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Background: Some of the main urban issues we currently face include ageing populations, the impact of the built environment, and the treatment of urban ecosystems. Yet the dynamic relationships and synergies between these issues, and how they are influenced by urban growth and evolution, receives little attention. Research focus: We explore the nexus between people, the urban built environment, and ecosystems as they grow, age, change, and evolve and propose an integrated approach to examine the relationships, synergies, and challenges that may emerge over time within urban neighbourhoods. We argue that this should draw on the lived-experience and wisdom of older people as part of an intergenerational approach underpinned by local, traditional, and ecological knowledge. We propose Growing Older Urbanism as an ecological, co-evolutionary, and complex-adaptive-systems-based framework to explore the nexus between ageing, the built environment, and urban ecosystems and to reveal the synergies and antagonisms that might exist between these three elements. This framework is designed to be used for various types of urban neighbourhoods, and by a diverse range of stakeholders. As part of this approach we provide a preliminary visual canvas to illustrate how the framework might be used within a selected neighbourhood over an agreed timespan. Conclusion: This paper presents some early thinking around the Growing Older Urbanism concept, while also outlining questions and a proposed transdisciplinary research programme to further develop the framework. We argue that understanding the relationship between ageing and the co-evolution of people, place, and ecosystems may teach us about our past, present, and future, and help us grow towards inclusive and sustainable communities. Science Highlights: • The nexus between ageing, the urban built environment, and urban ecosystems is highlighted. • The potential synergies between people, the built environment, and ecosystems as they age and evolve are scrutinised. • The important role for ageing, wisdom, lived experience, and local knowledge in urban transformation is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents teaching and learning material from three strategically designed ReNature Horizon 2020 project training activities. A total of twelve presentations covering different aspects of NbS implementation are presented with this article. Additionally, this article also includes materials produced by learners, throughout their work within selforganised groups carried out during the Second ReNature Training School. This is the second article publishing teaching and learning material arising from the ReNature project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions (NbS) have the potential to build climate resilience and tackle key societal challenges while also providing multiple co-benefits to biodiversity and human well-being. The demand for nature-based innovation is strongly felt in Malta - a small island state, with the highest population density in the European Union. Against this background, the Horizon 2020 project ReNature (Promoting research excellence in nature-based solutions for innovation, economic growth and human well-being in Malta) has the goal to enhance research excellence of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), as well as the national research, policy, business and stakeholder community. The six strategically designed training activities fostering capacity-building and research excellence, delivered during the first half of the project, resulted in useful learning outputs. These are twelve presentations, available as attachments to this article, which cover a large scope of topics related to the implementation of NbS. At a later stage, ReNature will publish another round of learning outputs, resulting from the rest of the training activities planned within the scope of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ReNature nature-based solutions compendium (http://renature-project.eu/compendium) is an open-source collection, which contains data on nature-based solutions in Malta. Initially collecting information only about Malta, the compendium is growing to include submissions from across the whole Mediterranean region. The development of an open-source compendium plays an essential role in the co-creation of knowledge, and fostering capacity-building at a national and international level, which are some of the key objectives of ReNature. By sharing existing and successful implementation of nature-based solutions, the platform is giving examples of good practices for practitioners and the research community. This paper reviews the process of the development of the ReNature open-source compendium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ReNature nature-based solutions compendium is an open-source collection, which contains data on nature-based solutions in Malta. Initially collecting information only about Malta, the compendium is growing to include submissions from across the whole Mediterranean region. The development of an open-source compendium plays an essential role in the co-creation of knowledge, and fostering capacity-building at a national and international level, which are some of the key objectives of ReNature. By sharing existing and successful implementation of nature-based solutions, the platform is giving examples of good practices for practitioners and the research community. This paper reviews the process of the development of the ReNature open-source compendium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions (NBS) is a term often used to refer to adequate green infrastructure that provides multiple benefits to society whilst addressing societal challenges. They are defined as actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits. Malta, the smallest member state of the EU, has been characterised by rapid economic growth and urbanisation and Maltese citizens had the highest rate of exposure to pollution, grime or other environmental problems, in the EU. The project ReNature aims to establish and implement a naturebased solutions research strategy for Malta with a vision to promote research and innovation and develop sustainable solutions whilst improving human well-being and tackling environmental challenges. Here, we introduce the opening of ReNature collection of research articles in the Open Access Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) journal to publish unconventional research outputs and training materials. It will host key outputs relating to the sustainable use of biodiversity, biodiversity - ecosystem functioning, green infrastructure and ecosystem service assessments across rural-urban gradients, equitable access to the benefits derived from nature in cities and socio-environmental justice, payments for ecosystem services, and designing nature-based solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions (NBS) is a term often used to refer to adequate green infrastructure that provides multiple benefits to society whilst addressing societal challenges. They are defined as actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits. Malta, the smallest member state of the EU, has been characterised by rapid economic growth and urbanisation and Maltese citizens had the highest rate of exposure to pollution, grime or other environmental problems, in the EU. The project ReNature aims to establish and implement a naturebased solutions research strategy for Malta with a vision to promote research and innovation and develop sustainable solutions whilst improving human well-being and tackling environmental challenges. Here, we introduce the opening of ReNature collection of research articles in the Open Access Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) journal to publish unconventional research outputs and training materials. It will host key outputs relating to the sustainable use of biodiversity, biodiversity - ecosystem functioning, green infrastructure and ecosystem service assessments across rural-urban gradients, equitable access to the benefits derived from nature in cities and socio-environmental justice, payments for ecosystem services, and designing nature-based solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions offer an exciting prospect for resilience building and advancing urban planning to address complex urban challenges simultaneously. In this article, we formulated through a coproduction process in workshops held during the first IPCC Cities and Climate Science Conference in Edmonton, Canada, in March 2018, a series of synthesis statements on the role, potential, and research gaps of nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation. We address interlocking questions about the evidence and knowledge needed for integrating nature-based solutions into urban agendas. We elaborate on the ways to advance the planning and knowledge agenda for nature-based solutions by focusing on knowledge coproduction, indicators and big data, and novel financing models. With this article, we intend to open a wider discussion on how cities can effectively mainstream nature-based solutions to mitigate and adapt to the negative effects of climate change and the future role of urban science in coproducing nature-based solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Ecosystem services may be underestimated, and consequently threatened, when land-use planning and management decisions are based on inadequate information. Unfortunately, most of the studies aimed to evaluate and map cultural ecosystem services (CES) are not used for actual decision support therefore there is a gap in the literature about its use in practice. This study aimed to reduce this gap by: (i) mapping CES perceived by city park users through participatory mapping (PPGIS); (ii) mapping CES arising from park management (management perception); (iii) comparing citizens and park management perception to identify matches or mismatches; and (iv) discussing the utility of the data acquired and the methodology proposed to inform urban planning. The methodology presented in this study resulted in data directly informative for urban planning. It provided spatially explicit data about perceived cultural services of the park as well as information about the matching or mismatching patterns about cultural services provision comparing the users' view with the management dimension. This research demonstrated a way to use the potential of ES mapping to inform urban planning and explored the local management demand for CES mapping, showing this to be a valuable tool for effective integration into actual decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘landscape’ approach to planning and design has long since advanced a social–ecological perspective that conceives ecosystems health and human well-being as mutually constitutive. However, conventional public sector organisational arrangements segregate and discretely administer development issues, thereby militating against the holistic viewpoint necessary to redress the entwined nature of complex planning issues. The emergence and continuing evolution of green infrastructure (GI) thinking seeks to redress this problem by promoting interdisciplinary collaboration to deliver connected and functionally integrated environments. This paper reflects upon the ongoing development and institutionalisation of GI in Ireland as a means to critically evaluate ‘if’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ GI thinking promotes the centralisation of landscape principles in public sector planning. Drawing on a review of local authority practices and interviews with local authority officials, the paper traces and explains the concept’s growth from the ‘rebranding’ of ecological networks to its current manifestation as a new mode of collaborative planning for multifunctional environments. This material is then employed to discuss the potential benefits and barriers encountered by GI planning more generally. Lessons are subsequently extrapolated for the advancement of landscape principles through innovative GI planning practices in other jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Adaptive governance is an emerging theory in natural resource management. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by exploring the potential of adaptive governance for delivering resilience and sustainability in the urban context. We explore emerging challenges to transitioning to urban resilience and sustainability: bringing together multiple scales and institutions; facilitating a social–ecological-systems approach; and embedding social and environmental equity into visions of urban sustainability and resilience. Current approaches to adaptive governance could be helpful for addressing these first two challenges but not in addressing the third. Therefore, this paper proposes strengthening the institutional foundations of adaptive governance by engaging with institutional theory. We explore this through empirical research in the Rome Metropolitan Area, Italy. We argue that explicitly engaging with these themes could lead to a more substantive urban transition strategy and contribute to adaptive governance theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed a wave of interest in the concept of green infrastructure (GI) as a means of applying an ecosystem approach to spatial planning practice; however, more limited attention has been paid to decision-making processes or tools to enhance GI within spatial plans and guidance. We address this deficit by reporting on the development and application of an interactive group-based methodology to enhance GI ‘thinking’ and interdisciplinary collaboration, drawing on the literature on the sociology of interactions. Our findings suggest that a game-based approach to GI problem-solving was successful in breaking down professional barriers by creating an informal learning arena, providing an enabling opportunity for participants to solve problems in an iterative, non-linear style to develop principles for action with transferability to ongoing plan formation. This style of problem-solving was characterised by shifting norms and routines of interaction, leading to problem re-framing and a search for alternative solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Context: Novel ecosystems are anthropogenic landscapes that cannot be returned to their original ecological status. Little is known the social-ecological dynamics of these never-before-seen ecosystems. Less is known of their implications for society, sustainability and transitioning. Objective and methods: This literature review contends that novel ecosystems may be regarded as exemplars of social-ecological resilience and that the exploration of potential opportunities within novel ecosystem theory is being constrained by a lack of investigation. Results: Societal values in relation to novel ecosystems are unknown. Since societal values can influence conservation and restoration policies and practice, it is suggested that future policy prescriptions will need to explore the fundamentals this emerging relationship. Conclusions: It could be contended that such complex issues such as novel ecosystems will demand a science of transition, where the desire is to combine the science of discovery and science of engagement into a normative framework for societal change based on reality and realistic objectives and goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In some parts of Europe, stone wall field boundaries pervade agricultural landscapes, yet despite their prominence there has been very little research into field boundary walls anywhere. However, these anthropogenic features within cultural landscapes may offer insights into current debates on ‘novel’ ecosystems because of their artifice, their longevity in the landscape particularly in remote or exposed regions, and their morphology. In a review of the available, published literature in Europe, it was found that no publications exist that examine or illustrate specific ecological characteristics of field boundary stone walls, despite this longevity. Using examples from Ireland, where these structures are locally abundant, this paper aims first to draw attention to the poorly representative literature on this topic, and thus stimulate research that will detail the potential ecological characteristics of these ancient forms of field boundary. It then briefly explores the potential for these walls to be considered as ‘novel’ ecosystems within current debates on the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the renewed interest in genetically modified crop technology in Ireland, some concern has been raised in relation to the potential impact on biodiversity in the Irish agri-environment. This concern can focus on the potential for a transgenic trait to cross to wild relatives. A novel trait will be judged to have persisted in a wild population via the successful production of seeds, such that these seeds are viable and result in the establishment of a self-sustaining population. In the case of an herbicide-tolerant (HT) trait, feral and volunteer populations can only remain viable if managed with applications of the herbicide that the trait is designed to resist. This surviving population of HT plants would then need to compete successfully with other wild plants in order to prevail in the landscape and persist over time. There are few agricultural crops that can manage this combination, but as oilseed rape plants are often noted along roadsides and hedgerows in Ireland; it is correct to assume that this crop has the ability to be a successful feral survivor. This paper presents the results of a thought experiment, derived exclusively using the academic literature, on the issue of longevity. This is done by taking four hypothetical case scenarios and examining the potential for a combination of events to take place for oilseed rape (Brassica napus); this is selected here because it has a high potential for ‘escaping’ via pollen- and/or seed-mediated gene flow. A lack of quantitative data on Irish farmland biodiversity hinders solid conclusions, but when management pressure is eased, biodiversity stress is lessened. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In establishing effective restoration goals, one of the four key issues of increased attention that Hobbs calls for is in the area of incorporating socio-economic investigations and theories into restoration practice in a synergistic manner. Although often commented upon by restoration practitioners, this is an area of research that is poorly developed, and because it relies on an uneasy combination of empirical and interpretative research methodologies a multidisciplinary alignment may be problematic in practice. This opinion piece is drawn from experiences in examining the after-use of industrially mined peatland landscapes, and synthesizes ideas that have emerged from socio-economic research over several years in order to offer an opinion on how Hobbs' call may be addressed. Because socio-economic concerns are at the root of all restoration projects, sociological methods may be useful as tools in stakeholder engagement in research and planning for landscape rehabilitation as a mechanism for reducing the potential for conflict and for facilitating participative or collaborative restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed much debate on the turn towards community within landscape management and planning. This is particularly evident in the European Landscape Convention which asserts the legitimacy of local preferences and citizen involvement in policy processes. This paper explores a bottom-up perspective on people-place relationships in a changing landscape, through assessing the after-use potential of industrially mined peatlands in Ireland and the rehabilitation of degraded landscapes. The mining of the peatland resource has a longstanding tradition in Ireland, however, significant attention has now focused on exploring market and non-market uses of remains after harvesting has finished resulting in a cutaway landscape. We argue that local people's everyday experiences of the landscape is a legitimate form of knowledge and should provide a key input into deliberative planning and management processes. Drawing largely on an interpretive research approach, we assess key local narratives in relation to harvested peatland landscapes and explore local people's after-use preferences. There appears to be strong support among the local community for amenity/biodiversity after-uses, which are currently not reflected in public policy debates. We review people-place relationships and discuss the role of ethnographic research in a peatland context as well as defining the relevant stakeholders. Finally, conclusions are developed to identify wider lessons for people/place relationships within the context of landscape management and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions (NBS) to address societal challenges have been widely recognised and adopted by governments in climate change and biodiversity strategies. Nevertheless, significant barriers exist for the necessary large-scale implementation of NBS and market development is still in its infancy. This study presents findings from a systematic review of literature and a survey on private sector agents in the planning and implementation of NBS, with the aim to identify them. In this study, we propose a typology for organisations delivering NBS and a categorisation of their economic activities. The most common organisation type found is nature-based enterprise which offers products or services where nature is a core element and used sustainably and engages in economic activity. Moreover, eleven categories of economic activities were identified, ranging from ecosystem restoration, living green roofs, and eco-tourism to smart technologies and community engagement for NBS. Nature-based enterprises contribute to a diverse range of sustainable economic activities, that standard industry classification systems do not adequately account for. The recognition of the value created by these activities is essential for designing effective policy support measures, and for market development of the sector and its potential to facilitate the wider adoption of NBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]