Project title: Contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice
Project number: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2019-1543
Contract no.: TE 43/2020
Funding body: Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI)
Budget: 431.900 RON
Period: 2020-2022
Research team:
Diana Andreea Onose– Project Coordinator
Athanasios Alexandru Gavrilidis – Post-doctoral researcher
Simona-Raluca Grădinaru– Post-doctoral researcher
Ana-Maria Popa – PhD student
Andreea-Raluca Slave – PhD student
Sumary
Sustainable urbanization and environmental justice represent key topics in international documents like the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Habitat Agenda and 7th Environmental Action Programme of the European Union. Small urban green infrastructures could have an important role in building sustainable and inclusive cities but the subject is still little approached in scientific studies because of the difficulties it poses, like the scale of analysis and the complex challenges these infrastructures face. The aim of the project is to analyze the contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice using complex spatial and statistical analysis, remote sensing and sociological and expert evaluation. The project is structured in 4 objectives starting with establishing the conceptual framework for assessing the contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice (O1), continuing with the assessment of the spatial (O2) and functional (O3) contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice and developing a methodological framework for assessing their contribution (O4). The originality of the project resides in the approach of small urban green infrastructure which can be a valuable tool for creating compact green cities and on the focus of different social categories (in terms of age or social status) in order to provide inclusive planning and design options. The deliverables of the project include 4 ISI articles (cumulated impact factor over 8), 6 presentations at international conferences, 2 presentation at national conferences, case studies spatial databases publicly available through webGIS applications. Both project leader and members of the research team have good track of publications in the field of Urban, regional and rural studies.
Aim
The main objective of the project is to assess the contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice filling the gap regarding their capacity to compensate for large green spaces which are hard to include in urban compact development. This represents a significant contribution since there is only little research both regarding the quantification of the multifunctionality of small urban green infrastructure and the equity of its access and use at urban level.
Objectives
The specific objectives of the project are:
(1) Establishing a Conceptual framework for assessing the contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice;
(2) Assessing the Spatial contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice;
(3)Assessing the Functional contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice;
(4) Developing a methodological framework for assessing the contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice.
Main results
Articles
Work in progress
Conferences
Gavrilidis A.A., Onose D.A., Grădinaru S.R., Popa A.M., Slave A.R. (2020), Management challenges of small urban green spaces – a 10 year literature review, International Symposium Present Environment and Sustainable Development, November 21, Iași, Romania
Onose D.A., Iojă I.C., Slave A.R., Grădinaru S.R., Gavrilidis A.A., Popa A.M., (2020) Assessing the use of collective residential gardens in cities, The 2nd International Conference on Re-shaping Territories, Environment and Societies: New Challenges for Geography, November 20, Bucharest, Romania
Popa A.M., Onose D.A., Gavrilidis A.A., Grădinaru S.R., Slave R.A. (2020) Potential contribution of small green infrastructure in improving quality of life at urban level, International Geographical Conference Dimitrie Cantemir, 40th Edition, October 24, Iasi, Romania
Reports
Work in progress