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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - UNALAB (Urban Nature Labs)

Teaser

Summary

The UNaLab project is contributing to the development of smarter, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable urban communities through the implementation of nature-based solutions (NBS) co-created with and for local stakeholders and citizens. Each of the UNaLab projectâ€™s three Front-Runner Cities â€“ Eindhoven (NL), Genova (IT) and Tampere (FI) â€“ has a strong commitment to smart, citizen-driven solutions for sustainable urban development. The establishment of Urban Living Lab (ULL) innovation spaces in Eindhoven, Genova and Tampere supports on-going co-creation, demonstration, experimentation and evaluation of a range of different NBS targeting climate change mitigation and adaptation along with the sustainable management of water resources. The Front-Runner Cities actively promote knowledge- and capacity-building in the use of NBS to enhance urban climate and water resilience within a network of committed partner cities, including seven Follower Cities â€“ Stavanger (NO), Prague (CZ), CastellÃ³n (ES), Cannes (FR), BaÅŸakÅŸehir (TR), Hong Kong (HK) and Buenos Aires (AR) â€“ and the Observers, Guangzhou (CN) and the Brazilian Network of Smart Cities (BR). Collaborative knowledge production among this wide network of cities enables UNaLab project results to reflect diverse urban socio-economic realities, along with differences in the size and density of urban populations, local ecosystem characteristics and climate conditions. Evidence of NBS effectiveness to combat the negative impacts of climate change and urbanisation will be captured through a comprehensive monitoring and impact assessment framework. Further replication and up-scaling of NBS is supported by development of an ULL model and associated tools tailored to the co-creation of NBS to address climate- and water-related challenges, a range of applicable business and financing models, as well as governance-related structures and processes to support NBS uptake. The results of the project will be a robust evidence base and go-to-market environment for innovative, replicable, and locally-attuned NBS.
The main objectives of UNaLab are:
- To foster urban innovation ecosystems, wherein stakeholders co-create and optimise scalable, cost-effective, locally-attuned NBS for improved climate and water resilience
â€“ To develop a robust evidence base and European framework of innovative, replicable, and locally-attuned nature-based solutions
- To develop and demonstrate the capability of city-level open data platforms to accelerate NBS co-creation and implementation
- To successfully transfer knowledge and NBS innovations to follower cities, and to support the development and implementation of NBS roadmaps

Work performed

The first 18 months of the project have primarily focussed on co-creation activities with relevant stakeholders in all the front-runner cities (Eindhoven, Genova, and Tampere) to prepare for NBS implementation, and ambition setting and vision development workshops in all follower-cities (Stavanger, Prague, Castellon, Cannes, and BaÅŸakÅŸehir). A significant number of tools for co-creation, simulation and visualisation were developed in addition to detailed analysis of different NBS KPIs, municipal governance guidelines and recommendations, etc. Some of the tangible outcomes from the first 18 months of the project include:
- Co-creation workshops held in the front-runner cities: A total of 18 co-creation workshops were held in the cities of Eindhoven, Genova, and Tampere. Eindhoven and Tampere used the Design Thinking Methodology and Genova the European Scenario Awareness Workshop. The aim of the co-creation workshops was to discuss with different city stakeholders possible NBS implementations.
- Development of an Urban Living Lab Framework: The framework ensures enhanced stakeholder and citizen ownership of solutions through effective, systematic involvement in co-design, co-development and co-implementation.
- Development of an online version of the UNaLab Living Lab Methods and Tools: The toolkit contains multiple tools to be used during different lifecycle phases of an urban living lab.
- Development of an NBS co-creation and brainstorming game: The game focusses on exploring different climate change challenges and identifying viable NBS solutions for the resolution of these challenges with the support of an Urban Living Lab.
- Scenario simulations for the reference scenario (2015) as well as for NBS and climate change and/or population growth scenarios (by 2030 and 2050) in front-runner cities: A systemic decision support tool was developed and different scenarios simulations done and visualised showing the impact of NBS implementation.
- UNaLab ICT architecture and tools: The UNaLab ICT framework enables ease of connectivity to the digital services and data sources of the front runner cities; the â€œOpen Innovation Arenaâ€ is an online tool for use by city authorities for the listing of relevant (NBS) challenges and offers participating stakeholders (e.g. citizens) the opportunity to share ideas/concepts to resolve these challenges; the city performance monitor (KPI dashboard) allows cities to monitor the performance of different (NBS) KPIs; the NBS simulation and visualisation tool allows cities to visualise and compare different NBS implementation scenarios.
- Planning and starting of NBS implementations in front-runner cities based on outcomes of co-creation workshops: Eindhoven, Genova, and Tampere have each held several co-creation and urban living lab training workshops to design NBS implementations in chosen areas of their cities (details are available in the form of blog posts on the UNaLab website).
- NBS Technical Handbook: The handbook describes potentially applicable NBS to support urban climate and water resilience and to foster urban innovation ecosystems.
- Ambition setting, scenario definition, vision development, and system analysis for follower cities: A systemic approach was developed for setting ambitions, vision, system analysis and roadmapping for NBS implementation in the follower cities.
- Municipal governance guidelines: The Municipal Governance Guidelines aim to support cities in overcoming governance-related challenges in relation to the effective development of Nature Based Solutions (NBS).

Final results

UNaLab will implement innovative, inclusive, cost-effective models for coordinated implementation and management of NBS in buildings and urban spaces. This will include: (i) the establishment of co-created NBS demonstration ULL in the front-runner cities, and (ii) the development of models and tools to facilitate upscaling of NBS in front-runner cities as well as exploitation and replication of NBS in follower cities and elsewhere. Tangible outcomes foreseen include:
stakeholder co-creation and urban innovation ecosystem enhancement through different co-creation tools, urban living lab set-up and operation tools and frameworks; Systemic Decision Support Tool for NBS implementation scenario simulation, visualisation, and NBS KPI monitoring, NBS technical handbooks, business models, and municipal governance guidelines; implementation and monitoring of co-created NBS solutions in all front-runner cities; stakeholder focussed tools and NBS roadmaps to support exploitation, replication, and scale-up in follower cities and beyond; and a robust evidence base and go-to-market environment for innovative, replicable, and locally-attuned NBS.