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Summary of the Draft Action Plan of Greening Cities Partnership

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Public Consultation of Draft Action Plan

Public Consultation Timeline

The Thematic Partnership on Greening Cities has initiated a public consultation to collect feedback on their draft Action Plan.

The Public Consultation of the Draft Action Plan is open from June 6 until July 31, 2024.

Finalised in April 2024, the draft Action Plan proposes five key Actions aimed at increasing green infrastructure in EU cities and regions. They address critical challenges such as the need for evidence-based planning tools, effective implementation strategies, robust legislative support, adequate funding, and innovative financial instruments. Developed by the Members of the Greening Cities Partnership, the Action Plan supports the implementation of the EU policy agenda on urban greening at the local level to increase urban biodiversity, adapt to climate change, and improve citizens' wellbeing. 

Your feedback is crucial for refining and finalising the Action Plan and the Partnership invites you to share your perspectives through this Public Consultation. The consultation is open to everyone interested in contributing, including institutions and authorities, academic and research centers, companies, NGOs, experts, and citizens, are encouraged to participate by sharing their knowledge and ideas to further develop and enhance the proposed actions. Once the Public Consultation has ended, the partnership will integrate the feedback in the final Action Plan which will be finalised in winter 2024.

Before submitting feedback via the online form on EUSurvey, participants should consult the background material provided:

Consult EUSurvey and have your say!

 

About the partnership

The Greening Cities Thematic Partnership is focusing on green infrastructure in the urban areas. The Partnership would be of high relevance to the problems and needs of cities of all sizes with regards to biodiversity preservation and adaptation to climate change. The Partnership would be aligned with the objectives of cities to provide higher well-being to citizens through cleaner air, better inclusiveness and a more aesthetic environment. 

In this regard, the objective of the Partnership is to contribute to the development of an implementation framework for green infrastructure at local, regional/national and EU levels, including links/reflections to the provisions of Article no. 8 from the proposal for a Nature Restoration Law, through:  

  1.  ensuring knowledge (methodologies, guidelines, indicators) for the deployment of concrete green infrastructure (GI) solutions at city level and national level;  
  2. strengthening the integration of green infrastructure (GI) in the urban dimension of upcoming EU policies and in other sectoral policies;  

The Greening Cities Partnership is composed of 29 members, including 10 cities, 2 regions, and 3 national authorities. It was approved in October 2022, started its work in December of the same year, and is expected to implement its work by the end of 2025. To develop its Action Plan, the Partnership used an Ex-Ante Assessment study as a foundation, structured its work under four Working Groups (WGs) focused on Funding, Indicators System, Methodology for quantifying demand for Green Infrastructure and Urban Nature Restoration Plans. All UAEU Partnerships aim to contribute to Better Knowledge, Better Funding, and Better Regulation by applying multilevel and multi-stakeholder cooperation processes at the EU level. 

Thematic focus

The proposed subthemes relevant to Greening cities are presented in Table 1, which also gives an overview of the state of play and thematic bottlenecks pertinent to each subtheme and links to EU policy frameworks.

T able 1 : S u b - th emes r el a t ed t o gre e n an d bl u e i nf r a struc t u r e; s t ate of pl a y a n d b o tt lenec k s; c ont r ib u t io n t o E U po li c y fr a m e w o r ks Sub - theme Current state of play Thematic bottlenecks vis - à - v i s t h e t h re e p i l l a r s o f the UAEU Contribution to EU policy T y p e s o f g re e n a n d b l u e infrastructure - T he s t a t e o f p l a y i s d i f f e r e n t f o r t he d i f f e r en t t y p e s o f GI. - Detailed map of urban green i n fr a s tr u c t u r e i s a k e y f o r i n f o r m ed de c i s i o n - m a k i ng . F e w c i t i e s m a k e u s e o f E u r o p ean w i de o r e v e n na t i ona l da t a s e t s f o r s u p po rt i ng l o c a l d e c i s i o n m a k i ng . (E n Ro u t e p r o j e c t) - - Scattered data exist on the uptake of individual s o l u t i o n s ( s ee r epo r t o n u r ba n ag r i c u l t u r e ) - Better knowledge - O ppo rt u n i t i e s e m b e dd e d i n t h e v a r i o u s EU financing instruments hav e n o t y e t bee n f u l l y e x p l o i t e d ( b e t t e r f un d i ng ) - Insufficient integration of GI in spatial planning (better regulation) - Detailed and locally collected spatial data are need e d t o i n t eg r a t e u r b an g r e en i n fr a s t r u c t u r e i n po l i c y ( b e t t e r k no w l edge and b e t t e r re gu l a t i o n ) EU Green Infrastructure Strategy EU Climate Change Strategy EU Biodiversity Strategy (incl. Urban Greening Plans) EU Forest Strategy EU water regulation Disaster and risk p r e v en t i o n Health and consumer po l i c i e s W a t e r F r a m e w o r k Directive (WF D) M a r i ne S t r a t e g y Framework Directive (MSFD) EU policy framework in ene r g y e f f i c i e n c y , bu i l t en v i r o n m en t , s u s t a i na b l e m ob i li t y , e t c . EU Mission: Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Exploring the benefits of G I i n a n ur b a n c o nt e x t: - Environment (habitats, c o n n e c t i v i t y , c l e a n a ir, e t c .) - Society (health, well - being, recreation, etc.) - Economy (tourism, job creation, livelihood, etc.) - M u l t i p l e p r o j e c t s and r epo r t s e x p l o r e i m p a c t s a n d b e ne f i t s o f d i f f e r e n t t y pe s o f G I on en v i r o n m e n t , s o c i e t y and e c o n o m y . - Demons trating the benefits of urban g r een i n fr a s tr u c t u r e r e q u i r e s l i n k i n g e c o s y s t e m d a t a w i t h s o c i o - e c o no m i c s t a t i s t i c s . (E n Ro u t e p r o j e c t) - M ee t i ng t a r g e t 2 o f EU B i o d i v e r s i t y Strategy and restoring Natura 2000 to favourable status could further gene r a t e r e s p e c ti v e l y u p t o 5 0 0 00 a nd 140 0 00 j ob s ; a n d u p t o EUR 4 . 2 a n d 11 . 1 b il l i o n o f d i r e c t o u t p u t s a n nua l l y ; a s w e ll a s a w i de r r ang e o f be ne f i t s from ecosystem services (COM:2019:236: FIN). - Benefits are difficult to quantify while costs are v i s i b l e ( b e t t e r k no w l ed g e ) - Insufficient knowledge on integrating green and b l ue i n fr a s tr u c t u r e d i m e n s i on s i n s t r a t e g i e s a n d p l a n s f o r S u s t a i n ab l e Ur ba n D e v e l op m en t and Integrated Territorial Investment Strategies (better funding) - Insufficient information on local level regarding b i o d i v e r s i t y w i t h i n c i t i e s ( b e t t e r k no w l ed g e ) Integration of green and blue infrastructure into other sectoral policies: - Built environment - Transport - Urban Agriculture - Energy - Health - Air - In many Member States, objectives or requirements specifically related to GI a r e i n c l u de d i n b r oa d e r b i od i v e r s i t y and n a t u r e c o n s e r v a t i on po l i c i e s a nd l eg i s l a t i o n (C O M : 2 019 : 2 36 : FI N) - Interviewed stakeholders have pointed a t s i gn i f i c an t m a r g i n s f o r i m p r o v e m en t - Insufficient Integration of different types of GI s o l u t i o n s i n t o l o c a l p l a n s , s e c t o r a l p l a n s regulations, etc. (better regulation - Insufficient scaling up of good practices of i n t e g r a t i o n o f G I i n t o s e c t o r a l p o li c i e s – b e t t e r regulation - G I i s n o t w i de l y u s ed b y d e c i s i o n - m a k e r s a n d s t a k eh o l de r s a s a c o s t - e f f i c i e n t solution to health i s s ue s (C O M : 2019 : 2 36 : F IN) ( be t t e r k no w l ed g e ) - G ood p r a c t i c e s o n GI i n t r an s p o rt a r e s po r ad i c (COM: 2019:236:FIN) – be t t e r k no w l edg e Implementation of green a n d b l u e i nfr a s tru c tur e : - Q u a l i t y o f d es i g n a n d a e s th e t i cs o f green public s p a c e s - Q u a l i t y o f implementation - Increasing number of cities a c k no w l edge t ha t t h e qua l i t y o f u r ba n s p a c e s a n d p l a c e s , i n c l ud i ng t he g r e en one s c o n tr i b u t e s f u nd a m en t a l l y t o o u r w e l l - be i ng and m a k e s c i t i e s m o r e beau t i f u l , i n c l u s i v e and s u s t a in ab l e . - - T he r e i s no s ys t e m a t i s ed i n f o r m a t i on o n t h e qua l i t y o f d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f GI a c r o ss EU c i t i e s – be t t e r k no w l ed g e - G I s o l u t i o n s a r e n o t u s ed t o t h e i r f u ll e x t e n t a n d their potential should be further strengthened at EU level (COM: 2019:236:FIN) better knowledge New Leipzig Charter EU GI Strategy EU Climate Change Strategy EU Biodiversity Strategy EU Forest Strategy EU Water regulation Disaster and risk p r e v en t i o n New European Bauhaus Renovation Wave Strategy

Members

By clicking on the symbol  , in the top left corner, you will be able to see the different layers of this map.

 

National authorities

  • Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, Coordinator (RO)
  • Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets (HR)
  • Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy of the Republic of Poland (PL)

Regions

  • Brussels Environment (BE)
  • Marshal’s Office of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (PL)

Cities (Urban Authorities)

  • Nuovo Circondario Imolese, Coordinator (IT)
  • Roma Capitale (IT)
  • City of 's-Hertogenbosch, Department of Urban Development (NL)
  • City of Utrecht (NL)
  • City of Tampere (FI)
  • City of Ostrava (CZ)
  • City of Roeselare (BE)
  • Ādaži municipality (LV)
  • City Council of Pontevedra (Ayuntamiento de Pontevedra) (ES)
  • Lisbon Metropolitan Area (PT)

European/ national city umbrella organisation

  • Eurocities (BE)
  • European Investment Bank
  • Association of Urban Municipalities of Slovenia (SI)
  • European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN EGTC) (NL)

Other stakeholders

  • INCASÒL_ Catalan Land Institute (ES)
  • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) / Environmental Engineering Laboratory (Enve-Lab) (rl)
  • JPI Urban Europe / DUT Partnership

European institution

  • European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO)
  • European Commission Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV)
  • European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, social affairs and inclusion (DG EMPL)
  • European Commission Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW)
  • European Commission Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA)
  • European Commission Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE)
  • European Commission DG Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC)
  • European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI)
  • European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC)

Documents

Summary of the Draft Action Plan of Greening Cities Partnership
Draft Action Plan of Greening Cities Partnership
Greening Cities Partnership Orientation Paper
Ex-ante Assessment of the Thematic Area “Greening Cities” (2022)
Greening Cities Info Note on call for partners (2022) Background document for applicants
Greening Cities Partnership Composition

EUI-Innovative Actions 3rd Call for proposals

The EUI-Innovative Actions has released the 3rd Call for Proposals. 
The 3rd call will be closed on 14 October 2024 at 14.00 CEST.

Knowledge

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