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The development of the Connecting Nature Impact Assessment Framework has been accompanied by a series of resources that can be used by cities whose objective is to build capacity to mainstream impact assessment as part of their nature-based solutions policies and plans. Together, they form an impact assessment toolkit for cities. The objective of this Deliverable is to provide a brief description of each of the elements of the toolkit, while the resources and tools themselves can be consulted online, by following the provided links in Appendices I and II. All these materials have been uploaded to websites and platforms so that the elements are easily searchable and downloadable by users. The resources generated fall into the following four categories: 1) Impact assessment plans, results, and integration of data for the Connecting Nature frontrunner cities 2) Finding inspiration: nature-based solutions repositories and databases: OPPLA, the EU Repository of Nature-Based Solutions, and the NBS data and knowledge base created by Dushkova and Haase (2020). 3) The CO-IMPACT tool to design bespoke impact assessment plans, a decision-support tool for the design of monitoring and evaluation plans, with suggestions for appropriate indicators and methodologies. It is one of the main innovations in the project. 4) Additional monitoring and evaluation resources for cities, including handbooks and indicator factsheets to support cities in impact assessment The deliverable also presents the Connecting Nature plans for ensuring the sustainability of project innovations beyond the official end of the project. It describes the design of the Connecting Nature Resource Center, an online repository of searchable resources embedded in the European platform OPPLA. In addition to these five main sections, this document has two appendices. The first one the main resources, and includes keywords, location, description, uses of the product, and associated links. In the second appendix, the impact assessment video trainings are listed, along with links to the videos for easy access. All the resources presented in this Deliverable make up an interactive, online toolkit to support nature-based solutions impact assessment and deployment in cities. containing innovative evidence-based demonstrations for nature-based solutions deployment in cities. The toolkit will also be presented at the CN final Summit in Genk and will seek to stimulate emerging partnerships to support impact assessment plans and investments in cities., Suggested citation: Dumitru, A., Peralbo Rubio, E., Tomé Lourido, D., Collier, M.J., Dick, G., Mahony, P., Porter, J., Sermpezi, R. (2022). Connecting Nature Deliverable 3: Interactive, online toolkit containing innovative evidence-based demonstrations for nature-based solutions deployment in cities. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7010945

This Deliverable presents the Connecting Nature Impact Assessment framework and capacity-building process whose aim has been to support the mainstreaming of a culture of impact evaluation and evidence-based nature-based solutions (NBS) design and implementation in cities. The framework is the result of a co-production process between academic and city council partners in the project and has been implemented in the cities, leading to the development of monitoring and evaluation plans for specific NBS exemplars at different scales. Additional capacity-building tools have been created to integrate the impact assessment framework into regular urban planning processes, such as an impact assessment training programme, and a digitally-supported impact assessment tool guiding cities through the process of thinking about and designing their monitoring and evaluation strategy. We present the Connecting Nature Impact Assessment Framework, and we illustrate it with the monitoring and evaluation plans of the front-runner cities. We then focus on an analysis of the main challenges experienced and lessons learned in this process of capacity building, to enhance transferability; we present how knowledge has been transferred to fast-follower and multiplier cities, and we finalize by drawing conclusions on the most promising indicators for NBS in cities, focusing on those indicators that have already been tested in practice., Suggested citation: Dumitru, A., Peralbo Rubio, E., Tomé Lourido, D., Collier, M.J., Dick, G., Dymek, D., Dziubaba, A., Fagiewicz, K., Lupa, P., Mikuła, L., Poniży, L., Quartier, M., Sermpezi, R., Vos, P., and Zwierzchowska, I. (2021) Connecting Nature Deliverable 2: Report on the outcomes of the lessons learned, mapping of emerging experiments and expert workshops, leading to a synthesis of the most promising indicators for nature-based solutions. DOI: https:/doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7010920

Mediterranean islands face significant environmental challenges due to their high population density, reliance on imports, and water scarcity, exacerbated by increasing risks from climate change. Nature-based solutions (NbS) could address these challenges sustainably and with multiple benefits, but their uptake in policy and planning is limited, and stakeholder perspectives are conspicuously lacking from current research. Here, we report the re- sults of a collaborative, multi-stakeholder exercise to identify priority knowledge needs (KNs) that could enhance the uptake of NbS in Mediterranean islands. We used a well-established iterative prioritisation method based on a modified Delphi process. This was conducted by the authors, environmental policy and practice stakeholders from across the Mediterranean islands, representing business, government, NGOs and research. We developed a long list of potential KNs through individual submissions, and prioritised them through voting, discussion and scoring. Excepting workshop discussion, all individual contributions were anonymous. We present the 47 resulting KNs in rank order, classified by whether they can be addressed by knowledge synthesis and further research, or demand action in policy and practice. The top priority KNs are i) a more precise definition of NbS, ii) which NbS are adapted to dry Mediterranean conditions? iii) how to increase the adoption and use of NbS in urban plans?, iv) how can buildings and built-up areas be modified to accommodate green infrastructure and v)cost-benefit analysis of urban green spaces. In collaboration with these stakeholders, our findings will determine future research strategies on NbS implementation in the Mediterranean islands.

Co-creation and co-production have been recognised as a novel collaborative mode of urban governance, which allows for deep participation to leverage and weave together local, expert and tacit knowledge and ultimately advance urban sustainability and resilience. Co-creation and co-production promote collaborations and partnerships among diverse actors – including civil servants, citizens, planners, entrepreneurs, architects, scientists, and engineers – in the design, implementation, and eventually stewarding of nature-based solutions (NBS). In this way, they can support the generation of new and more integrated knowledge that leads to the design of multifunctional NBS (pertaining not only to their mere technical design but also to their financing, business models, and social innovations) addressing local needs and mobilising local opportunities. In addition, the collaborative nature of co-creation and co-production generates novel and shared problem framings and visions, spurs new relationships between actors (for example between local government and citizens, across city departments) and triggers the (re-)definition of roles and responsibilities and empowerment of actors to become engaged in NBS advocating and stewarding. This report presents the work-in-progress on how in Connecting Nature we have developed the frameworks and guidebooks for co-production of NBS and reflexive monitoring via an iterative co-production process between the scientific partners and cities – so far together with the Connecting Nature frontrunner cities Genk (Belgium), Glasgow (United Kingdom) and Poznań (Poland). Next to supporting the co-production processes on the ground, the framework also integrates insights on how different cities design co-production processes in practice, including the starting considerations/objectives, when and how (not) to connect to which types of actors, the tools used and opportunities and challenges encountered. The frameworks allow to systematise knowledge from the experiences with co-production and reflexive monitoring from cities back to the conceptual level of the design principles and to thus develop conceptually grounded and practice-proven guidebooks with empirical examples and lessons. Setting up high-quality, viable and effective co-production requires good process designs, knowledge about the right tools and methods, as well as enabling conditions that provide the basis for co-production. In summary, the framework encompasses the following building blocks: Co-production design principles provide a heuristic to design and evaluate knowledge co-production processes. Next to facilitating the design and implementation of co-production processes, the principles allow for the outcomes and impacts of co-production to be mapped and measured, for example, whether knowledge-based outputs inform strategic urban agendas. Co-production tools and methods can be used in specific co-production activities and settings so as to facilitate discussions, interactions, and knowledge exchanges between actors in line with a specific objective (e.g. vision development, problem framing). Reflexive monitoring framework that includes a set of tools and methods to continuously learn about how the co-production process proceeds and identify follow-up actions and consequently adapt the process of NBS implementation on the go. We have worked with the cities in Connecting Nature to co-produce and apply the frameworks of co-production and reflexive monitoring. In this way, we could advance and apply the frameworks and methods as reported here, as well as learn from the cities’ experiences to derive conclusions for co-production and reflexive monitoring of NBS implementation. Both frameworks have proven valuable in both cities to support the co-production of NBS and to identify and navigate critical conditions, opportunities, and barriers for co-production. Specifically, the insights help to characterise co-production journeys and patterns in cities and to derive lessons learned. From the insight on needs, barriers, opportunities, and lessons for co-production, we can further expand the co-production framework by identifying co-production capacities that embody the conditions that need to be in place to enable and facilitate co-production. This work has resulted in two draft guidebooks on co-production (Appendix A) and reflexive monitoring (Appendix B), which combine the theoretical review and practical experiences and examples and will be further enriched as the project moves along. The guidebooks are conceived as methodological guidance and rich cookbooks based on the theoretical review and practical experiences and examples with co-production and reflexive monitoring that are presented here., Suggested citation: Hölscher, K., Frantzeskaki, N., Lodder, M., Notermans, I., Sillen, D., Albulescu, P., Collier, M.J., Dick, G., Dushkova, D., Dziubala, A., Haase, D., Macsinga, I., Madajczyk, N., McQuaid, S., Osipiuk, A., Quartier, M., Sulea, C., Vandergert, P., van de Sijpe, K., and Vos, P. (2019). Connecting Nature Deliverable 4: Report on outcomes of meetings, consultations, webinars and workshops leading to the publication of a 'Co-creation for cities' guidebook and infographics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7011030

This is a presentation on the TURAS project which shows the structure and the work packages., Suggested Citation: Collier, Marcus J. (2016) Presentation on the TURAS FP7 project. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3941055.

Transition towards more resilient and sustainable urban futures can only be successful as an integrated undertaking. Within the scope of TURAS, Work Package (WP) 7 aims to reframe and combine local research undertaken in WP 1-6 towards knowledge that is applicable outside the original geographical locations and beyond the duration of the original research project.WP7 activities are thus focused on the development of “Integrated Transition Strategies” (ITS), which reorganize and structure the output of TURAS research into larger transferable entities while developing and applying a guiding conceptual framework.This Integrated Transition Framework draws on a diverse set of conceptual foundations in resilience and transition management research, with strategic spatial planning (SSP) being its main frame of reference. Termed “Integrated Transition Strategy” (ITS) or “4Corner”- Framework, it is oriented along the four basic steps of SSP and consists of four main modules defined as System or “creating systemic knowledge”, Vision or “developing shared visions”, Strategy or “developing adaptive strategies” and Project or “implementing pilot projects”. It integrates the descriptive analytical concept of resilience with the normative concept of sustainability and has been developed to inform a planning approach that encourages transition.As a first step towards integration, WP7 developed and applied a methodology that would allow for a translation of research on and for specific locations to applicable products for generic locations. During the course of WP7 activities, separable units of research activities (called “Activity Units” or ACUs) were first identified by the academic partners and then re- packaged and structured according pre-defined categories informed by the 4Corner framework and provided by WP7. The resulting “Catalogue” of ACUs aimed at providing an overview of implementable TURAS output. Each ACU contains information related to the underlying challenging urban situation addressed by the activity, the visions it corresponded to, needed resources, details on implementation and the main contact person. In the long run, WP7 aims to supplement this basic information with additional content such as expected resilience trade-offs and long term sustainability impacts. Parallel to the translation of specific research outcomes into generalized, transferrable and cross-locational content, a second strand of WP7 activities sought to facilitate the generation of localized strategies that would integrate, apply and test TURAS output. To this aim, the Integrated Transition Strategy (ITS) framework was used as a tool to guide (TURAS) cities through a process of developing their own localized transition strategy, referred to as City Integrated Transition Strategy (City ITS). The creation of individual City ITS’s was employed in order to identify connections and establish generic links between a complex set of urban challenges and available Activity Units (ACUs) for any given city. At the same time, City ITS Development also presented an intermediate step towards the development of individual city narratives that serve to captureand disseminate local transition experiences and tacit process knowledge generated in TURAS locations. As a next step, relationships between urban challenges and Activity Units will need to be strengthened and related to a generic approach that can be easily understood, interpreted and applied by cities outside and beyond TURAS. WP7 thus suggests the development of integrated topical strategies, (so-called “Starter Projects”) that combine relevant applicable ACUs within the 4C framework. Ultimately, combining an easily accessible choice of generic but thematically integrated transition strategies with individual localized transition narratives presents a new and distinctive approach to transition knowledge management that will be further developed and elaborated in collaboration with local TURAS partners in the course of upcoming WP7 activities. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, oremail marcus.collier@tcd.ie.

This report proceeds from the research work of the TURAS project, working package 6: Short Circuit Economies. The overall goal of the work package is to produce a model for urban resilience and sustainability transitioning. Within the TURAS project, this work package examines ways to improve urban resilience at the economic and business scale. The deliverables that will be produced will all focus on the supportive instruments that could be implemented by local authorities to enhance an increased reliance on local goods and services within the urban areas. The academic partners in work package 6 will critically review the concepts linked to achieving local, sustainable economic resilience and what are the important conditions for local authorities to provide the right framework for the transition towards resilience of urban economies. In the light of a new approach to establishing guidelines for fostering innovation, a decision was taken to use the concepts and insights of the literature on ‘adaptive governance’, and apply them to the research and evaluation of a series of case studies, each of which is dedicated to testing a public intervention to support local and sustainable economic activity. This has not been attempted in an urban economic setting. In designing this interaction between the research and the local authority partner case studies, this new aim is to produce a novel framework of analysis of economic resilience, to produce policy recommendations and to elaborate a practical tool for the use by a local authority to support economically resilient cities. Adaptive governance and collaborative processes are explicitly mentioned as core challenges in urban resilience planning within the original call of topic. This is also under investigation in different disciplines within TURAS work packages (2,3, and 4), but they are not expressly addressed through the research of those work packages. Therefore, a new research framework incorporating adaptive governance concepts provides a useful analytical framework for work package 6 to integrate within the general architecture of the different research work packages of TURAS. The research results will combine into the overall integration strategy for transitioning towards resilience at local level that TURAS is aiming to deliver in 2016. Furthermore, the outputs in terms of research around governance from an academic point of view and also from a practical point of view could contribute to cement the bonds between the different WPs and give consistency to the transversal layer of the different WPs. For additional information on this deliverable please email Paula Vandergert at p.vandergert@uel.ac.uk. For additional information on the TURAS project seehere, oremail marcus.collier@tcd.ie.

Can plants help to improve the air quality? People have often complained about Ivy on buildings, but research by Helix Pflanzen GmbH, a company that is specialised in the cultivation of ivy species and the development of green wall technology, is shedding new light on an old problem. Using a cultivated variety of ivy (Hedera helix ‘Wörner’), experiments were carried out that illustrated the binding effect that this Ivy has on fine dust particles. This is particularly important in urban areas, where fine dust can lead to significant impacts on quality of life. If you have any difficulty accessing this document, or you would like to know more about theConnecting Natureproject, pleaseemail marcus.collier@tcd.ie.

The scope of this Deliverable is to: To provide substantive analysis, visualisation and communication tools tailored to each application area, in addition to the general database support with contextual information (TURAS City Viewer / webGIS). Integrate the partners’ expertise and existing technologies into the tools. Work in close collaboration with other project partners especially work package leaders on development of tools and respective applications. Provide a training workshop for all project partners on the common support database (webGIS) and tools. To assist local authorities in integration of the webGIS framework and tools with their existing ICT and planning infrastructure. To evaluate the usefulness of these tools for the local authorities. For additional information on this deliverable please email Zorica Nedović-Budić at znb.ucd@gmail.com. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Nedović-Budić, Z., Corcoran, A. and Collier, M.J. (2015) Framework for G-ICT infrastructure: integrated database and tools. Deliverable 1.2 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/5281/zenodo.3940925.

The TURAS Solutions focus on municipal and regional public stakeholders as the main user group potentially functioning as catalysts by facilitating the application of TURAS Solutions in diverse urban-regional contexts throughout Europe. Nonetheless, all products can also be accessed and used by individual and/or non-public actors interested in sustainability transitions. The “TURAS Solutions” have been made available via the website since year three of the project and used for project internal activities, such as local dissemination events under WP8 or the development of “integrated Transition Strategies” for the TURAS urban-regional partners under WP7. The final structure of the TURAS website including the “TURAS Solutions” section and the re-organisation into the four final “product types” allows for more intuitive but topically focussed browsing of the TURAs Solutions content. This final version is transferred into a “frozen version” of the TURAS website, ensuring the accessibility and usability of TURAS content beyond the end of the project for a wider community. For additional information on the TURAS project seehere, oremail marcus.collier@tcd.ie.

Why is governance so central to sustainability transitions? A superficial answer to this question would argue that these transitions are about the policies for and the politics of a significant move towards a resilient and sustainable society. This answer correctly emphasizes the important interplay between the State, civil society and the market in formulating appropriate measures (policies for transitions) as well as the importance of bargaining power when it comes to negotiating between alternative trajectories (politics of transition). But on a deeper and arguably more relevant level, the reason why governance constitutes both a bottleneck and a key to societal transitions is that the latter will involve a much broader, complex and fuzzier set of interventions than merely formulating adequate policies: changing the current social-ecological regimes in European cities and regions will require transcending the State-civil society-market triangle and overcome seemingly insurmountable barriers, powerful vested interests, incommensurate metrics, dazzling complexities and a multiplicity of agencies: in practice, the State is not a unified actor but includes both political and administrative agencies; civil society is also diverse and contains potentially antagonistic interests; finally, the market is a place where radically different players such as multinational corporations and small family business interact. Dealing with such an intricate problem as social-ecological transitions therefore requires new ways of approaching societal problems, forging new politico-economic alliances and reframing the terms of the debate – and many of the innovations necessary to achieve this are likely to be social and related to governance rather than technological. So how can we govern the adaption of European cities and regions to the urgency of the current social, environmental and economic crises? How can we make extant governance models more adaptive so as to ensure sustainable and resilient transitions rather than short-run solutions? For additional information on this deliverable please email Stephan Kampelmann at stephan@osmosnetwork.com For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Kampelmann, Stephan, Vandergert, Paula, Van Den Abeele, Patrick and Collier, Marcus J. (2015) Adaptive Governance and Economic Resilience. Deliverable 6.8 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941480.

Urban regions face a wide spectrum of challenges. They are home to over half of the world population, but occupy a relatively small area, resulting in pressures related to a limited amount of natural resources such as space and water. Moreover, both the societal system and the natural system are in constant flux resulting in constantly changing boundary conditions. This relates to, inter alia, the climate, demographics and the economy. In order to adequately tackle todays and tomorrows challenges, urban areas need to anticipate and adapt in their planning policies for the city in a strategic way. This strategic urban planning concerns not only spatial planning, but relates to all sectors that are relevant in a city (e.g. energy, waste, water, transport). To support effective strategic urban planning, policy and decision makers need information on the changing state of their urban environment, on how certain measures/policies affects this, and how unwanted impacts (e.g. heat stress, flood risk, traffic jams) are reduced. Correspondingly, strategic urban planning requires the merge of environmental analyses and the policy process with all relevant stakeholders (which will be discussed in Chapter 2). This document reports on various tools and methods that have been developed to aid decision making within this joint analytical and policy framework. This research has been performed in various settings (cities) and related to various themes, namely energy (Aalborg), flooding and water management (Rotterdam and Ljubljana), green roofs (London), urban climate (Rotterdam) and transport (Ljubljana). Experiences from not only the research performed, but also from explicitly reflecting on past activities shed some light on the governance associated with the policy process and implementation. These experiences teach us that people and timing play a crucial role in the actual execution. Timing relates to the time horizons of different actors (e.g. researchers, politicians, practitioners) and processes (e.g. urban development and maintenance of embankments), as well as seizing opportunities when possible. Co-creation of knowledge and plans is important here, which requires coordination and cooperation from the very beginning between different actors. Above all, strategic urban planning comes down to people, at all levels (policy analysis, policy making, decision making). People with an open mind who are dedicated, value an integrated approach, and can work in interdisciplinary settings with various stakeholders. Time to build trust and a dedicated coordinator to keep the process going are required for this. The best way to cooperate is to start acting. While learning by doing, capacity is built in terms of knowledge and the right mind-set of people involved who can then recognize future opportunities and keep awareness and support high. By investing and engaging in the knowledge base of its people, a city will become more resilient when facing new challenges in the future. For more information on this Deliverable please email Hans de Moel at hans.de.moel@vu.nl For additional information on the TURAS project see here, oremail marcus.collier@tcd.ie.

At present urban sprawl is considered to be the main threat to sustainable urban development by most urban planners. As a trend that was first been observed in North America after the Second World War, it was not seen as a threat to urban development until the 1980s. It was then, with the evolution of the concept of sustainability, that the attitude of planners, most professionals and the wider public changed. In Europe, these problems were faced somewhat later – they became a focus of planners’ concern and research late in the 1990s and particularly in the 2000s. The European Environment Agency (EEA) issued several important documents raising public awareness about the threats that sprawl presented to the environment, the most important being the 2006 report “Urban sprawl in Europe – The ignored challenge”. Cities, as a rule, expand as they grow. To explain why urban sprawl is a threat, urban growth and expansion should be differentiated. Urban growth is, generally, positive – cities are growing because they are becoming more competitive, provide more and better jobs and bolster a vibrant, local economy. However, sprawl is excessive urban expansion, resulting in expansive, low density neighbourhoods. The proponents of sprawl argue that “sprawl is sweet” because it reflects the preferences of residents to live in larger plots in quiet, low density residential areas with a lot of open spaces and greenery. The opponents of sprawl, too, agree that the growth of cities is positive, but sprawl occurs when cities grow excessively, i.e. when the expansion of the urbanised area outstrips the growth of its population. Thus each resident consumes land for housing and for infrastructure excessively, as well as resources such as gas, for commuting. The EEA report of 2006 outlines several major negative impacts of sprawl. Sprawl above all excessively consumes land, raw materials and fuels. Excessive consumption of land means excessive loss of rural land, which is sealed and many of its properties are lost. Biodiversity is sharply reduced. In addition to land, raw materials and fuels, the consumption of water and the production of exhaust emissions are also excessive and affect the climate. Thus the price paid by society for sprawl is high, especially in view that most of the resources consumed are non-renewable. Although the residents of low density suburbs may enjoy open spaces, greenery and high standard of living, suburbs also often become dormitory housing areas, which are socially segregated and less lively than compact, urban settlements. For additional information on this deliverable please email Aleksandar Slaev at slaev@vfu.bg. For additional information on the TURAS project seehere, oremail marcus.collier@tcd.ie.

Work Package 2 (WP2) of the TURAS (Transitioning towards Urban Resilience and Sustainability) FP7 European Research and Knowledge Exchange Programme provides a unique and comprehensive reference for those interested in current understanding in relation to the benefits that green infrastructure can bring to cities in terms of increasing sustainability and resilience. To contextualise current understanding, it is necessary to understand the historical context of urban development. Architecture and planning theories since Le Corbusier’ Ville Radieuse axiom, almost one century ago, theorised and advised that green space should be one of the basic components of human urban settlements. Nevertheless, due to numerous constraints and the prioritisation of economic and social drivers for urbanisation, the key foci leading the development of European cities have been those for which green space was not always an intrinsic consideration or, if it was considered, was restricted in scope and functionality. Work package 2 activity units are showcases of work carried out under work package 2 that will be carried forward into the dissemination phase of TURAS through a series of workshops to help Public Authorities transition towards more sustainable and resilient communities. Workshops will be designed to benefit all stakeholders in the urban planning process. Activity Units from WP2 will showcase: how urban green infrastructure can be embedded at the heart of sustainable urban design; best practice for cost/benefit analysis of green infrastructure projects; how decision-making tools can support the design and planning process for urban green infrastructure; how biodiversity can benefit from design incorporating biomimicry of regional context; how green infrastructure can be embedded into planning guidance; how to design urban green infrastructure to create multifunctional ecosystem service benefits; good practice for the entire process of urban green infrastructure implementation from idea through to installation and management. For additional information on this deliverable please email Stuart Connop at s.p.connop@uel.ac.uk. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, oremail marcus.collier@tcd.ie.

The scope of this deliverable is to: Identify the necessary datasets by type, scale, availability, accuracy, format and accessibility. Identify the particular data needs, approaches and procedures to support the specific functional and analytical requirements for each of work packages 2 to 6. Establish a common lexicon and mutual understanding of the common needs for spatial data resources and analytical functions. Finalise the plans for development of the support framework for specific project management and communication needs. For additional information on this deliverable please email Zorica Nedović-Budić at znb.ucd@gmail.com. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Nedović-Budić, Z., Corcoran, A. and Collier, M.J. (2013) G-ICT based Inventory. Deliverable 1.1 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3940920.

Deliverable 8.12 is related to Task 8.2 Development and maintenance of interactive communications platform. The scope of this deliverable is limited to the provision of an initial information site for the TURAS project, describing partners, work programme, goals, timeline and relevant links. This introductory website will be developed over the coming months into an innovative web platform which will be positioned as a new model and a future benchmark for enabling adaptive governance, collaborative decision-making between local authorities and urban communities and which will ultimately result in behavioural change among European citizens. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: McQuaid, S. and Collier, M.J. (2011) Initial information site for the TURAS Project, describing partners, work programme, goals, timeline and relevant links. Deliverable 8.1 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941772.

The objectives of these events were to disseminate and exchange the solutions developed within the framework of TURAS foremost with other local authority officials but also with interested politicians, SMEs, academic institutions and the public. The events enabled an exchange on TURAS outcomes with actors outside the TURAS project especially regarding their adaptation to varying local contexts. These events have contributed significantly to the effective exploitation of TURAS results by the target group. The events took place either on a regional, national or international scale. They were free of charge and widely promoted through the TURAS communication channels and through the communication channels of the partners organising the events. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: McQuaid, S., Schuchmann, S. and Collier, M.J. (2011) TURAS Exploitation Strategy. Deliverable 8.4 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941799.

This task is concerned with developing the initial dissemination and exploitation strategy and plan for TURAS detailing the objectives and planned activities for the duration of the project. This will include an overview of the key messages, target audiences, communication activities and expected results. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: McQuaid, S. and Collier, M.J. (2011) TURAS Dissemination Strategy. Deliverable 8.3 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941788.

Work Package 2 (WP2) of the TURAS (Transitioning towards Urban Resilience and Sustainability) FP7 European Research and Knowledge Exchange Programme provides a unique and comprehensive reference for those interested in current understanding in relation to the benefits that green infrastructure can bring to cities in terms of increasing sustainability and resilience. To contextualise current understanding, it is necessary to understand the historical context of urban development. Architecture and planning theories since Le Corbusier’ Ville Radieuse axiom, almost one century ago, theorised and advised that green space should be one of the basic components of human urban settlements. Nevertheless, due to numerous constraints and the prioritisation of economic and social drivers for urbanisation, the key foci leading the development of European cities have been those for which green space was not always an intrinsic consideration or, if it was considered, was restricted in scope and functionality. Work package 2 activity units are showcases of work carried out under work package 2 that will be carried forward into the dissemination phase of TURAS through a series of workshops to help Public Authorities transition towards more sustainable and resilient communities. Workshops will be designed to benefit all stakeholders in the urban planning process. Activity Units from WP2 will showcase: how urban green infrastructure can be embedded at the heart of sustainable urban design; best practice for cost/benefit analysis of green infrastructure projects; how decision-making tools can support the design and planning process for urban green infrastructure; how biodiversity can benefit from design incorporating biomimicry of regional context; how green infrastructure can be embedded into planning guidance; how to design urban green infrastructure to create multifunctional ecosystem service benefits; good practice for the entire process of urban green infrastructure implementation from idea through to installation and management. For additional information on this deliverable please email Stuart Connop at s.p.connop@uel.ac.uk. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Connop, S., Salvemini, M., Berardi, L., Newport, D. and Collier, M.J. (2014) Activity units for re-greening cities. Deliverable 2.3 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3940927.

This report proceeds from the research work of the TURAS project, working package 6: Short Circuit Economies. The overall goal of the work package is to produce a model for urban resilience and sustainability transitioning. Within the TURAS project, this work package examines ways to improve urban resilience at the economic and business scale. The deliverables that will be produced will all focus on the supportive instruments that could be implemented by local authorities to enhance an increased reliance on local goods and services within the urban areas. The academic partners in work package 6 will critically review the concepts linked to achieving local, sustainable economic resilience and what are the important conditions for local authorities to provide the right framework for the transition towards resilience of urban economies. In the light of a new approach to establishing guidelines for fostering innovation, a decision was taken to use the concepts and insights of the literature on ‘adaptive governance’, and apply them to the research and evaluation of a series of case studies, each of which is dedicated to testing a public intervention to support local and sustainable economic activity. This has not been attempted in an urban economic setting. In designing this interaction between the research and the local authority partner case studies, this new aim is to produce a novel framework of analysis of economic resilience, to produce policy recommendations and to elaborate a practical tool for the use by a local authority to support economically resilient cities. Adaptive governance and collaborative processes are explicitly mentioned as core challenges in urban resilience planning within the original call of topic. This is also under investigation in different disciplines within TURAS work packages (2,3, and 4), but they are not expressly addressed through the research of those work packages. Therefore, a new research framework incorporating adaptive governance concepts provides a useful analytical framework for work package 6 to integrate within the general architecture of the different research work packages of TURAS. The research results will combine into the overall integration strategy for transitioning towards resilience at local level that TURAS is aiming to deliver in 2016. Furthermore, the outputs in terms of research around governance from an academic point of view and also from a practical point of view could contribute to cement the bonds between the different WPs and give consistency to the transversal layer of the different WPs. For additional information on this deliverable please email Paula Vandergert at p.vandergert@uel.ac.uk. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Kampelmann, Stephan, Vandergert, Paula and Collier, Marcus J. (2015) Plan of work for developing a strategy to support Sustainable and Resilient Economic Activity Locally (SREAL). Deliverable 6.7 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941486.

Transition towards more resilient and sustainable urban futures can only be successful as an integrated undertaking. Within the scope of TURAS, Work Package (WP) 7 aims to reframe and combine local research undertaken in WP 1-6 towards knowledge that is applicable outside the original geographical locations and beyond the duration of the original research project. WP7 activities are thus focused on the development of “Integrated Transition Strategies” (ITS), which reorganize and structure the output of TURAS research into larger transferable entities while developing and applying a guiding conceptual framework. This Integrated Transition Framework draws on a diverse set of conceptual foundations in resilience and transition management research, with strategic spatial planning (SSP) being its main frame of reference. Termed “Integrated Transition Strategy” (ITS) or “4Corner”- Framework, it is oriented along the four basic steps of SSP and consists of four main modules defined as System or “creating systemic knowledge”, Vision or “developing shared visions”, Strategy or “developing adaptive strategies” and Project or “implementing pilot projects”. It integrates the descriptive analytical concept of resilience with the normative concept of sustainability and has been developed to inform a planning approach that encourages transition. As a first step towards integration, WP7 developed and applied a methodology that would allow for a translation of research on and for specific locations to applicable products for generic locations. During the course of WP7 activities, separable units of research activities (called “Activity Units” or ACUs) were first identified by the academic partners and then re- packaged and structured according pre-defined categories informed by the 4Corner framework and provided by WP7. The resulting “Catalogue” of ACUs aimed at providing an overview of implementable TURAS output. Each ACU contains information related to the underlying challenging urban situation addressed by the activity, the visions it corresponded to, needed resources, details on implementation and the main contact person. In the long run, WP7 aims to supplement this basic information with additional content such as expected resilience trade-offs and long term sustainability impacts. Parallel to the translation of specific research outcomes into generalized, transferrable and cross-locational content, a second strand of WP7 activities sought to facilitate the generation of localized strategies that would integrate, apply and test TURAS output. To this aim, the Integrated Transition Strategy (ITS) framework was used as a tool to guide (TURAS) cities through a process of developing their own localized transition strategy, referred to as City Integrated Transition Strategy (City ITS). The creation of individual City ITS’s was employed in order to identify connections and establish generic links between a complex set of urban challenges and available Activity Units (ACUs) for any given city. At the same time, City ITS Development also presented an intermediate step towards the development of individual city narratives that serve to capture and disseminate local transition experiences and tacit process knowledge generated in TURAS locations. As a next step, relationships between urban challenges and Activity Units will need to be strengthened and related to a generic approach that can be easily understood, interpreted and applied by cities outside and beyond TURAS. WP7 thus suggests the development of integrated topical strategies, (so-called “Starter Projects”) that combine relevant applicable ACUs within the 4C framework. Ultimately, combining an easily accessible choice of generic but thematically integrated transition strategies with individual localized transition narratives presents a new and distinctive approach to transition knowledge management that will be further developed and elaborated in collaboration with local TURAS partners in the course of upcoming WP7 activities. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Stumpp, E.-M., Hartmann, J, Chiesa, C. and Collier, M.J. (2016) TURAS Integrated Transition Strategy. Deliverable 7.2 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941756.

Deliverable 3.4 “Spatial scenarios for urban neighbourhoods” marks the culmination of the research phase of Work Package 3 and the commencement of the next demonstration phase. Within Work package 3 (WP3), tasks 3.2 to 3.9 have contributed to Deliverable 3.4, via the stages of the four milestones detailed in Section 3 of this report. Work Package 3 concludes with Milestone 18, an inventory of demonstration sites in the partner cities where transition strategies emerging from the research work in Work Package 3 will be trialled in Task 3.9. Impacts and results of pilot actions on demonstration sites will be measured in Task 3.10, which will act as the link between the output of Work Package 3 and Work Package 7 “Integrated Transition Strategies”. Key high-level findings and conclusions are summarised as follows: Urban resilience precipitates a paradigm shift from command and control processes to adaptive and flexible approaches that recognise that change is the only constant and respects that citizens have knowledge of systems and their own actions. Urban resilience is not a new or abstract idea. There are examples of urban resilience in practice existing within the TURAS partner cities and regions, although the language of resilience thinking may not be referenced. Urban resilience promotes the use of systems thinking in relation to cities, highlighting that all systems are interconnected and interdependent, and emphasising the import of a synoptic view and layering of datasets in GIS in order to make connections and identify opportunities and vulnerabilities. Urban resilience requires the active engagement of citizens with their place and one another in order to build awareness and participation in effecting change. Urban resilience is operationalised through a continuous process of learning, adapting and adjusting generally referred to as adaptive co-management. For further information on this deliverable please email Karen Foley at Karen.Foley@UCD.ie. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Crowe, P., Foley, K. and Collier, M.J. (2014) Spatial scenarios for urban neighbourhoods. Deliverable 3.4 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3940966

At present urban sprawl is considered to be the main threat to sustainable urban development by most urban planners. As a trend that was first been observed in North America after the Second World War, it was not seen as a threat to urban development until the 1980s. It was then, with the evolution of the concept of sustainability, that the attitude of planners, most professionals and the wider public changed. In Europe, these problems were faced somewhat later – they became a focus of planners’ concern and research late in the 1990s and particularly in the 2000s. The European Environment Agency (EEA) issued several important documents raising public awareness about the threats that sprawl presented to the environment, the most important being the 2006 report “Urban sprawl in Europe – The ignored challenge”. Cities, as a rule, expand as they grow. To explain why urban sprawl is a threat, urban growth and expansion should be differentiated. Urban growth is, generally, positive – cities are growing because they are becoming more competitive, provide more and better jobs and bolster a vibrant, local economy. However, sprawl is excessive urban expansion, resulting in expansive, low density neighbourhoods. The proponents of sprawl argue that “sprawl is sweet” because it reflects the preferences of residents to live in larger plots in quiet, low density residential areas with a lot of open spaces and greenery. The opponents of sprawl, too, agree that the growth of cities is positive, but sprawl occurs when cities grow excessively, i.e. when the expansion of the urbanised area outstrips the growth of its population. Thus each resident consumes land for housing and for infrastructure excessively, as well as resources such as gas, for commuting. The EEA report of 2006 outlines several major negative impacts of sprawl. Sprawl above all excessively consumes land, raw materials and fuels. Excessive consumption of land means excessive loss of rural land, which is sealed and many of its properties are lost. Biodiversity is sharply reduced. In addition to land, raw materials and fuels, the consumption of water and the production of exhaust emissions are also excessive and affect the climate. Thus the price paid by society for sprawl is high, especially in view that most of the resources consumed are non-renewable. Although the residents of low density suburbs may enjoy open spaces, greenery and high standard of living, suburbs also often become dormitory housing areas, which are socially segregated and less lively than compact, urban settlements. For additional information on this deliverable please email Aleksandar Slaev at slaev@vfu.bg. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Slaev, A., Krunic, N., Zekovic, S., Vujosevic, M., Pichler-Milanovic, N., Baffioni, C., Guttadauria, I., Odorico, M., Vallocchia, S., Voglino, A.M., Maricic, T.; Petric, J., Bajic, T., Nikiforov, N., Konakchiev, D., Nikolov, N., Daskalova, D., Lyubenov, Y., Topchiev, H. and Collier, Marcus J. (2014) Report on the balance between planning and the market relating to sustainable and resilient development of suburban areas. Deliverable 5.6 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941456.

Urban regions face a wide spectrum of challenges. They are home to over half of the world population, but occupy a relatively small area, resulting in pressures related to a limited amount of natural resources such as space and water. Moreover, both the societal system and the natural system are in constant flux resulting in constantly changing boundary conditions. This relates to, inter alia, the climate, demographics and the economy. In order to adequately tackle todays and tomorrows challenges, urban areas need to anticipate and adapt in their planning policies for the city in a strategic way. This strategic urban planning concerns not only spatial planning, but relates to all sectors that are relevant in a city (e.g. energy, waste, water, transport). To support effective strategic urban planning, policy and decision makers need information on the changing state of their urban environment, on how certain measures/policies affects this, and how unwanted impacts (e.g. heat stress, flood risk, traffic jams) are reduced. Correspondingly, strategic urban planning requires the merge of environmental analyses and the policy process with all relevant stakeholders (which will be discussed in Chapter 2). This document reports on various tools and methods that have been developed to aid decision making within this joint analytical and policy framework. This research has been performed in various settings (cities) and related to various themes, namely energy (Aalborg), flooding and water management (Rotterdam and Ljubljana), green roofs (London), urban climate (Rotterdam) and transport (Ljubljana). Experiences from not only the research performed, but also from explicitly reflecting on past activities shed some light on the governance associated with the policy process and implementation. These experiences teach us that people and timing play a crucial role in the actual execution. Timing relates to the time horizons of different actors (e.g. researchers, politicians, practitioners) and processes (e.g. urban development and maintenance of embankments), as well as seizing opportunities when possible. Co-creation of knowledge and plans is important here, which requires coordination and cooperation from the very beginning between different actors. Above all, strategic urban planning comes down to people, at all levels (policy analysis, policy making, decision making). People with an open mind who are dedicated, value an integrated approach, and can work in interdisciplinary settings with various stakeholders. Time to build trust and a dedicated coordinator to keep the process going are required for this. The best way to cooperate is to start acting. While learning by doing, capacity is built in terms of knowledge and the right mind-set of people involved who can then recognize future opportunities and keep awareness and support high. By investing and engaging in the knowledge base of its people, a city will become more resilient when facing new challenges in the future. For more information on this Deliverable please email Hans de Moel at hans.de.moel@vu.nl For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: de Moel, H., Derkzen, M.L., Koks, E.E., Aerts, J., Verburg, P., van Barneveld, N., Nijhuis, L., Nielsen, S., Möller, B., Rijavec, R., Griessler-Bulc, T., Detellbach, S., Jarni, K., Kompare, B., Krivograd-Klemenčič, A., Pichler- Milanović, N., Šemrov, D., Uršič, M., Velkavrh, J., Žura, M., Trbižan, G.. Gojčič, M., Brimicombe, A., LI, Y. and Collier, Marcus J. (2014) Improved planning for urban resilience and sustainability – tools, measures and recommendations. Deliverable 4.5 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3940969.

Can plants help to improve the air quality? People have often complained about Ivy on buildings, but research by Helix Pflanzen GmbH, a company that is specialised in the cultivation of ivy species and the development of green wall technology, is shedding new light on an old problem. Using a cultivated variety of ivy (Hedera helix ‘Wörner’), experiments were carried out that illustrated the binding effect that this Ivy has on fine dust particles. This is particularly important in urban areas, where fine dust can lead to significant impacts on quality of life. If you have any difficulty accessing this document, or you would like to know more about the Connecting Nature project, please email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Gölasdorf, Katrin, Müller, Hans and Collier, Marcus J. (2015) Green Walls for Clean Air. Poster from the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3923770.

The TURAS Solutions focus on municipal and regional public stakeholders as the main user group potentially functioning as catalysts by facilitating the application of TURAS Solutions in diverse urban-regional contexts throughout Europe. Nonetheless, all products can also be accessed and used by individual and/or non-public actors interested in sustainability transitions. The “TURAS Solutions” have been made available via the website since year three of the project and used for project internal activities, such as local dissemination events under WP8 or the development of “integrated Transition Strategies” for the TURAS urban-regional partners under WP7. The final structure of the TURAS website including the “TURAS Solutions” section and the re-organisation into the four final “product types” allows for more intuitive but topically focussed browsing of the TURAs Solutions content. This final version is transferred into a “frozen version” of the TURAS website, ensuring the accessibility and usability of TURAS content beyond the end of the project for a wider community. For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie., Suggested citation: Stumpp, Eva-Maria, Chiesa, Cecilia, Hartmann, Julia and Collier, Marcus J. (2015) Integrated Transition Strategies :proposed methodology. Deliverable 7.1 of the TURAS FP7 Project. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3941633.