What is
GREEN-INC?
GREEN-INC is the abbreviation of GRowing Effective & Equitable Nature-based Solutions through INClusive Climate Actions: a European research project with 6 universities and 5 partner cities.
European cities are increasingly implementing Nature-based Solutions (NbS), such as green roofs, raingardens, and constructed wetlands. They are important tools to create circular urban economies by integrating nature and natural features into cities and landscapes. Both theory and practice have argued for the multiple benefits of NbS: they contribute to biodiversity, public health and wellbeing, and provide economic opportunities. GREEN-INC challenges the “win-win-win” proposition of NbS: i.e. the claim that NbS contribute by default to a socially inclusive, economically vibrant and ecologically resilient society. To illustrate, NbS benefits are unevenly distributed among urban residents and neighbourhoods. Concerns have also been raised about fair planning processes and the stigmatisation of people and places, in the worst case leading to NbS that can acquire an exclusionary character.
As a way forward, Inclusive Climate Actions (ICAs) have been proposed that tackle climate change and inequalities simultaneously. This is achieved by engaging a wide range of communities, incorporating fairness and accessibility in the design of NbS, and distributing NbS impacts as equitably as possible from neighbourhood to urban level. Inclusive Climate Actions can transform NbS from single-targeted towards more holistic interventions.
The research question that underpins our project is: how could Inclusive Climate Actions contribute to more effective and just Nature-based Solutions for both communities and ecosystems?
Research approach
GREEN-INC follows a three-step approach:
- Evaluate
GREEN-INC will develop new assessment frameworks to evaluate the effectiveness of NbS and the equitability of NbS.- Effectiveness: new Monitoring & Evaluation Frameworks will help to understand the impact of NbS on the urban water system and urban ecosystems services, and the linkages with human well-being. We will develop amongst others new Key Performance Indicators for assessing the environmental sustainability and circularity, as well as the socio-economic sustainability.
- Equitability: new mapping tools will help identifying neighbourhoods with intersecting vulnerabilities, both socio-economic and environmental. This spatial analysis is complemented with qualitative interviews to reveal the lived experiences of communities in vulnerable neighbourhoods, and the (potential) impact of NbS on their lives.
- Integrate
GREEN-INC will integrate the frameworks from Step 1 into an inter-disciplinary framework for Inclusive Climate Actions for Nature-based Solutions- Interactive spatial visualisation platform: we will develop a new tool for city administrations and communities to communicate the vulnerabilities and benefits of NbS
- Defining Inclusive Climate Actions: we will ground insights from cases on Inclusive Climate Actions and provide the first academic contribution to define and operationalise this concept. We will provide an overview of institutional conditions and design principles to implement ICAs in other European cities.
- Validate
GREEN-INC will develop with local partners five living labs in Amsterdam, Brussels, Bucharest, Turin and Skellefteå to validate the principles for Inclusive Climate Actions with professionals and communities.- 5 Urban Living Labs: we will start in 2025 five experiments in the cities to test Inclusive Climate Actions for Nature-based Solutions, leading to new prototypes
- Digital Technologies: we will use new digital technologies, including digital twins and VR-simulations, to co-design prototypes with professionals and communities
Our partners
