Inspired cities! Planning in pollinators to promote urban greening

The Guardian online newspaper is running a super and very relevant Wild Cities series to showcase stories of biodiversity in cities. This link describes how a city in Costa Rica have recognised the rights of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds into their planning approach to recognise them as essential non-human citizens of their city. By recognising pollinators, other aspects of urban greening are also promoted, providing an impetus to transform the city into a more just and sustainable space. Mora, a senior design strategist states in the article, “The idea came from a narrative that people in cities are prone to defending nature when it is far away, when it is a distant concept, but they are negligent when it comes to protecting nature in their immediate environment”. He continues, “Urban development should be, at least to some extent, aligned with the landscape instead of the other way round”.

Find the full article here, 'Sweet City': the Costa Rica suburb that gave citizenship to bees, plants and trees'. 

Of inspiration for your Living Labs and Masterplans? Have you already considered such aspects in your EdiCitNet projects? Would like to comment on your experiences? Comments can be added below!

Comments

    • Ferne

      @IrisKroeger, I realise Andernach's City Team has a focus on pollination! This article may be of interest! Would you like to provide a brief description of pollinator discussions that you've been having to share with EdiCitNet? Please feel free to add this as a separate post linking to this one!

      • Ferne

        The IUCN has just released A guide for pollinator-friendly cities! Visit here to learn more and download this resource!

        • Ferne

          Hi again! To say that if you are inspired by this article that you may like to attend the Visions for Transition: How Agriculture and Cities of the Future can save Biodiversity online event (posted earlier on CMT). The program - available online - has many really great speakers exploring how to connect pollinators and other insects with cities to promote beneficial city ecosystems.

          Presentations look at the impact of chemicals on urban nature (When chemicals interact with ecosystems Dr. Violette Geissen Wageningen University, Netherlands), good practice showcasing cities that are transitioning to healthier biodiverse systems (Transition towns Friesach - a city on its way into the future Leo Kudlicka, First Transition Town Initiative in Austria), edible city examples of change (Food cooperatives: How farmers and comsumers can work together Julianna Fehlinger, MA Via Campesina, Austria) and something on bees of course! („Save Bees and Farmers“: The contribution of citizens‘ movements and NGOs to save biodiversity Dr. Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, GLOBAL 2000, Austria). The event also includes online workshops where the final one is to be held by Dr. Rob Hopkins from the Transition Network!

          This is an independent event of knowledge sharing that relates to many of our goals at EdiCitNet!

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