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Though most cities, particularly in the Global North, have been intensely modified by human activities certain locations still exist in varied forms of abandonment or disinvestment, often allowing for new species assemblages to flourish. These urban novel ecosystems or informal wild spaces are often perceived as in-between or over- looked, calling into question their value and social-ecological role, while also creating tensions amongst different groups and stakeholders who share different visions for their use and management. Within these tensions, issues of justice and equity can be more pronounced and surface historic legacies of environmental contamination, inequitable development, and extraction. Despite this, very little is known about the social-ecological role informal wild spaces play in urban areas, and how best to interrogate and understand the equity and justice dimensions they elicit. To fill this gap in knowledge, this paper critically examines the literature on urban novel ecosystems in relation to justice, with a particular interest in multispecies justice. Through this analysis, gaps in the literature are exposed, while also arguing the informality, neglect and contestation of wild urban spaces provides opportunities to explore issues of access, benefits and harms, particularly in light of global climate and ecological crises. A systematic approach is utilized to search the literature, identifying 45 papers which are thematically analyzed under a justice lens. The study identifies three themes that thread throughout the literature: distributional injustices relate to perceptions and attitudes, which give rise or arise from injustices; the regeneration discourse focuses on a ‘new nature’, which is based on social-ecological displacement and devaluation; and the potential of urban wild spaces to generate new multispecies sensibilities. The paper concludes by discussing trends, gaps, and emerging discourses, and proposing a multispecies justice approach for urban planning through the learnings and engagement with urban wild, novel ecosystems.

Editorial for a special issue on Nature-based Solutions in the Journal of Urban Forestry and Urban Greening.

A robust impact assessment framework entails careful reflection and planning of monitoring and evaluation processes that pertain to the design of nature-based solutions. By definition, nature-based solutions are multifunctional. NBS assessment is central to evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of specific interventions against strategic city goals. The ultimate goal is to gather long-term solid evidence about nature-based solutions performance in particular urban contexts and for different social groups. In turn, this evidence can support smart policy decisions and adaptive co-management aspects of the NBS stewardship once installed, as well as enhance sustainability, well-being, and resilience in cities. The Connecting Nature Impact Assessment Framework is a process aimed at supporting cities in developing and successfully implementing robust monitoring and evaluation plans that can deliver systematic and comparable evidence as to NBS effectiveness. This framework represents an essential tool for adapting NBS design and implementation in real-time. Consequently, NBS interventions performance increases, and NBS can be maintained and revitalized over time., Suggested citation: Dumitru, A., Tomé Lourido, D., Collier, M.J., Connop, S., Dick, G., Rhodes, M.-L., Sermpezi, R., and Young, C. (2022). Impact Assessment: a Connecting Nature Guidebook. Brussels: DG Research and Innovation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7503843

This guidebook offers a practical approach and toolbox for setting up and applying reflexive monitoring. It will help practitioners to deepen their understanding of reflexive monitoring’s methodology. Think of it like a cookbook that offers the ingredients, illustrations, and steps needed to get a great result, but instead of whipping up a tasty meal, you’re designing your very own reflexive monitoring process., Suggested citation: Lodder, M., Allaert, K., Mulders, W., Collier, M.J., Dick, G., Frantzeskaki, N., Georgiou, P., González, G., Hölscher, K., Kelly, S., Madajczyk, N., Notermans, I., Pašić, B., Prieto González, A., Sillen, D., & Vos, P. (2022). A practical guide to using reflexive monitoring for nature-based solutions: a Connecting Nature Guidebook. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7501579

Nature-based solutions are complex, however, and many organisations do not have the capabilities in-house to design, deliver and manage them. Recent reports (UnaLab 2020) have shown that finding skilled and experienced suppliers is a major roadblock in the wider uptake of nature-based solutions. Nature-based enterprises can help to meet this challenge. They support cities, private-sector and third-sector organisations in the planning, delivery, and management or stewardship of nature-based solutions in urban, peri-urban (immediately adjacent to a city or urban area), and rural contexts. This guidebook helps to clarify what a nature-based enterprise is, how to find skilled and experienced nature-based enterprises and how to stimulate and support the start-up, financing, and growth of nature-based enterprises., Suggested citation: McQuaid, S., Kooijman, E., Fletcher, I., Collier, M. J., Connop, S., García-Espina Adank, C., Müller, J., Quartier, M., & Vos, P. (2022). Nature-based Enterprises: a Connecting Nature Guidebook. Brussels: DG Research & Innovation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7503772

This guidebook offers a practical approach and toolbox for designing and implementing your own co-production processes. It presents co-production as a new governance approach for working on nature-based solutions in cities and offers a practical framework for designing your own co-production approach., Suggested citation: van der Have, C., Hölscher, K., Lodder, M., Collier, M.J., Dick, G., Dziubala, A., Fletcher, I., Frantzeskaki, N., Georgiou, P., Kelly, S., Malekkidou, E., McCann, S., McQuaid, S., Mulders, W., Notermans, I., Pašić, B., Prieto González, A., Quartier, M., Sillen, D., Trendafilov, I., Vandergert, P., Xidous, D. (2022). A practical guide to using co-production for nature-based solutions: a Connecting Nature Guidebook. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7501980

Co-production is a governance method that can be used by cities and other stakeholders when developing nature-based solutions in cities and for the good of cities. Not only does co-production foster collaboration and partnership but it stimulates learning among diverse actors – these actors could be civil servants, citizens, urban planners, entrepreneurs, architects, scientists, or engineers, to name but a few. In a co-production model, they contribute to the design, implementation, and management of nature-based solutions together. Actors are not just consulted or informed, they are involved from the very beginning in the process. They have a role in the making of plans, infrastructure, and policy. The goal of co-production is to generate results that may be shared with all the actors. Examples of such results would be new ways to frame a problem, or new policies and visions. By bringing diverse actors together, co-production also results in new relationships. It can therefore mobilise and empower participants to create better and greener cities and communities., Suggested citation: Hölscher, K., Frantzeskaki, N., Lodder, M., Allaert, K., Notermans, I., and Collier, M.J. (2022). Co-production: a Connecting Nature Guidebook. Brussels: DG Research and Innovation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7509645

Reflexive monitoring is an evaluation method that gives urban practitioners insight into the progress of their project in real time. It helps them evaluate day- to-day activities and to respond to them while considering the bigger picture.This is especially helpful when addressing the complex challenges nature-based solutions tend to combat, such as climate change and social exclusion., Suggested citation: Lodder, M., Allaert, K., Hölscher, K., Notermans, I., Frantzeskaki, N., and Collier, M.J. (2022). Reflexive Monitoring: a Connecting Nature Guidebook. Brussels: DG Research and Innovation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7503980

This guidebook introduces the Connecting Nature Framework. The Framework supports the planning, delivery, and stewardship of nature-based solutions on a large scale in cities and communities. It provides a comprehensive toolkit for urban practitioners who want to develop nature-based solutions and in this way foster urban resilience, increase citizen health and wellbeing, support innovation, and promote empowerment. This guidebook is intended for a wide audience of practitioners, from urban planners at local authorities to community groups, entrepreneurs, and non-governmental organisations. The Connecting Nature Framework is co-produced by scientific partners and cities. This generates innovative solutions for science and practice. It supports Europe to become a global leader in the innovation and implementation of nature-based solutions., Suggested citation: Hölscher, K., Allaert, K., Lodder, M., Sillen, D., Collier, M.J., Connop, S., Dick, G., Dumitru, A., Dziubala, A., Frantzeskaki, N., Kelly, S., Madajczyk, N., McQuaid, S., Mowat, L., Osipiuk, A., Quartier, M., Sermpezi, R., Vandergert, P., van de Sijpe, K., & Vos, P. (2022). The Connecting Nature Framework: facilitating and connecting innovations for the large-scale implementation of nature-based solutions. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7502565

This Deliverable presents our underlying conceptual and methodological approach as well as analytical results by which we have co-developed co-production and reflexive monitoring methodologies for the planning, delivery and stewardship of nature-based solutions on a large scale in cities. Next to supporting co-production and reflexive monitoring processes on the ground in the Connecting Nature Front-Runner and Fast-Follower Cities, a main aim was to generate systematic insights about how cities go about designing and implementing such novel governance approaches. On the one hand, co-production is booming in cities worldwide as a mode of collaborative governance. By bringing together diverse actors – for example, civil servants, practitioners, social innovators, scientists, entrepreneurs and citizens – co-production can support the generation of transformative nature-based solutions (pertaining not only to their mere technical design but also to their financing and business models and social innovations) addressing local needs and mobilising local opportunities. We developed a comprehensive framework that supports the design, implementation and evaluation of co-production. The framework covers different types of co-production, methods, principles for process design and evaluation as well as capacities for co-production to implement the principles. On the other hand, we developed a reflexive monitoring process to support processes of ongoing learning-by-doing and doing-by-learning. Nature-based solutions planning, delivery and stewardship requires ongoing reflection as well as adaptability to respond to new insights, demands and needs. Our reflexive monitoring methodology consists of a step-wise approach with several process tools that the cities have adapted into their regular activities to create space for reflection and capturing learnings. The recording of learning objectives and outcomes helped the cities structure what opportunities and barriers they have encountered and how they have navigated them, generating insights on critical steps and lessons learned for the design, delivery and stewardship of nature-based solutions. Building on a comparative analysis of the cities, we generated several key lessons about how to adapt and implement co-production and reflexive monitoring: Overall, all cities recognised the value of co-production to engage with and empower diverse actors and reflexive monitoring to facilitate continuous learning and adaptation in real time when planning, delivering and stewarding nature-based solutions. In this way, co-production and reflexive monitoring are able to address the various governance needs for knowledge, partnerships, societal and political support and learning. Adopting new governance processes and tools that challenge conventional practices requires the creation of institutional and organisational space in cities and the acquisition of new skills and knowledge. It also requires new cultures within city governments to work across siloes. Co-production and reflexive monitoring are flexible approaches that need to be made fit to a specific city’s contexts. For example, we could distinguish between various types of co-production processes depending on different goals and settings, including different types of actors and methods. Regarding co-production, it has been challenging to reach out and motivate diverse actors to participate in co- production, including especially vulnerable and low-income communities or specific actors from the business and finance community. This requires dedicated communication and community engagement efforts and skills as well as making the process accessible to different audiences. The value of reflexive monitoring extended to the facilitation of knowledge transfer and peer-to-peer learning between Front-Runner and Fast-Follower Cities. We learned that, from the idea initiation stage, it can take a few years before the cities started implementing their learning outcomes with reflexivity changes. Based on our work with the cities and comparative analysis, we produced conceptually grounded and practice-proven, hands-on guidebooks that help urban practitioners and planners design and implement concrete steps, activities and tools for the co-production and reflexive monitoring of nature-based solutions. We have put in place several mechanisms to ensure the long-term sustainability of our co-production and reflexive monitoring work – in particular, to continue to spread knowledge for example through the OPPLA platform and the UrbanByNature programme., Suggested citation: Hölscher, K., Lodder, M., Janssen, A., van der Have, C., Kindlon, D., McCann, S., Allaert, K., Xidous, D., Albulescu, P., Sulea, C., Prieto Gonzalez, A., Gonzalez Vazquez, M. M., Trendafilov, I., Velikova, V., Van De Sijpe, K., Quartier, M., Vos, P., Dick, G., Kelly, S., Sermpezi, R., Bakola, E., Boskidis, Ioannis; Tsouris, Vasilis; García-Espina Adank, Christian; Malekkidou, Eleni; Mavroudi, M., Osipiuk, A., Dziubala, A., Madajczyk, N., Dymek, D., Pasic, B., Suljevic, N., Beslagic, L., Collier, M. J. (2022). Connecting Nature Deliverable 7: Final report of all meetings, consultations, webinars and workshops and the publication of a co-production guidebook for cities consisting of 2 guidebooks: 'A practical guide to using co-production for nature-based solutions' and 'A practical guide to using reflexive monitoring for nature-based solutions' (including infographics). Project. Brussels: DG Research & Innovation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7443221

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

The Connecting Nature Framework is a process tool that has been co-produced and co-applied with science and practice partners in the project with the aim to give a hands-on and comprehensive guide to the Connecting Nature cities to develop their nature-based solution exemplars. It places the nature-based solution at the core of an interactive process that distinguishes three phases of development for a nature-based solution: planning, delivery, and stewardship. Throughout each phase, there are seven separate elements that need to be considered: Technical solutions, Governance, Financing and business models, Nature-based entrepreneurship, Co-production, Reflexive monitoring, and Impact assessment. While the first phase of the Framework development and application has focused on three Front-runner Cities (2017- 2019), we have in the second phase (2019-2022) transferred the Framework, including the generated knowledge and insights about how to apply it to different city contexts, to the seven Fast-follower and Multiplier Cities., Suggested citation: Hölscher, K., Allaert, K., Janssen, A., Lodder, M., McCann, S., van der Have, C., Asmaryan, S., Bakola, E., Beslagic, L., Boskidis, I., Collier, M. J., Connop, S., Dick, G., Dumitru, A., Dymek, D., Dziubala, A., Fletcher , I., García-Espina Adank, C., Georgiou, P., Gonzalez Vazquez, M. M., Gvilava, M., Kelly, S., Madajczyk, N., Malekkidou, E., Mavroudi, M., McQuaid, S., Osipiuk, A., Pasic, B., Prieto Gonzalez, A., Quartier, M., Rizzi, D., Sermpezi, R., Suljevic, N., Tomé Lourido, D., Trendafilov, I., Tsouris, V., Vandergert, P., Van De Sijpe, K., Velikova, V., Vos, P., and Xidous, D. (2022). Connecting Nature Deliverable 6: Connecting Nature Framework Reports for Fast-follower Cities. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7319263

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.

Connecting Nature aims to support cities in securing financing to support the large-scale implementation of nature-based solutions. This report provides an update on the progress of three Connecting Nature city partners in securing financing for large-scale nature-based solution exemplars in their city.

This is a presentation at the launch of the Connecting Nature China hub

This document presents the Nature-based Solutions Framework developed in the Connecting Nature project to support the planning, delivery, and legacy of nature-based solutions on a large scale in cities. The main aim of the framework is to provide a comprehensive standard that informs urban planning and policy practice to scale up urban resilience, innovation, and empowerment via nature-based solutions in cities. The framework facilitates learning by and for cities on how to generate and connect diverse types of (e.g. technical, market, governance, social) innovations engendered by nature-based solutions. In this way, we generate innovation propositions for science and practice for the large-scale implementation of nature-based solutions and for making Europe a global leader in the innovation and implementation of nature-based solutions. Our main premise lies in our understanding of nature-based solutions as ‘living’ sustainability transition experiments. A key challenge is large-scale implementation – or ‘up-scaling’ – of nature-based solutions. This includes, for example, the replication or expansion of demonstration projects or the institutional embedding of new knowledge, skills, and collaboration and financing mechanisms. Scaling nature-based solutions is therefore about more than the individual innovations: it is about how they are connected to each other and to their contexts. This requires new types of processes, partnerships, conditions, skills, and knowledge to allow for multi-actor collaboration and synergies, design fit-to-context nature-based solutions that generate multiple benefits, and ensure early assessment of the transformations brought about in cities. We have co-produced the Nature-based Solutions Framework, its translation to the frontrunner cities, and the derivation of lessons through iterative interaction between researchers and planners of the cities in the Connecting Nature project. This means that we adopted a ‘learning-by-doing’ approach based on science-practice collaboration and cross-disciplinary cooperation. Our aim is to in this way integrate and generate new knowledge and ultimately to translate this knowledge into urban planning and policy frameworks and unlock existing barriers. This document envelops the reports by the frontrunner cities Genk (Belgium), Glasgow (United Kingdom) and Poznań (Poland), which showcase how the cities made use of the framework to implement their nature-based solutions exemplars. It summarises how the cities’ experiences contribute to (connecting) diverse types of innovations for the large-scale nature-based solutions implementation in cities., Suggested citation: Hölscher, K., Allaert, K., Frantzeskaki, N., Lodder, M., Notermans, I., Sillen, D., Collier, M. J., Connop, S., Dick, G., Dumitru, A., Dziubala, A., Kelly, S., Madajczyk, N., McQuaid, S., Mowatt, L., Osipiuk, A., Quartier, M., Sermpezi, R., Vandergert, P., van De Sijpe, K., and Vos, P. (2019). Connecting Nature Deliverable 5: Nature-based Solutions Framework for Front-runner cities. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7442857

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 Deliverable briefly summarises progress to date on each of the Connecting Nature Front-runner Cities exemplars, as described by the Front-runner Cities themselves in narrative reports. The figure below illustrates the proposed journey of the Front-runner Cities in scaling up nature-based solutions through the Connecting Nature programme and beyond, as part of a step change in how cities embed NBS to achieve a range of benefits. Within Connecting Nature, the ambition is that the Front-runner Cities are innovating in entrepreneurial, co-creational processes so that the exemplars become a model for how nature-based solutions can be embedded across a city at multiple scales to deliver multiple benefits., Suggested citation: Vandergert, P., Collier, M. J., Connop, S., Dick, G., Dzubiala, A., Gonzalez, G., Jelliman, S., Mowat, L., Nash, C., van de Sype, K., Vos, P. Zwierzchowska, I. (2019) Connecting Nature Deliverable 9: An interim report on progress towards initiation of city-wide nature-based solutions exemplars. Brussels: DG Research & Innovation. DOI: https://dor.org/10.5281/zenodo.7458564.

Process charts showing the connection of FRC exemplars to city strategic KPIs, NBS frameworks and the UNSDGs, Suggested citation: Vandergert, P., Collier, M. J., Connop, S., Dick, G., Dzubiala, A., Gonzalez, G., Jelliman, S., Mowat, L., Nash, C., van de Sype, K., Vos, P. Zwierzchowska, I. (2019) Process charts showing the connection of FRC exemplars to city strategic KPIs, NBS frameworks and the UNSDGs. Deliverable 9, Appendix B of the Connecting Nature Project. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7458672.

Co-creation and co-production of knowledge with relevant city actors are at the core of Connecting Nature activities and the development of a reference framework for impact evaluation also applied co-creation principles to the design of an iterative process between scientists and practitioners in cities. The aim of this deliverable is to summarize the outcomes of this comprehensive scoping and co-production exercise, focusing on the development of the first set of indicators to be applied and tested in the monitoring and assessment of nature-based exemplars in the frontrunner cities of Genk, Glasgow and Poznan, carried out under tasks 1.1 to 1.4 in work-package 1 (“Assessment, evidence, and evaluation”): Task 1.1: synthesizes and evaluates lessons learned in nature-based solutions experiments, mapping and constructing a database on successful and failed NBS projects developed in the European context. Task 1.2 maps the innovative and transformative emerging experiments for nature-based solutions, through an expert-driven assessment. Task 1.3 focuses on the development of a robust, short, and easy-to-apply set of indicators for impact evaluation, through the critical review of existing scientific evidence and indicators, the setting up of an iterative co-production process, which allows us to connect indicators to the frontrunner cities ́ singularities. Task 1.4 focuses on assessing the organizational structure of city councils, mapping those factors that either hinder or foster innovative urban NBS. Furthermore, this document will report progress in the construction of the indicators set so far, presenting the process and primary outcomes in the construction of a new reference framework to assess and monitoring of NBS., Dumitru, A., Lenoir Improta, R., Albulesca, P., Collier, M.J., Connop, S., Dick, G., Dushkova, D., Frantzeskaki, N., Haase, D., Lodder, M., Nash, C., Macsings, I., Martin, G., Mowat, L., McQuaid, S., Rhodes, M-L., Sillen, D., and Sulea, C. (2018). Connecting Nature Deliverable 1: Report on contributions to tasks 1.1 to 1.4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7010765

This Deliverable represents a summary of the collaborative approach taken to generating this understanding and a dissemination mechanism for sharing this understanding within the Connecting Nature consortium, the global learning academy and beyond., Suggested citation: Connop, S., Dick, G., Dziubała, A., Fagiewicz, K., Hass, E., Hill, A., Jelliman, S., Kamplemann, S., Lupa, P., Madajczyk, N., Nash, C., Poniży, L., Vandergert, P., van der Sijpe, K., Vos, P., Zwierzchowska, I., & Collier, M.J. (2018). Connecting Nature Deliverable 8: Report on front-runner cities' current expertise and experience in nature-based solutions based on a synthesis of outcomes from experiential workshops, questionnaires, and Key Performance Indicators analysis. Brussels: DG Research & Innovation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7443311

To facilitate a scaling up and embedding of multifunctional nature-based solutions, it is important to create a strategic enabling culture within cities – moving beyond a focus that often rests primarily within one departmental team (for example, spatial planning or green space management) to include a suite of strategic services such as corporate policy, economic development, housing and regeneration, health and social care, transport and to harness the support of elected local politicians. By creating this enabling culture, there are opportunities to identify and mobilise the multifunctional benefits that can accrue from a scaled-up city approach to nature-based solutions, embedding them within a broad range of strategic goals, aligned with indicators that can deliver a coherent place-based framework for improved local places for residents and businesses. The milestone is a draft document that reports on progress to identify linkages between the Connecting Nature front-runner city strategic goals and nature-based solutions goals to complement city planning and indicator development and to inform the exemplar implementation process. The analysis of this work will be incorporated in Deliverable 8, a report on front-runner cities’ current expertise and experience in nature-based solutions based on a synthesis of outcomes from experiential learning workshops and concluding with a process chart for a transferrable key performance indicators approach to nature-based solutions. The scope of the milestone is to provide a working draft of existing front-runner city organisational culture, in order to identify opportunities to embed indicators for nature-based solutions in the city's strategic context., Suggested citation: Vandergert, P., Jelliman, S., & Collier, M.J. (2018). Progress report on linkages between Front-runner City strategic goals and nature-based solutions goals to inform city plan and indicator development for Front-runner City exemplars. Deliverable 8 (Appendix 8.1) of the Connecting Nature Project. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7501867

The purpose of this paper is to explore the forms of ownership over natural resources according to the theories of Coase and Ostrom. Coase’s work is regarded as a theoretical basis for establishing private ownership over natural resources, whereas Ostrom’s theory is considered the most influential one supporting common/collective ownership. The key research question of the paper is whether the two theories are indeed opposite and contradictory. The novelty of our approach is that we account for the nature of common property rights in light of Buchanan’s theory of clubs, thereby showing that the opposition between the concepts of Coase and Ostrom is exaggerated. The point is that ownership is generally considered only in its most extreme forms – purely private and purely public. By referring to Buchanan, we show that in contexts of common/collective entitlements with varying degrees of publicness/privateness, Coasean bargaining and Ostromian rules of common/collective governance can coexist and work together effectively. On this basis, this research proposes a framework for defining policies for managing natural resources. 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: Slaev, A. D. and Collier, M. (2018) Managing natural resources: Coasean bargaining versus Ostromian rules of common governance. Environmental Science & Policy, 85, pp. 47-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.03.017

This document is based on two main sources: firstly, exploratory research based on a survey carried out by AMU during the second half of 2017. Carried out in collaboration with the City of Poznań, the survey focused on NbS in Poznań City Hal and related budgetary units, companies in which the City of Poznań has a share, and associations of which the City of Poznań is a member. Secondly, exploratory interviews were carried out by Osmos on November 20-21 2017. The latter interviews were organised by the Connecting Nature team from the City of Poznań., Suggested citation: Haas, E., Kampelmann, S., Poniży, L., Zwierzchowska, I., & Collier, M.J. (2018). Synthesis of exploratory interviews in Poznań, Poland. Deliverable 8 (Appendix 8.4) of the Connecting Nature Project. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7501703

Objectives of the interviews 1. Explore NBS-type projects – learning about what made good projects a success and what led bad projects to be unsuccessful, 2. Connect with the local actors face to face and allow the interviewees to have the chance to express themselves. Gain an overview of organisational conditions, 3. Identify other relevant actors (both individuals and organisations) and their capacity/interest in contributing to Connecting Nature, 4. Explore and define the general narrative driving NBS in the subject city, and 5. Help define contacts and engagement strategies for stakeholders relevant to WP1-3 to ensure positive and constructive engagement with the project., Suggested citation: Hill, A., Jelliman, S., Kampelmann, S., & Collier, M.J. (2017). Synthesis of exploratory interviews in Glasgow, Scotland. Deliverable 8 (Appendix 8.3) of the Connecting Nature Project. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7501785.