CLEVER Cities - Co-designing Locally tailored Ecological solutions for Value added, socially inclusivE Regeneration in Cities

Project Information

CLEVER Cities

Grant agreement ID: 776604

DOI

10.3030/776604

Project closed

EC signature date 8 May 2018

Start date 1 June 2018

End date 30 November 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 14 864 688,84

EU contribution

€ 14 214 660,63

Coordinated by

FREIE UND HANSESTADT HAMBURG
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - CLEVER Cities (CLEVER Cities - Co-designing Locally tailored Ecological solutions for Value added, socially inclusivE Regeneration in Cities)

Reporting period: 2021-06-01 to 2023-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The CLEVER Cities project uses nature-based solutions to address urban challenges and promote social inclusion in cities across Europe, South America and China. Together, local governments, civil society, universities and businesses design, test and implement CLEVER Cities packages for urban planning processes in the cities of Hamburg, London and Milan.
The CLEVER Action Labs are the specific areas of these cities where the nature-based solutions will be implemented. Their citizens are key since they are the experts of their areas; project partners will work together with the local citizens, using both digital means and face-to-face settings, from the design phase through to implementation and monitoring, in a process of co-creation.
The cities of Sfantu Gheorghe, Quito, Madrid, Belgrade, Larissa and Malmo replicate and tailor the nature-based solutions to their local needs with the help of roadmaps, guidance on governance, business and financial models, co-created by the CLEVER Cities team. CLEVER Cities learning platforms and training opportunities enable cities and project partners to share best practice, discuss challenges and gain in-depth knowledge from thematic experts.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) means planning and designing natural features, such as trees, plants and green spaces, in a way that can help address urban challenges. With three quarters of the European Union’s population living in cities, and deprived areas of those cities often lacking in quality green spaces, CLEVER Cities intends to position nature-based solutions as a means to improving public health, social cohesion, citizen security and increasing economic opportunities in those areas.

CLEVER Cities aims to:
• increase and improve local knowledge of nature-based solutions,
• demonstrate that greener cities work better for people and communities,
• contribute data and information to EU policy-making, and ultimately
• promote and enable the uptake of nature-based solutions in urban planning world-wide.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The CLEVER Cities Guidance has been launched along with two promotional videos to provide a more detailed overview of the product.

In WP2 the three FRs have built the basis of innovative NbS, investing efforts on keeping the UIPs engaged and active. The level of advancement achieved in each of the three cities is different, justified sometimes by the essence of the solution proposed, other times in relation to the way the implementation evolved and the difficulties that emerged during the process. Successful results have not only upscaled in different localities and contexts within the same city but have also been shared with practitioners in other regions in Europe and beyond, fostering global NbS leadership.

WP3 aimed to replicate and adapt NbS tested in the FRs in order to address the needs for urban regeneration in FEs. By the end of the project the FEs have established urban governance schemes and developed plans and strategies for replication as well as processes to mainstream NbS.

Significant efforts have been focused in co-monitoring activities involving local stakeholders to customise the KPIs and the monitoring process to the specific expected outcomes in the CALs and with a deep alignment with the interventions’ characteristics. Lessons learned have been shared and will support future monitoring approaches.

Under WP5, strategies have been developed to embed the solutions found into a broader (economic) perspective. Results from various other CLEVER Cities WPs e.g. on NBS implementation and the assessment of impacts were gathered and combined. The prepared deliverables of WP5 show a clear indication and drive towards producing an impact on policy-making.

WP6 scaled out the CLEVER Cities approach as piloted and demonstrated in FR and FE cities to the global level. It accelerated global awareness of the benefits and co-benefits of urban NbS interventions and provided targeted capacity-building opportunities for cities and relevant global stakeholders.

WP6 involved FR and FE cities and their local/regional partners in knowledge-sharing efforts with the UbN hubs. The outreach and scaling-out activities therefore raised the profile and directly contributed to the further manifestation of EU leadership in the global NbS market.

CLEVER has already been represented at more than 100 events such as academic conferences, exhibitions, local festivals, and political events. WP7 helped to maintain and maximise the impact of the NbS planned and implemented through the project. Key outputs were extracted along with their benefits to society and lessons learnt, and turned into appealing products and activities to raise awareness and foster future uptake.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

CLEVER Cities offered an opportunity to test the co-design of NbS with different stakeholders and citizen-based urban living labs. This was a new methodology under investigation in all 2017 EC H2020 projects, at which point no one could demonstrate the best approach to take due to local context considerations. Whilst it remains that there is no blanket approach to take, new knowledge and options around community co-creation and monitoring have been gained alongside raised public awareness of NbS and the replication of these solutions.

The comparative assessment of the CALs in the 3 FRs at the start was challenging as they differed in type, scale, financial, and governance processes. However, practical lessons from a "bottom-up" approach to co-creation of NbS, co-design and co-management unlocked innovative ways to interact with urban planning policies and stakeholders. Determining whether this approach will dictate social inclusiveness and positive biodiversity impacts, citizen health, safety, and economic prosperity, is what makes this project beyond state of the art.

It is noteworthy that this project sought to gather evidence around NbS in urban environments when little research was available at the time of its inception. That partners aim to continue monitoring the impacts of the NbS implemented in future years will serve as one of many legacies of this project.

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