{"id":34855,"date":"2025-04-10T16:21:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T14:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=34855"},"modified":"2025-04-10T16:22:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T14:22:23","slug":"biodivercities-citizen-engagement-for-urban-biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2025\/04\/10\/biodivercities-citizen-engagement-for-urban-biodiversity\/","title":{"rendered":"BiodiverCities: Citizen Engagement for Urban Biodiversity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Active citizen engagement has a significant positive impact on the success and sustainability of initiatives aimed at increasing urban biodiversity and green infrastructure. Project <a href=\"https:\/\/publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu\/repository\/bitstream\/JRC133253\/JRC133253_01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">BiodiverCities<\/span><\/a> showed that when they are <!--more-->Citizens directly involved in the co-creation process contribute valuable knowledge, perspectives and play a key role in shaping and sustaining these initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some key impacts of active citizen engagement, supported by examples from the project:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Increased awareness and ownership:<\/strong> Citizen engagement raises awareness of the importance of urban biodiversity and green infrastructure. For example, in <strong>Leiden<\/strong> The direct involvement of residents in creating a community garden led to residents owning and caring for the space. Similarly, the project <strong>Varese<\/strong> focused on earthworms through citizen science not only mapped nests, but also increased citizens&#039; interest and willingness to participate in future conservation. In <strong>Valongo<\/strong> The project mobilized the community to discuss biodiversity, and citizens became more proactive in co-creating proposals and experimenting with new practices.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Better adaptation to local needs and context:<\/strong> Citizens have unique knowledge of their local environment that can help design more effective and relevant initiatives. In <strong>Maribor<\/strong> Walks and interviews with residents led to the identification of favorite and problematic places in the Stra\u017eun urban forest, which contributed to a successful application for funding for its management. In <strong>Novi Sad<\/strong> led urban mapping workshops to obtain information directly from citizens about their needs and potential for green spaces in their neighborhoods. In <strong>Palermo<\/strong> The involvement of young people and their families helped to map their perceptions and use of green spaces, thereby better understanding their needs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strengthening cooperation and building trust:<\/strong> BiodiverCities projects often created space for dialogue and cooperation between citizens, local governments, experts and local organizations. In <strong>Novi Sad<\/strong> The project created a dialogue between citizens and local authorities, which is crucial for building trust. In <strong>Regalbuto<\/strong> The participatory process led to new forms of cooperation and dialogue between residents and the local government, while building trust. In <strong>Valongo<\/strong> Cooperation between the municipality and the university facilitated citizen engagement.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Increased likelihood of sustainability:<\/strong> Initiatives in which citizens are actively involved have a greater chance of long-term sustainability because citizens feel a sense of ownership and are motivated to protect and support them. In <strong>Palm trees<\/strong> The inclusion of a binding co-creation clause in the tender for the revitalisation of Cotlliure Street demonstrates an effort to ensure the continued involvement of citizens in urban planning. In <strong>Regalbuto<\/strong> The main result was the city&#039;s strategic development plan, which outlines the direction for the next ten years and was created on the basis of extensive citizen participation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Identification of innovative solutions:<\/strong> Engaging diverse groups of citizens can lead to the identification of creative and innovative solutions for improving biodiversity. In <strong>Maribor<\/strong> led the Digital Biocitizen project to co-create digital solutions for exploring and mapping nature in the city by young people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On the other hand, the BiodiverCities project also highlighted challenges and lessons related to citizen engagement:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Challenges in reaching and engaging diverse groups:<\/strong> In some cases, it was difficult to involve citizens who are not normally part of participatory processes, such as in <strong>Leiden<\/strong> in the Leiden Zuidwest district or in <strong>Palermo<\/strong> in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The project in <strong>Leiden<\/strong> required specific strategies to reach residents of social housing complexes. In <strong>Palermo<\/strong> it was necessary to establish relations with the community from scratch.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The importance of support and resources:<\/strong> Successful citizen engagement requires sufficient support and resources from the local government. In <strong>Palermo<\/strong> A plan to transform a schoolyard into a community space was canceled due to a lack of financial and human resources.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The need for a clear plan and communication:<\/strong> Citizen engagement processes must have a clear agenda and plan, and it is important to manage citizens\u2019 expectations well. In <strong>Vilnius<\/strong> Participation in the final community tree planting was lower than expected due to organizational circumstances and lack of awareness among the local community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Overall, the BiodiverCities project confirmed that <strong>Active and meaningful citizen engagement is a key factor for the success and long-term sustainability of initiatives aimed at supporting urban biodiversity and green infrastructure<\/strong>Citizen engagement not only contributes to better and more relevant solutions, but also raises awareness, fosters ownership and builds collaboration, which are essential elements for lasting positive change in the urban environment. <em><strong>Spring<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Glossary of key terms<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Biodiversity:<\/strong> The diversity of life on Earth at all levels, from genes to species to ecosystems. It includes diversity within species, between species, and the diversity of ecosystems.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Participatory planning (Planning with public participation):<\/strong> An approach to planning that actively involves stakeholders, especially citizens, in the decision-making and policy-making process.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Co-creation:<\/strong> A process in which various stakeholders, including citizens, work together to develop and implement projects, policies, or solutions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Urban ecosystem:<\/strong> The socio-ecological system in which most people live. It includes built-up areas as well as other types of ecosystems such as forests, agricultural ecosystems, freshwater, and wetlands.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Green infrastructure:<\/strong> A network of natural and semi-natural features, green spaces, water bodies and other environmental features in urban and rural areas that provide ecological, economic and social benefits.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Citizen science:<\/strong> Scientific research involving volunteers from the public, often in collaboration with professional scientists.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Urban heat island (UHI):<\/strong> A phenomenon in which higher air temperatures are recorded in cities compared to surrounding rural areas.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stakeholder:<\/strong> An individual, group, or organization that has an interest in or is affected by a particular project, policy, or process.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Resilience:<\/strong> The ability of a system, community, or ecosystem to withstand and recover from disturbances while maintaining its essential functions and structure.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mainstreaming:<\/strong> The process of integrating environmental or other considerations into mainstream policies, programs, and decision-making processes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Active citizen engagement has a significant positive impact on the success and sustainability of initiatives aimed at increasing urban biodiversity and green infrastructure. The BiodiverCities project has shown that when<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biodiverzita"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}