Naturb

Project title: Nature-based solutions for increasing cities resilience and sustainability

Project number: PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0635

Contract No.:11/12.07.2017

Funding body: The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI)

Budget: 834.425,00 RON

Period: 2017-2019

Team:
Cristian Ioan Ioja – Project manager
Sorin Cheval – Researcher
Mihai Razvan Nita – Researcher
Diana Andreea Onose – Researcher
Constantina Alina Hossu – Researcher
Denisa Lavinia Badiu – Researcher
Odelin Talaba – Master Student
Ana Maria Popa – Master Student

Abstract

The UN Global Report on Human Settlements has warned that future synergistic relations between urbanization and environmental changes will affect the stability of the human society. Urban ecologists need to develop integrative databases, principles, concepts and tools, required to create liveable cities. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) represent the cornerstone of new urban ecology approaches, which could help the urban areas to increase their resilience to new environmental challenges and improve their sustainability. The assessment of NbS has become an important challenge for practitioners, due to the high complex relations between the components of the urban systems, the high vulnerability to climate change, and the consequences in the social-economical systems. The project aims to assess the integration, acceptance, and the efficiency of NbS in Romania’s cities and to develop a conceptual model for enhancing cities resilience and sustainability, using and adapting some cutting edge methods (i.e. Grounded Theory, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, scenarios planning).

Objectives

The specific objectives of the project are:

• Identifying categories of NBS related to cities resilience and sustainability;
• Assessing the European, national and local policies directed toward NBS in cities;
• Evaluating the integration of NBS in different sectors of urban environments;
• Evaluating the acceptance of NBS in urban areas;
• Developing a conceptual model for enhancing cities resilience and sustainability on NBS.

Expected Results:

• publishing 3 annual reports;
• publishing 7 papers in high priority of top-ranked journals;
• publishing 1 book;
• participating with 6 papers at international conferences;
• organizing 1 workshop.

Reports:

• 2017
• 2018
• 2019

Articles

Published papers

• Vierikko K., Gonçalves P., Haase D., Elands B., Ioja I.C., Puttonen M., Pieniniemi M., Lindgren J., Grilo F., Santos-Reis M., Niemela J., Yli-Pelkonen V. (2019) Biocultural diversity (BCD) in European cities – interactions between motivations, experiences and environment in public parks, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 126501 In Press (Impact Factor 3.043, Q1 Web of Science, 37 to 116 in Environmental Studies)
• Hossu C.A., Iojă I.C., Onose D.A., Niță M.R., Popa A.M., Talabă O., Inostroza L (2019), Ecosystem services appreciation of urban lakes in Romania. Synergies and trade-offs between multiple users, Ecosystem Services, 37, 100937 (Impact Factor 5.572, Q1 Web of Science, 10 to 116 in Environmental Studies)
• Badiu D.L., Niță A., Ioja I.C., Niță M.R., (2019) Disentangling the connections: a network analysis of approaches to urban green infrastructure, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 41, 211-220, (Impact Factor 5.572, Q1 Web of Science, 10 to 116 in Environmental Studies)
• Badiu D.L., Onose D.A., Niță M.R., Lafortezza, R. (2019) From “red” to green? A look into the evolution of green spaces in a post-Socialist city, Landscape and Urban Planning, 187, 156-164, (Impact Factor 3.043, Q1 Web of Science, 1 to 40 in Urban Studies)
• Zwierzchowska I., Hof A., Ioja I.C., Mueller C., Ponizy L., Breuste J., Mizgajski A. (2018) Multi-Scale Assessment of Cultural Ecosystem Services of Parks in Central European Cities, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 30, 84-97, (Impact Factor 3.043, Q1 Web of Science, 37 to 116 in Environmental Studies), #8 citations
• Artmann M., Kohler M., Meinel G., Gan J., Ioja I.C. (2017), How smart growth and green infrastructure can mutually support each other — A conceptual framework for compact and green cities. Ecological Indicators, 96(2), 10-22 (Impact Factor 4.49, Q1 Web of Science, 45 to 250 in Environmental Sciences), #19 citations (Highly cited paper in the field)
• Artmann M., Chen X., Ioja I.C., Hof A., Onose D., Ponizy L., Lamovsek A.Z., Breuste J. (2017), The role of urban green spaces in care facilities for elderly people across European cities, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 27, 203-213, (Impact Factor 3.043, Q1 Web of Science, 37 to 116 in Environmental Studies), # 15 citations

Papers under review

• Mitincu, C.G., Iojă, I.C., Hossu, C.A., Niță, A., Niță, M.R., (2019), The role of environmental permits in promoting sustainable development and nature-based solutions, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, (under review Reference EIR_2019_359) (Impact Factor 3.749, Q1 Web of Science, 24 to 116 in Environmental Studies)
• Badiu D.L., Iojă I.C., Haase D., Hossu C.A., Niță M.R., How about water? Urban blue infrastructure management in Romania, Cities (under review) (Impact Factor 3.853, Q1 Web of Science, 2 to 40 in Urban Science)
• Breuste J., Ioja I.C., Hossu C.A., Onose D.A., Vrinceanu A., Ponizy L., Mizgajski A., Zwierzchowska I., Kryger R. (2018) Urban nature: perceptions and use in suburban residential areas from Central European cities, Habitat International, (under review) (Impact Factor 3.846, Q1 Web of Science, 3 to 40 in Urban Studies)
• Cheval S., Popa A.M., Sandric I.C., Ioja I.C. (2019) Landsat-derived analysis of urban lakes influence on land surface temperature in Bucharest (Romania), IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (under preparation for submission) (Impact factor 5.63)

Books

• Iojă I.C., Niță M.R, Hossu C.A., Onose D.A., Badiu D.L., Cheval S., Popa A.M., Mitincu C.G..  (2019) Soluții verzi în orașele din România, Ed. Ars Docendi, București
• Breuste J., Artmann M., Ioja I.C., Qureshi S. (eds.), (2019) Making Green Cities – Concepts, Challenges and Practice, Springer Press, Berlin

Books chapters

• Iojă I.C., Breuste J., Vânău G.O., Hossu C.A., Niță M.R., Popa A.M., Onose D.A., Slave A.R. (2020) Bridging the people-nature divide using the participatory planning of urban protected areas, in Breuste, J.; M. Artmann; I.C. Ioja; S. Qureshi (eds.), Making Green Cities – Concepts, Challenges and Practice, Springer Press, Berlin
• Onose D.A., Iojă I.C., Niță M.R., Badiu D.L., Hossu C.A. (2020) Green struggle – Environmental conflicts involving urban green areas in Bucharest city, in Breuste, J.; M. Artmann; I.C. Ioja; S. Qureshi (eds.), Making Green Cities – Concepts, Challenges and Practice, Springer Press, Berlin
• Ioja I.C., Qureshi S. (2020) Urban wildland – forests, waters and wetlands, in Breuste, J.; M. Artmann; I.C. Ioja; S. Qureshi (eds.), Making Green Cities – Concepts, Challenges and Practice, Springer Press, Berlin
• Iojă I.C., Breuste, J. (2020) Urban protected areas and urban biodiversity, in Breuste, J.; M. Artmann; I.C. Ioja; S. Qureshi (eds.), Making Green Cities – Concepts, Challenges and Practice, Springer Press, Berlin
• Niță M.R., Iojă I.C., Popa A.M (2020) Searching for the perfect balance in the multifunctionality of urban green parks, in Breuste, J.; M. Artmann; I.C. Ioja; S. Qureshi (eds.), Making Green Cities – Concepts, Challenges and Practice, Springer Press, Berlin
• Gavrilidis A.A., Grădinaru S.R., Onete M., Breuste J., Iojă I.C. (2020) The influence of vacant land presence on proliferation of invasive alien plant species. The case of Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle var. altissima, in Breuste, J.; M. Artmann; I.C. Ioja; S. Qureshi (eds.), Making Green Cities – Concepts, Challenges and Practice, Springer Press, Berlin
• Badiu D.L., Hossu C.A., Iojă I.C., Niță M.R. (2020) The nature outside cities: trade-offs and synergies of cultural ecosystem services from Natura 2000 sites, in Breuste, J.; M. Artmann; I.C. Ioja; S. Qureshi (eds.), Making Green Cities – Concepts, Challenges and Practice, Springer Press, Berlin

Conferences

2019

• Ioja I.C. (2019) Experimental methods for ecosystem services assessment of urban lakes – case study Morii Lake, Bucharest, Aquatic ecosystem services – assessment, management and socio-economic challenges, 27-28 November, Budapest, Hungary
• Iojă I.C., Breuste J., Vanau G., Hossu C.A., Niță M.R., Popa A.M., Slave R. (2019) Bridging the people-nature divide using the participatory planning of urban protected areas, Lucrările Seminarului Geografic Internaţional „Dimitrie Cantemir” Ediția a XXXIX-a, 18 -20 October, Iași, Romania
• Iojă I.C. (2019) Challenges in planning and regulation the use of NbS in Romanian cities, Bucharest forum of Nature-Based Solution, 2-3 October, Bucharest, Romania
• Niță M.R., Hossu C.A., Iojă I.C., Popa A.M. (2019) Using NBS for dealing with societal challenges of Romanian counties, Internațional Conference ”Environment at CrossrOads: SMART approaches for a sustainable future – ECOSMART”, 5-8 September, București, România
• Badiu D.L., Hossu C.A., Iojă I.C. (2019), In need for green: Nature-based solution for Romania’s urban challenge, Internațional Conference ”Environment at CrossrOads: SMART approaches for a sustainable future – ECOSMART”, 5-8 September, București, România
• Cheval S., Popa A.M., Șandric I.C., Iojă I.C. (2019), Landsat-derived analysis of urban lakes influence on land surface temperature in Bucharest (Romania), Internațional Conference ”Environment at CrossrOads: SMART approaches for a sustainable future – ECOSMART”, 5-8 September, București, România
• Iojă I.C., Breuste J. (2019), Urban protected areas – a way ti manage human-nature linkage in smart cities?, Internațional Conference ”Environment at CrossrOads: SMART approaches for a sustainable future – ECOSMART”, 5-8 September, București, România
• Mitincu C.G., Iojă I.C. (2019), The effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment process în Romania: the potential to increase urban sustainability, Internațional Conference ”Environment at CrossrOads: SMART approaches for a sustainable future – ECOSMART”, 5-8 September, București, România
• Mitincu C.G., Iojă I.C., Hossu C.A. (2019), Assessing the environmental permits from the perspective of promoting sustainable development and nature-based solutions: Case study Romania, Internațional Conference ”Environment at CrossrOads: SMART approaches for a sustainable future – ECOSMART”, 5-8 September, București, România
• Mitincu C.G., Iojă I.C. Hossu, C.A. (2019), Nature-based solutions în Strategic Environmental Assessment: Case study Romania, EUROGEO 2019 Annual Conference – Hidden Geographies International Conference, 29-31 August, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Iojă I.C. (2019) Specific traits of green areas across urban functions, Workshop Urban and Mountains, 7-10 July, Salzburg, Austria
• Popa A.M., Iojă I.C., Niță M., Vânău G., Șandric I. (2019) Spectral indices for understanding green infrastructures – case study Bucharest Romania, 1-5 July, IALE World Congress, Milan, Italy
• Iojă I.C., Niță M.R., Hossu C.A., Badiu D.L., Onose D.A., Popa A.M., Mitincu C.G. (2019) Evaluarea potențialului de implementare a soluțiilor verzi în orașele din România, SESIUNEA ANUALĂ DE COMUNICĂRI ŞTIINŢIFICE dedicată Aniversării a 75 de ani de la înfiinţarea Institutului de Geografie (1944-2019) – Cercetări multidisciplinare dedicate mediului și societății, 28 iunie 2019, București
• Badiu D.L., Iojă I.C., Hossu C.A., Niță M.R., Vânău G.O. (2019), The value of water: Ecosystem services trade-offs and synergies of urban lakes in Romania, INPUT aCAdemy Conference, 24-26 June, Cagliari, Italy
• Onose D.A., Iojă I.C., Grădinaru S.R. (2019), The role of school green areas in ensuring environmental equity for children, World Forum on Climate Justice, 19-21 June 2019, Glasgow, United Kingdom
• Osaci-Costache G., Cocos O., Ioja I.C., Toroimac G.I., Stoiculescu R., Dinu T. (2019) Water status in Bucharest during the 19th century: private or public resource? International conference Water sustainability in a changing world, 11 – 14 June, Bucharest, Romania
• Iojă I.C. (2019) Specific Traits of Green Areas Across Urban Functions for climate change mitigation and adaptation in European urban areas, Symposium Urban Green and Climate changes- challenges for design and management, 8-11 June, Tabriz, Iran
• Mitincu C.G., Iojă I.C. (2019), ICT for evaluation and implementation of Nature-based solutions in smart cities: case study Romania, Internațional Conference „Present Environment and Sustainable Development”, XIV-th edition, 7-9 June, Iaşi, România
• Nita M.R., Ioja I.C., Onose D.A., Popa A.M. (2019), Different shades of green. Evaluating the availability and accessibility of urban green areas for different social categories in Bucharest, Romania, Economic Context Of Social And Environmental Justice, 23-24 May, Lodz, Poland
• Iojă I.C., Niță M.R., Popa A.M., Cheval S. (2019), Green and blue solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation in European urban areas Symposium Urban Green and Climate changes- challenges for design and management, 8-11 June, Tabriz, Iran
• Iojă I.C., Niță M.R. (2019) Ecosystem services provided by small urban green infrastructures – case study Bucharest, International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation: Green Revision for Resilient Cities 07 – 08 March, Izmir, Turkey
• Nita M.R., Ioja I.C., Popa A.M. (2019), Naturb – Nature-based solutions for increasing cities resilience and sustainability, COST Action CA17133 Meeting – Implementing nature based solutions for creating a resourceful circular city, 13-15 February, Vienna, Austria

2018

• Mitincu C.G. (2018), ICT for evaluation and implementation of Nature-based solutions, Smart Cities Conference – Sixth Edition, 6 – 7 decembrie, București, România
• Mitincu C.G. (2018), Analiza avizelor de mediu din perspectiva potențialului de integrare a soluțiilor verzi, Conferința Internațională ¨Geografia la centenarul României¨, 17 – 18 noiembrie, București, România
• Badiu D.L., Iojă I.C., Hossu C.A., Onose D.A., Niță M.R., Lafortezza R. (2018), From “red” to green? Urban green infrastructure planning in a post-socialist city, Ecosystem Services Partnership Europe Regional Conference, 15-19 October, San Sebastián, Spain
• Iojă I.C. (2018) Urban Green Infrastructure in Romania, Workshop on Urban Ecology, 25-26 September, Tabriz, Iran
• Popa A.M., Iojă I.C., Onose D.A., Niță M.R., Șandric I.C., Cheval S. (2018) Evolution of the urban heat island phenomenon. Case study: Bucharest, Romania, 5th Joint Workshop Urban Remote Sensing – Challenges & Solutions, 24-26 September, Bochum, Germany
• Iojă I.C., Cârstea E., Hossu C.A., Onose D.A., Badiu D.L., Cheval S., Șandric I, Vânău G.O., Niță M.R., Popa A.M., Talabă O. (2018), Assessment of ecosystems services generated by urban lakes in Bucharest city, Ecosystem Services in Transdisciplinary Approach, 17-19 September, Poznan, Poland
• Iojă I.C., Niță M.R., Hossu C.A., Mitincu C. (2018), An insight on the potential of the Environmental Impact Assessment procedure for promoting Nature-Based Solutions, URBIO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Urban Biodiversity and Food Security, 11-14 September, Cape Town, Africa
• Hossu C.A., Ioja I.C., Breuste J., Ponizy L., Mizgajski A., Onose D.A., Nita M.R. (2018), Moving at the suburbs: residents’ reasons and use of nature, IGU Thematic Conference – Practical Geography and XXI Century Challenges, 4-6 June, Moscow, Russia
• Popa A.M., Iojă I.C., Niță M.R., Onose D.A., Badiu D.L., Șandric I.C., Cheval S. (2018), Possible use of NBS for thermal stress mitigation, ELSEDIMA, 12th International Conference, 17-19 May, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• Badiu D.L., Ioja I.C., Niță A., Niță R.M. (2018), Disentangling the connections: a network analysis of approaches on urban green infrastructures, European Forum on Urban Forestry Conference, 15-20 May, Helsinki, Finland
• Iojă I.C., Niță M.R., (2018), Revizuirea Strategiei Naționale pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă, Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza, 16 Aprilie, Iasi, Romania
• Popa A. M., Ioja I. C., Nita M. R., Onose D. A., Hossu C.A., Badiu D. L. (2018) Green solutions inside residential areas, oral presentation, Geography the Romanian Centenary, Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest, November 17-18, 2018, Bucharest, Romania
• Popa A.M. (2018) Identification of the influence of green-blue infrastructures on the temperature in Bucharest. Case study: Herastrau Park, National Symposium of Geographic Students, Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest, March 25-26, 2018, Bucharest, Romania

2017

• Niță M.R., Iojă I.C., Onose D.A., Badiu D.L., Hossu C.A. (2017), Facing the urban planning upgrade – promotion of nature-based solutions in Romanian Cities, International Conference Urban Green Infrastructure – Connecting People and Nature for Sustainable Cities, 20-21 September, Malmo, Sweden
• Iojă I.C., Niță M.R., Hossu C.A,. Onose D.A., Badiu D.L. (2017), Nature-based solutions to the environmental challenges of Romania’s cities, International Conference Nature-based Solutions. From Innovation to Common-Use, 24-26 October, Tallin, Estonia
• Niță M.R. (2017), EKLIPSE Framework Report NBS – Connecting H2020 Projects, EUGIC – European Urban Green Infrastructure Conference, 29-30 November 2017, Budapest, Hungary
• Iojă I.C., Niță M.R., Onose D.A., Hossu C.A., Badiu D.L., Considerarea soluțiilor verzi in planificarea mediului – un indicator predictibil pentru evaluarea implementării lor in mediile urbane?, “Geographical Sciences and Future of Earth“, 18-19 November, Bucharest, Romania
• Breuste J., Iojă I.C., Hossu C.A., Zwierzchowska I., Hof A., Onose D.A., Mueller C., Poniży L., Mizgajski A. (2017) Cultural ecosystem services assessment in suburban residential areas from Bucharest, Poznan and Salzburg, “Geographical Sciences and Future of Earth“, 18-19 November, Bucharest, Romania
• Workshop (organized in the framework of the project): Nature-Based Solutions for sustainable Romanian cities, 25th May, Bucharest, Romania

Workshops

• Workshop Nature-Based Solutions for sustainable Romanian cities, Bucharest, May 25th, 2018. The manifestation aimed to promote the NBS concept in Romania and represent a platform of debates which will help different stakeholders exchange experiences in using nature-based solutions as response to various societal challenges. The workshop was a partner event of EU Green Week 2018 exploring ways in which the EU is helping cities to become better places to live and work. The workshop was attended by over 40 participants, and included two main sections: The theory of Nature-Based solutions (the importance of NBS for urban ecology, EU Commission promoting NBS, sustainability and resilience of cities) and The practice of Nature-Based solutions (challenges in implementing NBS in Romania, actors involved in NBS development and management, statistical and GIS approaches to NBS, sustainability indicators for NBS) and a field trip for identifying the potential of NBS in Bucharest (Central area, Tineretului Park, Vacaresti Natural Urban Park).
• Workshop The challenging urban nature and nature’S role in URban challEnges Bucharest, September 5-6, 2019. Organized in partnership with the Society for Urban Ecology, the workshop aimed to cover topics related to the use of nature in facing urban challenges, including the application of nature-based solutions, planning for eco, smart, resilient and sustainable cities and environmental conflicts involving green and protected areas. During the workshop 24 papers were presented and 40 participants attended. The schedule included discussion on Planning for eco, smart, resilient and sustainable cities, Challenges for nature-based solutions application in our cities, The great green divide – conflicts involving green and urban protected areas and a field trip on Aspects of urban ecology in Bucharest.

Relevant projects submitted in different competitions

• H-2020 – SC5-14-2019 SC5-14-2019: Visionary and integrated solutions to improve well-being and health in cities: HAPPY CITIES: Transforming public spaces into engines of health, well-being, sustainability and inclusivity in cities (project in current evaluation, second phase – main partner)
• H-2020 – SC5-13-2018-2019: Strengthening international cooperation on sustainable urbanization; subtopic a) 2018: Strengthening EU-China collaboration WaterCity: Nature-based solutions to restore urban aquatic ecosystems for sustainable urbanization (under review in second stage – main partner).
• ERA-NET Cofund Action WaterWorks2017 – Joint Programming Initiatives Water Challenges for a Changing World (Water JPI) – “Enhancing water monitoring for circular water management” (project application – main partner)
• COST Application – Contribution of urban food forest to ecosystem services in urban region  FOOD4URB (main partner)

• Ana Maria Popa, Methods for evaluating the sustainability of Romanian cities
• Mitincu Cristina-Gabriela, Evaluating the role of environmental planning and regulation for the use of nature-based solutions in Romanian cities
• Panzaru Diana, Evaluation of the potential to use Nature-based solutions in Romanian cities

• Bucur Ramona Maria, 2019, Evaluating the potential of using nature-based solutions in cities from Prahova county
• Simion Alina Mihaela, 2019, The applicability of nature-based solutions in university campuses in Bucharest
• Badici Alina-Cristina, 2019, Evaluation of ecosystem services for Crangasi Park
• Banescu Cristina, 2018, Assessment of green infrastructures in Sinaia
• Duma Cristiana-Laura, 2018, Evaluation of ecosystem services for Al.I. Cuza and Titan Parks

Scientific Reports

• Scientific Report 2017