Activity Database

The EU-funded project REGREEN promotes urban livability by fostering Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in Europe and China using evidence-based tools and improved urban governance, accelerating the transition toward equitable, green, and healthy cities.

Under the project framework, ICLEI East Asia provides support to the development and application of tailored NbS approached in Chinese cities, and helps facilitate communication between Chinese and European actors.

Find out more at regreen-project.eu

Nature provides many diverse life-supporting and life-enhancing contributions to people in cities and their surrounding regions. In cities of the future, nature should ideally be fully integrated into all aspects of urban life to provide a range of inter-connected benefits.

Led by ICLEI, INTERACT-Bio is designed to improve the utilization and management of nature within fast-growing cities and the regions surrounding them. It aims to provide expanding urban communities in the Global South with nature-based solutions and associated benefits.

Find out more at interactbio.iclei.org

The Horizon 2020-funded project Connecting Nature is a consortium of 30 partners within 16 European countries, and hubs in Brazil, China, Korea, Georgia, and Armenia.

The project will expand upon existing urban sustainability and innovation initiatives, create a reference framework of clear and useful indicators for the implementation and evaluation of nature-based solutions, build expertise and competency in all cities for innovative urban planning, policy and solution implementation, generate economic opportunities for a diversity of urban actors in Europe, and nurture urban community support, idea creation, active stakeholder participation and idea implementation at local levels and expansion and replication at a global level, through the global reach of ICLEI.

Together with the ICLEI European Secretariat, the ICLEI Beijing Office worked in collaboration with local partners on drawing down matching regional funding and establishing local Connecting Nature linked initiatives.

Find out more at connectingnature.eu

The Horizon 2020-funded project CLEVER Cities uses Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to address urban challenges and promote social inclusion in cities across Europe, South America, and China.

ICLEI’s main activities in the project include: taking the lead in transferring and customizing NbS, co-developing NbS replication roadmaps and the implementation plan, and launching a CLEVER Exchange Programme by organizing webinars, workshops, study visits, etc. to ensure knowledge transfer.

ICLEI will also ensure strategic coordination of communication and dissemination activities and Organize dissemination and knowledge brokerage events. These efforts will help to (i) advance the knowledge base on NbS for inclusive urban regeneration, (ii) integrate NbS in urban regeneration and planning processes, and (iii) produce governance, business, and financial models for NbS projects.

Find out more at clevercities.eu

CitiesWithNature is a partnership initiative between ICLEI, IUCN, TNC, WWF, UNEP, and many other organizations that provides an innovative online platform to support the co-evolution of cities with nature. It offers access to an extensive array of guides, tools, and case studies to help cities and city regions redefine their relationship with nature. This interactive platform is recognized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity as the official vehicle for local and subnational governments to report their reports and ambitions for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Find out more at citieswithnature.org

UrbanByNature is a facilitated capacity-building program promoting exchange among cities, researchers, SMEs, and NGOs to build bridges with the Nature-Based Solutions communities across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and other regions that are interested. The program is powered by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and the EU-funded projects Connecting Nature and CLEVER Cities.

UrbanByNature has been launched in five regional hubs worldwide: Brazil, Korea, the Caucasus, China, and Spain. Participation is open and free of charge with new opportunities coming up regularly for other regions worldwide.

A six-part webinar series for China was delivered from June 2021 through February 2022 by the ICLEI European Secretariat and Beijing Office:

• #1 Recap: Introducing NbS and the UrbanByNature Programme in China
• #2 Recap: Enabling Conditions and Barriers to implementing NbS
• #3 Recap: Planning NbS with Citizens and Other Stakeholders
• #4 Recap: Technical Implementation of NbS
• #5 Recap: Monitoring and Evaluation of NbS
• #6 Recap: Replicating NbS across the Urban Fabric

ecoBUDGET, developed by ICLEI for and with local authorities, is founded on the concept that our natural resources, such as air, potable water, biodiversity, etc. can and should be managed with the same level of care and preciseness as our financial resources.

The tool enables environmental values to be budgeted in the same way a local authority would construct a financial budget. Through the creation of an environmental “Master Budget” local authorities can keep track of, and set goals for, their scarce natural resources in the coming years.

Find out more at ecobudget.org

Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) is ICLEI’s flagship biodiversity program developed in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Customized for local and regional authorities around the world, the program seeks to improve biodiversity planning and management at the local level.

Find out more about LAB