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Urban green infrastructure has historically been used for aesthetical purposes, making landscapes visually pleasant. More recently the green infrastructure in urban and suburban areas has started to be applied to help solve a broad range of problems that city dwellers are facing. These problems include natural disasters, overheating, excessive flows rainwater, biodiversity decline and food insecurity among others. Thus, implementation of green infrastructure as Nature-based Solutions has become increasingly popular. This trend is likely to continue in future as global climate change poses more and more changes to city dwellers. Urbanization and population growth are likely to drive implementation of urban green infrastructure across the globe and especially in the Global South, where impacts of the global heating are likely to be particularly strong. Implementation of green infrastructure may be developed either mostly for aesthetical purposes or as Nature-based Solutions or both. It is, however, important to note that the integrated approach is likely to have the greatest potential to meet global challenges. Furthermore, implementation of the green infrastructure is likely to have the greatest positive impact when implemented as a holistic system rather than individual elements. Thus, there is a clear need to evaluate opportunities for green infrastructure development that could simultaneously maximize aesthetic impact and effectiveness of the urban green and blue spaces to act as Nature-based Solutions. Here we illustrate some of the variables and system dynamics involved. Using a simplified model with specific focus on food supply, system structural analysis suggests that the urbanization variables commonly considered in urban design models are not closely connected with those that would provide long-term sustainability. The positive feedback between variables within each of these two groups and negative impacts between groups create barriers to their combined assessment for practical mitigation actions. The various sub-systems and an expanded variable set can ideally be addressed with a similar methodology. We also discuss opportunities for integration and provide recommendations for policy makers, city planners and other stakeholders involved in construction and management of urban landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global heating is happening at an unprecedented speed. As a result, both human society and natural ecosystems are facing significant challenges. Numerous tools and policies are being implemented both for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Substantial amount of funding has been pledged by international governments and private corporations to support these efforts. One of particularly promising tools that tends to gain popularity for addressing climate change are Nature-based Solutions. These tools can be used for both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Additional benefits provided by the application of Nature-based Solutions include support of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, which in turn foster well-being of the human society. Implementation of the solutions, however, is challenging and requires stakeholder support, thorough research, multi-stakeholder collaboration and financial resources. Implementation and management of Nature-based Solutions for climate change may take several decades until they reach their full potential. This makes stakeholder engagement and attraction of essential investments particularly problematic. Application of modern technologies can support implementation of the solutions and help overcoming the above listed challenges. However, the use of information technologies in design, management and implementation of the Nature based Solutions tends to be limited, in particular in the Global South, where resource constraints and lack of awareness and/or skills may discourage stakeholders from use of the technologies. Thus, we discuss opportunities for application of modern technologies for implementation of Nature-based Solutions and the ways to lower financial and other barriers to their application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geopark networks are expanding globally, with the main purpose to protect geoheritage. In many places of the world geopark sites are associated with local cultural heritage and indigenous people. These links sometimes are synergistic, whereby geoparks serve as important protected areas that allow for preservation of important cultural objects and even support livelihoods of indigenous people. However, in some cases geopark development is perceived negatively by local communities and might have potentially damaging effects on local culture. Geopark networks are likely to expand and may have important contribution to local culture preservation. However, in order to successfully implement new geoparks it is important to understand factors contributing to their positive effects on local cultures and the ways to address potential conflict areas. In this article we critically evaluate these factors, considering both synergies and conflicts, and propose recommendations for new geopark siting and management that could help to maximise their contribution to cultural conservation and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical areas with high biodiversity, high geodiversity and high cultural diversity tend to coincide. However, conservation strategies tend to consider these aspect of diversity separately, instead of considering them all together. Application of an integrated approach could potentially improve effectiveness of conservation actions and deliver significant benefits both to human and to the natural environment. Practical implementation of the integrated approach might, however, be problematic due to the fact that conservation actions have to consider different aspects of regional and global environmental change. In this context protecting isolated areas with high biodiversity, geodiversity and/or cultural diversity might not deliver desirable outcomes. Consequences of ongoing climate change deserve particular attention as it is not clear how flora and fauna could adapt to climate change in areas with currently low levels of geodiversity, and which consequences this might have for human society. Here we critically evaluate opportunities and limitations of an integrated approach to conservation of biodiversity, geodiversity and cultural diversity in the context of global environmental change, and consider potential applications of Nature-based Solutions to address this issue. Based on this critical analysis we propose practical and policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security is one of the most important issues that needs to be addressed in order to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals. Currently multiple technologies are used in conventional agricultural practices, including application of artificial intelligence and GIS. However, the technologies are rarely considered in sustainable farming practices. Organic agriculture, although gaining traction in recent times, mostly relies on traditional, rather than technologically advanced approaches. There are, however, multiple opportunities to increase efficiency and effectiveness of sustainable farming by integrating it with modern technology. Implementation of such solutions would be particularly important in the Global South, where food insecurity is a severe problem. Obstacles to implementation of highly technological solutions in this context generally include lack of finance and skills. However, recent advances in technologies address both these problems. Thus, it is essential to consider application of modern GIS and artificial intelligence for facilitation of sustainable farming globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest restoration programmes take place globally and lay a pivotal role in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss. Often restoration programmes are based on simple plantation schemes, evenly planting trees that later on might contribute to economic activity. This, however, does not seem to be sufficient for supporting biodiversity. Recent research suggests that successful restorations should match original ecological patterns in any particular landscape, assuming that severe erosion and changing soil conditions have not taken place during disturbances. This means that understanding natural historic patterns is vital. However, achieving such understanding is often challenging, given the fact that historic satellite imagery is generally available only for relatively short time periods. It is therefore important, if possible, to model former landscape ecological patterns. Modelling might be based on different site-specific approaches and historical records. However, most powerful tools available today include deep learning and artificial intelligence. Construction and training of neural networks might allow simulation of historical forest patterns in cases when satellite imagery is not available for long time periods. Application of this technique is very likely to have important practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe currently faces a range of serious ecological problems, such as collapse of avifauna, decline of pollinator biodiversity and widespread soil erosion. Multiple factors affect ecological processes at landscape and regional scales. Most recent European Union (EU) agenda intends to address biodiversity decline and climate change by implementation of green infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and forestry, as well a range of other interventions. However, European Commission generally moves towards decentralization and delegation of policy implementation and activity design to local governments of the member states. Lack of coordination in planning at a regional scale is likely to undermine overall effectiveness of biodiversity conservation. Thus, using conceptual research approach - theory adaptation, present study demonstrates the need for united pan-European conservation planning based on landscape ecology and robust remote sensing techniques. Ecological rationale supporting the need for regional scale conservation are discussed and application opportunities of most recent advances in remote sensing are critically evaluated. Currently available empirical evidence suggests that without planning and design of the landscape pattern at cross-border regional scale ecosystems are unlikely to be resilient in the context of global environmental change. At the same time lack of ecosystem resilience is likely to undermine biodiversity, which underpins multiple ecosystem services crucial for human well-being. Recent advances in the field of remote sensing allow for highly effective biodiversity conservation planning. Exploration of these issues clearly indicates the need for implementation of regional rather than national scale conservation planning and implementation across Europe. Further research at the interface of landscape ecology and remote sensing could substantially advance EU level biodiversity conservation success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large scale infrastructure construction projects and industrial activity including mining, energy and manufacturing usually involve complex trade-offs on competing land-uses. As a result, often industrial and construction initiatives lead to biodiversity loss. Regional and landscape scale planning may be used to minimise negative impacts on natural ecosystems, thereby contributing to achievement of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. Modern geographic information systems (GIS) and information technology (IT) can be very helpful here. However, full potential of the use of these tools requires deep understanding on what exactly are capabilities of modern technology in mitigation of androgenetic activity on biosphere. In present article conceptual research methods are used to synthesise and critically evaluate opportunities provided by modern GIS and IT technologies, with particular focus on remote sensing and big data applications. Lack of clear understanding of available technological tools, many of which are based on open access resources and software, may be impeding stakeholders from achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This situation can be avoided through provision of relevant information and training to stakeholders involved in infrastructure and industrial initiatives. The present article helps to understand the application of relevant GIS and IT tools in large scale land-use management planning and provides recommendations to governmental agencies, conservation actors, developers and corporation managers on cost-effective ways of the technology application for minimization of harmful impacts of anthropogenic activity on the environment. Widespread uptake of the proposed technology applications may have a significant contribution to achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals with minimal costs and maximal effectiveness [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]