Nature for All: Renaturalizing the City for Personal, Collective and Planetary Health
- hafsaelbriyak
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min de lectura
On 8 April, ULALABS hosted the fourth open webinar “Nature for All: Renaturalizing the City for Personal, Collective and Planetary Health”, organised within the framework of the Distributed Learning Pilot. The session brought together researchers, practitioners and community actors to explore how nature-based solutions, collaborative methodologies and participatory processes can contribute to creating more inclusive, sustainable and resilient urban spaces.
The webinar was opened by Konstantinos Kourkoutas (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona / ULALABS coordinator), who welcomed participants and introduced the ULALABS project, as well as the context of the session within the pilot phase. He also highlighted how this webinar builds on previous sessions addressing inclusion, co-creation and emerging technologies, completing the learning cycle of the Distributed Learning Pilot.
Participants' presentations
The session featured presentations from experts working on urban greening, co-creation and environmental justice:
Tina-Simone Neset (Linköping University) presented the Greener Cities project, sharing tools and methodologies for co-creating urban greening solutions. Her intervention highlighted participatory approaches such as experiential mapping and citizen sensing, as well as the importance of integrating both human and non-human perspectives in urban design.
Dario Cottafava (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) introduced the “accounting for the loops” methodology, a novel approach to assess urban commons and nature-based solutions. His work emphasised the need to move beyond linear impact models and better understand the feedback dynamics between individuals, communities and institutional systems.
Lars Urheim (Terran Community) shared the experience of the PermaBy project in Stavanger, where a grey urban backyard was transformed into a resilient green space using reused materials and permaculture principles. The project highlighted the importance of community engagement, local ownership and long-term maintenance.
Veronica Junjan (University of Twente) presented a case from the municipality of Borne (Netherlands), focused on integrating natural elements into a business area. The project demonstrated how co-creation with residents and creative use of underutilised spaces can lead to multifunctional green environments that are both ecologically and socially valuable.
Amalia Calderón-Argelich (UAB / UOC) provided a critical perspective on urban greening through the lens of environmental justice. Her presentation addressed challenges such as unequal access to green spaces and green gentrification, highlighting the importance of inclusive and intersectional approaches in urban planning.
Roundtable: Renaturalization, inclusion and urban transformation
To open and frame the discussion, participants were invited to share the concepts they associate with renaturalising cities through an interactive exercise.
The resulting word cloud highlighted key ideas such as urban regeneration, biodiversity, health, green infrastructure and community, reflecting the multidimensional nature of renaturalisation processes. These contributions closely resonated with the themes addressed during the roundtable, reinforcing the need for integrated, inclusive and systemic approaches to urban transformation.
A key theme throughout the webinar was that renaturalising cities goes beyond environmental interventions and requires addressing social, governance and equity dimensions.
While nature-based solutions can generate multiple benefits, such as improved well-being, biodiversity and climate adaptation, they can also lead to unintended consequences, including rising housing prices or social displacement if not carefully implemented.
During the roundtable discussion, moderated by Mariona Ferrandiz Rovira (UAB / CREAF / Replantegem), speakers and participants reflected on both the opportunities and challenges of urban renaturalisation. The discussion emphasised the importance of:
Ensuring long-term maintenance and community ownership of green spaces
Designing inclusive and flexible participatory processes
Engaging diverse and underrepresented groups
Integrating environmental goals with social justice considerations
Overall, the session highlighted that successful renaturalisation processes depend not only on technical solutions, but also on collaboration, trust-building and inclusive governance.
Publications and project framework
The webinar also highlighted key ULALABS publications available on the project’s website, which summarise the main findings and experiences developed during the first phases of the project.
In particular, The Emerging Lab of Labs and the Mutual Learning Communities Roadmap provide an overview of the methodologies, practices and lessons learned across European urban experimentation spaces, and frame the ongoing pilot phase of the project.
You can consult the presentations from the webinar here:
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