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25 March 2025
10:00am 12:30pm CET

Greening Cities Partnership Webinar: Urban Ecosystem Restoration-Baselines and Data

The Greening Cities Partnership is launching a webinar series to support cities, regions, and national governments in implementing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR). This first session will focus on the baselines and data needed for urban ecosystem restoration, exploring key challenges and tools for measuring progress.

Understanding Data and Baselines for Urban Greening

This webinar will address key questions on how cities and regions should assess and define their urban ecosystem restoration baselines. Participants will explore the fundamental differences between using Local Administrative Units (LAUs) and Urban Ecosystem Areas (UEAs) and discuss the implications for urban restoration targets. Experts will also introduce available tools to calculate green space baselines and examine the challenges cities face in integrating EU satellite data with local data sources.

Defining Restoration Boundaries

Benjamin Rolles, Policy Officer at the European Commission, will provide insight into the differences between Local Administrative Units (LAUs) and Urban Ecosystem Areas (UEAs), highlighting their impact on nature restoration efforts.

EU satellite data: what’s needed

We’ll hear from the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and Space4Good on some of the tools available to support cities in mapping their urban green space and tree canopy cover baselines. While the JRC are in the process of developing guidance for cities and member states on the use of EU satellite data, we’ll hear from Grazia Zulian, Scientific and Technical Project Officer, on what’s available at the moment and what updates to expect. We’ll then hear from Liv Toonen, Technology Project Lead at Space4Good, an organisation of GIS experts, urban planners, and software developers aiming to tackle challenges while ensuring a positive environmental and social impact on what a higher image resolution can offer in terms of mapping and monitoring greening on the ground.

Case Study: Brussels Capital Region: investigating the options for NRR implementation

Taking us to a specific case study, this segment will explore how the Brussels Capital Region is considering different approaches to implementing Article 8 of the Nature Restoration Regulation. Anne Franklin, Brussels Institute of Statistics and Analysis, Perspective Brussels, will share insights into the data-related challenges of implementing the options proposed in Article 8, highlighting their potential effects on urban ecosystem restoration strategies.  

The webinar will be moderated by Heather Brooks (Eurocities) and will include interactive discussions with opportunities for participants to engage directly with the speakers.

Register to the Event

Please register to the public webinar via the following link:

NRR Webinar #1 Registration

25 March 2025
10:00am 12:30pm CET
Greening Cities Partnership Webinar: Urban Ecosystem Restoration-Baselines and Data

Program

Tuesday 25
09:00 - 09:20
Introduction - Heather Brooks, Greening Cities Partnership, Eurocities
09:20 - 09:40
Nature Restoration Regulation: Local Authority Units (LAUs) or Urban Ecosystem Areas (UEAs) - Ben Rolles, Policy Officer, European Commission
09:40 - 10:00
Mapping your LAU onto Green Space - Grazia Zulian, External Consultant, Joint Research Centre
10:00 - 10:30
Brussels Capital Region: Investigating the Options for NRR Implementation - Anne Franklin, Brussels Institute of Statistics and Analysis, Perspective Brussels
10:30 - 11:10
EU satellite data and the NRR - Liv Toonen, Technology Project Lead at Space4Good, Meta Berghauser Pont, professor of urban morphology and urban design at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden
11:10 - 11:30
Discussion and Closing Remarks, Leon Kapetas, Resilient Cities Network