In the bustling cities of our Network, a remarkable initiative called BiodiverCity is taking root. With a vision to harness the power of nature-based solutions, BiodiverCity aims to measure biodiversity and account for the related ecosystem services to design and scale up transformative projects. The partner cities of this URBACT project envision a future where vibrant urban ecosystems and community-driven actions harmoniously coexist.
The project encompasses an EU-wide partnership between 10 European cities, covering a diverse group of cultures, urban and green spaces and people - the beating heart of this project. From 2023 until the end of 2025, the partners are as follows: Cieza (ES) Dunaújváros (HU) as Lead Partner, Landscape Laboratory (PT), Limerick City & County Council (IE), Poljčane (SI), Sarajevo (BA), Siena (IT), 's-Hertogenbosch (NL), Veszprém (HU) and Vratsa (BG).
BiodiverCity harnesses the immense potential of cities in raising awareness and driving innovation to create community-based approaches that value, measure, and account for biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services. The network seeks to empower communities, enabling them to plan and implement powerful nature-based solutions, while nurturing pro-environmental behaviors. With a vision of sustainable urban development, we aim to make a significant contribution to the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the collective effort to safeguard our planet's precious natural heritage.
The central idea of BiodiverCity revolves around the concept of finding solutions in nature itself. By recognizing the value of ecosystem services, such as clean air, water, and pollination, communities can develop nature-based solutions to pressing urban challenges.
Through active participation, communities will contribute to the drafting of Greening Plans, ensuring a sustainable future where human activities and biodiversity thrive harmoniously. This can be achieved in a myriad of different ways, such as by increasing the green surfaces of a city to successfully combat the drastically increased urban heat of recent years - both by increasing shade and air quality, and by maintaining and further increasing atmospheric humidity to reduce the 'curse' of concrete jungles. This way we can propagate a higher quality urban biome, while also bringing nature closer to us humans – or bringing us back „home”, to nature.
While the project is still in it’s Activation Phase , it has ignited excitement and anticipation in all our partner cities, as they embark on this collaborative journey with international partners. And not only the partners are brimming with new and innovative ideas to tackle the aforementioned issues, the URBACT Local Groups – our closest aides in our work, as „representatives” of their own cities interest and most actives members – are ready too. We envision a future where nature-based solutions are at the forefront of urban planning and development. By integrating biodiversity considerations into policies, strategies, and community initiatives, the partners aim to become model cities for sustainable practices, setting an inspiring example for others. Anything we do, needs to be integrated into the daily lives of the local populace. This is the only real sustainable option regarding the pressing issues we face in the future – be it environmental or societal.
BiodiverCity offers a compelling plot question: Can cities redefine their relationship with nature and unlock the potential of biodiversity to address pressing environmental challenges? Our network, driven by its ambitions, is ready to face this challenge head-on, working in harmony with nature to build a resilient and sustainable future - a transformative journey where nature becomes the cornerstone of urban innovation and communities become the champions of biodiversity conservation. Together, we can shape a greener, more sustainable future for the network, Europe and beyond.
As part of the URBACT Project, BiodiverCity takes part in a larger call to action, where the European Union leads the way, of bringing together the necessary elements to challenge the status quo, to face the obstacles that stand in our way and to show everyone, there is another way. Our mission is to usher in a new wave of thought and excitement, when thinking about our cities future - the only way we can find the delicate balance of Nature and Us, is to act. And to act, we need the support that only the EU can provide.
