussed here is specifically related to the developments between 2012 and 2015, when it was founded as a Nature Improvement Area. It is part of the South Yorkshire Delivery Programme and part of the Doncaster Council as also being part of the Doncaster Green Infrastructure Strategy (Ref 1, 2).
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Nicolae Romanescu Park Rehabilitation

Craiova, Romania

The largest park that Craiova has (third in Europe and second in Romania), the Nicolae Romanescu park is a historical area which includes green space, a hippodrome, a lake and a zoo. In 2015 the park went into rehabilitation with money allocated by the EU (1).
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Niederfeldsee

Essen, Germany

A new lake with green banks was built in the district of Altenhof in Essen in order to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood, create new recreational facilities and prolong the existing transport and green infrastructural developments in Essen. The water is supplied to the lake by means of groundwater from a separate well, as well as rainwater from the surfaces of neighboring roofs (Ref. 1).
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Nine Lakes Project

Wakefield, United Kingdom

"The proposal is to create a leisure landscape in the countryside to the south of Wakefield, Featherstone and the South East Rural Renaissance areas. The project looks at integrating a series of existing environmental and historic attractions such as Nostell Priory Estate, Newmillerdam Country Park, Haw Park and Anglers Country Park in a landscape that is shaped by reclaimed open cast mining, and features e.g. an innovative forest planting scheme". The proposal is part of the ‘Strategic projects’ to deliver Wakefield’s vision for green infrastructure. (Ref. 1, 2)
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Ningbo Eastern New Town Ecological Corridor

Ningbo, China

The Ningbo Ecological Corridor is a post-industrial landscape ecological reconstruction project. It is located in the middle of the Eastern New Town in Ningbo, with a total area of 90 hectares [4]. Built upon a typical post-industrial site with degraded ecologies that needs to be healed and would soon become part of a new urbanized district, this project is holistic ecosystem services-oriented, introducing terraced wetland to manage elevation change of the site to slow the flows of urban runoffs from the street down to the river and remove the nutrients [1]. “Before being designed, the site and surrounding areas were fragmented farmland, villages and factories that were planned to be relocated - a typical brownfield in the rural-urban fringe of the southern region of China”[1]. With the implementation of the project, "the original channelized river is transformed into a meandering eco-friendly waterway dotted with tree isles to increase the interface between organisms and water bodies to empower the river’s purification capacity. The project uses productive crops and annual flowers that are rotated to bring seasonal surprise and agricultural vitality to the growing city. Boardwalks are designed to allow visitors to have intimate experience of nature and the nostalgic pastoral landscape. Pavilions made of corten steel floats on wetlands and terraces, giving the ecological corridor a touch of contemporary urban life and art. [1] "As a result, this project demonstrated landscape as an ecological infrastructure that heals the degraded ecological system meanwhile provides social and cultural services to the establishing communities." [1]
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Nisarg Udyan: From dumpyard to forest

Navi Mumbai, India

In 2021, the local municipal government of Navi Mumbai City and a local NGO converted a neglected urban space used as a dump yard in Nisarg Udyan into a healthy and dense forest (Ref 1,2). The aim of the project was to improve biodiversity and complement the local ecosystem, choosing specifically native species from the local area for plantation (Ref 3). By applying the Miyawaki forest technique, the project was able to transform the wasteland into a 3-acre mini-forest quickly. A civic officer on behalf of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) drove the re-forestation project jointly with the support of Green Yatra, a local NGO, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding support from Sony Music Entertainment (Ref. 1, 3).


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Nong Peung Wetland Rehabilitation

Paksan, Laos

The frequent and severe floods that many cities in Lao PDR have been experiencing are causing a significant impact on the livelihood of local and vulnerable communities. To address the issues of flood and climate events, the Green Climate Fund has provided funding for the Lao DPR government to initiate the 'Build Resilience of Urban Populations with Ecosystem-Based Solutions in Lao DPR' project. The Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment of Lao, in collaboration with other related departments, universities, and provincial governments, is leading this project. The funding was approved in 2019, and the project is set to conclude by 2025. The project consists of four sub-projects, which will be implemented in four cities, including Paksan, Vientiane, Savannakhet, and Pakse. One of the sub-projects involves rehabilitating the Nong Peung wetland in Paksan city, which currently has no management plan and is negatively impacted by human activities and has been degraded in certain aspects. Natural vegetation has been lost in parts of the wetland, invasive alien plants are encroaching, and the natural water flow has been disrupted in places. The objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive management plan for Nong Peung wetland and implement various nature-based solutions to improve the ecosystem. This will involve removing invasive alien plant species, eliminating human-made barriers that obstruct natural flow, and planting appropriate native species. Currently, the project is in the planning stage with relevant stakeholders to determine the physical implementation site. (Ref.1,2,3)
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North Green Belt

Zaragoza, Spain

The North Green Belt was developed and built up in connection to investments and structures for the 2008 Expo. (Ref. 1,2) The North Green Belt is a series of connections extending the green corridor and network of green spaces in Zaragoza, with the Ebro and Gallego rivers as the two main axes of the belt. (Ref. 1,2)
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Northern Station Park

Stockholm, Sweden

Reconstruction is occurring in the Norra Stationsområdet area in the City of Stockholm, creating the city district Hagastaden (Haga City). In Haga City, an elongated hourglass-shaped park will be created called The Northern Station Park (sv. Norra Stationsparken). The park will run through the northern inner city from Torsplan and Hagaplan in the west to Norrtull in the east, and it is one of Stockholm's largest park initiatives. The first part of the new Norra Stationsparken in Hagastaden was to be inaugurated in September 2019 and the rest of the park is expected to be completed in 2024 (Ref. 1, 2, 8, 9).

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Nottingham in Bloom

Greater Nottingham, United Kingdom

“The Nottingham in Bloom campaign is a city-wide partnership which includes residents, businesses, schools, community groups and a wide range of volunteers. The aim is to encourage more people to get involved to improve their local area. Together they [through the campaign] produce horticultural excellence and enhance the local landscape, the environment and the character of Nottingham.” (Ref. 1)
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