Nature-Based Solutions for Smart Cities
Project context
Urbanisation and urban sprawl are recognised as the main threats to the European environment. EU research and innovation policy brings forward nature-base solutions (NBS) and smart cities (SC) as conceptual avenues for addressing urban issues through the promotion of ecosystem services and green infrastructure. Urban sprawl and deficit of green open spaces emerge at an alarming scale in EaP countries, while under transition to open market and democratic societies, many traditional policy and management arrangements fail to deliver plausible solutions. A wealth of experience of V4 countries have in managing sustainability in transition contexts, is therefore important to share, in particular the advances in NBS/SC, which are still very new to academic and policy communities in the EaP.
NEXT will reach key stakeholder groups involved in urban planning and management in EaP (in particular, Belarus – BY) by holding an action research Summer School in Mahilioŭ, BY evaluating & discussing knowledge and lessons learned from the development of NBS for SC in the V4 and beyond, and developing transversal competencies of solutions-oriented urbanists representing praxis, policy and the academia. The School will be preceded by a praxis-academia workshop reviewing the V4 experience, underlining innovation, and discussing their replicability in BY and elsewhere in the EaP to contribute to good governance over sustainable livelihoods in urban and peri-urban areas through policy, business and technology innovation; these issues will be discussed in a policy brief and an academic paper.
Project partners:
Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW (Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie)
Address: Nowoursynowska 166, st., Warszawa, 02-787, Poland,
Phone: + 48 22 5935382, Fax: + 48 22 5935355.
Website: www.sggw.pl/en
Czech Univesity of Life Sciences Prague (Česká Zemědělská Univerzita V Praze)
Address: Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, 165 00, Czech Republic;
Phone: +420 224 384 338; Fax: +420 224 384 456
Website: www.czu.cz
Slovak University of Agriculture (Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita)
Address: Tr. A. Hlinku 2, Nitra, 949 76, Slovakia;
Phone: +421 (37) 641 5410; Fax: +421 (37) 641 5410
Website: www.fzki.uniag.sk
Hungarian Climate Alliance (Magyar Éghajlatvédelmi Szövetség)
Address: Bartók Béla u. 7., Győr, 9024, Hungary
Phone: +36 30 232 6658; Fax: +36 96 316 192
Website: http://www.eghajlatvedelmiszovetseg.hu/
NGO “EKAPRAEKT” (МГА “ЭКАПРАЕКТ”)
Address: str. Vostochnaya, 8, v. Vishnevka, district of Minsk, 223044, Belarus;
Phone: +37529 755 60 97 Fax: +37529 755 60 97
Website: www.ekapraekt.by
Project objectives
Main project objective
The main objective is to support urban and peri-urban sustainable livelihoods in the EaP (particularly in Belarus) through the promotion of V4 expertise in the development and implementation of nature-base solutions (NBS) for smart cities (SC) in the EaP via knowledge co-production exercises led by V4 experts from the academia and praxis organisations and involving researchers and representatives of relevant stakeholders from EaP countries.
Specific project objectives
- Consolidation and summarising of V4 expertise in NBS for SC and reviewing it in terms of replicability in the EaP: V4 and EaP experts will have several discussion rounds and prepare a communication and lists of references on the praxis-academia workshop in Mahilioŭ, Belarus (July 1, 2018); project experts will develop a policy brief and an academic paper.
- Knowledge co-production and identification of specific NBS-based solutions for SC in Belarus and elsewhere in the EaP: sSpecific NBS-based solutions for the city of Mahilioŭ will be explored on the Summer School (July 2-13, 2018), where group case study research will be done in consultation with V4 faculty and local stakeholders, with the reports disseminated afterwords.
- Training researchers and stakeholders, and dissemination of V4 expertise and NEXT findings in Belarus and elsewhere in the EaP: at least 32 participants will be trained on the summer school, and over 300 reached in the EaP, V4 and beyond, by training sessions of the Summer School, e-learning and NEXT media coverage and publications.
Project products and events
- Media coverage of NEXT activities and outputs - Regular coverage of NEXT outputs and activities in corporate, regional and (where possible) press and social networks (including a dedicated FB group)
- NEXT project website - A static webpage with project information and links to to project events and products (including policy summaries and the brief, and case study reports)
- NEXT e-learning site and contents - The e-learning site will contain reader, session materials, explanations to assignments, and reports by research groups; a password-protected section of the site will also contain reading materials. The e-learning site will be hosted by BRU and/or the university partner from a broader network
- NEXT academia-praxis workshop, BY - A full-day workshop bringing together V4 and EaP stakeholders and academics concerned with NBS & SC, and aiming at reviewing relevant V4 experience in terms of the EaP (Belarus, in particular) and laying down plans for the development of a policy and a research-oriented publications
- A policy brief outlining the replicability of V4 experience in NBS & SC for Belarus - A c.a. 20 pp policy brief (in Russian or Belarusian) summarising V4 experience in NBS & SC issues, and reviewing its replicability in Belarus; it will target academic and praxis communities in the EaP (to be available online)
- An academic paper highlighting the V4 developments in NBS & SC and reviewing the applicability of V4 practices in other regions (in particular, in the EaP) - A paper to be submitted to a Scopus/WoS-indexed academic journal reviewing the replicability of V4 experience in NBS & SC in the EaP, in particular in Belarus; the paper will be in English; it will target worldwide academic and praxis communities concerned with NBS & SC
- NEXT Summer School, BY - Research-intensive summer school (July 2-13, 2018) containing preparatory (lectures, development of research plans) and research periods (independent group research tackling a particular NBS & SC-related issue in Mahiliou); the school will be led by 12 academic faculty, invited local and national stakeholders; the School will offer 7 full and 7 partial travel grants to V4 and EaP participants (asked to prepare brief NBS/SC-related case studies for their home locations in exchange of the grant); collection of case study reports with specific NBS-based solutions for Mahiliou available after the end of the School
