IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i17p9672-d623780.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Setting the Social Monitoring Framework for Nature-Based Solutions Impact: Methodological Approach and Pre-Greening Measurements in the Case Study from CLEVER Cities Milan

Author

Listed:
  • Israa H. Mahmoud

    (Laboratorio di Simulazione Urbana Fausto Curti, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Eugenio Morello

    (Laboratorio di Simulazione Urbana Fausto Curti, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Chiara Vona

    (Cooperativa Sociale Eliante Onlus, via San Vittore 49, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Maria Benciolini

    (Cooperativa Sociale Eliante Onlus, via San Vittore 49, 20123 Milan, Italy)

  • Iliriana Sejdullahu

    (Ambiente Italia Società a Responsabilità Limitata, Department of Adaptation and Resilience, 20129 Milan, Italy)

  • Marina Trentin

    (Ambiente Italia Società a Responsabilità Limitata, Department of Adaptation and Resilience, 20129 Milan, Italy)

  • Karmele Herranz Pascual

    (TECNALIA, Energy and Environment Division, Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia, Astondo bidea, Edificio 700, E-48160 Derio-Bizkaia, Spain)

Abstract

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are currently being deployed in many European Commission Horizon 2020 projects in reaction to the increasing number of environmental threats, such as climate change, unsustainable urbanization, degradation and loss of natural capital and ecosystem services. In this research, we consider the application of NBS as a catalyst for social inclusivity in urban regeneration strategies, enabled through civic participation in the co-creation of green interventions with respect to social cohesion and wellbeing. This article is focused on a social monitoring framework elaborated within the H2020 CLEVER Cities project, with the city of Milan as a case study. Firstly, we overviewed the major regeneration challenges and expected co-benefits of the project, which are mainly human health and wellbeing, social cohesion and environmental justice, as well as citizen perception about safety and security related to the NBS implementation process. Secondly, we examined the relevance of using NBS in addressing social co-benefits by analyzing data from questionnaires against a set of five major indicators, submitted to citizens and participants of activities during pre-greening interventions: (1) Place, use of space and relationship with nature, (2) Perceived ownership and sense of belonging, (3) Psychosocial issues, social interactions and social cohesion, (4) Citizen perception about safety and security, and lastly, we analyzed (5) knowledge about CLEVER interventions and NBS benefits in relation to socio-demographics of the questionnaires’ respondents. Thirdly, we cross-referenced a wind-rose multi-model of co-benefits analysis for NBS across the regeneration challenges of the project. Because of the COVID-19 emergency, in this research we mainly focused on site observations and online questionnaires, as well as on monitoring pre-greening scenarios in three Urban Living Labs (ULLs) in Milan, namely CLEVER Action Labs. Lastly, this study emphasizes the expected social added values of NBS impact over long-term urban regeneration projects. Insights from the pre-greening surveys results accentuate the importance of the NBS interventions in citizens’ perceptions about their wellbeing, general health and strong sense of neighborhood belonging. A wider interest towards civic participation in co-management and getting informed about NBS interventions in the Milanese context is also noted.

Suggested Citation

  • Israa H. Mahmoud & Eugenio Morello & Chiara Vona & Maria Benciolini & Iliriana Sejdullahu & Marina Trentin & Karmele Herranz Pascual, 2021. "Setting the Social Monitoring Framework for Nature-Based Solutions Impact: Methodological Approach and Pre-Greening Measurements in the Case Study from CLEVER Cities Milan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-28, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:17:p:9672-:d:623780
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9672/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9672/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diana Dushkova & Dagmar Haase, 2020. "Not Simply Green: Nature-Based Solutions as a Concept and Practical Approach for Sustainability Studies and Planning Agendas in Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, January.
    2. Helen Santiago Fink, 2016. "Human-Nature for Climate Action: Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Raymond, Christopher M. & Frantzeskaki, Niki & Kabisch, Nadja & Berry, Pam & Breil, Margaretha & Nita, Mihai Razvan & Geneletti, Davide & Calfapietra, Carlo, 2017. "A framework for assessing and implementing the co-benefits of nature-based solutions in urban areas," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 15-24.
    4. Frantzeskaki, Niki & Vandergert, Paula & Connop, Stuart & Schipper, Karlijn & Zwierzchowska, Iwona & Collier, Marcus & Lodder, Marleen, 2020. "Examining the policy needs for implementing nature-based solutions in cities: Findings from city-wide transdisciplinary experiences in Glasgow (UK), Genk (Belgium) and Poznań (Poland)," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    5. Vera Ferreira & Ana Paula Barreira & Luís Loures & Dulce Antunes & Thomas Panagopoulos, 2020. "Stakeholders’ Engagement on Nature-Based Solutions: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-27, January.
    6. Cousins, Joshua J., 2021. "Justice in nature-based solutions: Research and pathways," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    7. Sandra Rousseau & Nick Deschacht, 2020. "Public Awareness of Nature and the Environment During the COVID-19 Crisis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 1149-1159, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Letizia Cremonini & Marianna Nardino & Teodoro Georgiadis, 2022. "The Utilization of the WMO-1234 Guidance to Improve Citizen’s Wellness and Health: An Italian Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-13, November.
    2. Israa H. Mahmoud & Eugenio Morello & Giuseppe Salvia & Emma Puerari, 2022. "Greening Cities, Shaping Cities: Pinpointing Nature-Based Solutions in Cities between Shared Governance and Citizen Participation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-7, June.
    3. Sean Bradley & Israa H. Mahmoud & Alessandro Arlati, 2022. "Integrated Collaborative Governance Approaches towards Urban Transformation: Experiences from the CLEVER Cities Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lei Li & Ali Cheshmehzangi & Faith Ka Shun Chan & Christopher D. Ives, 2021. "Mapping the Research Landscape of Nature-Based Solutions in Urbanism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-41, April.
    2. Diana Dushkova & Annegret Haase & Manuel Wolff & Dagmar Haase, 2021. "Editorial for Special Issue “Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in Cities and Their Interactions with Urban Land, Ecosystems, Built Environments and People: Debating Societal Implications”," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-7, September.
    3. Rembrandt Koppelaar & Antonino Marvuglia & Lisanne Havinga & Jelena Brajković & Benedetto Rugani, 2021. "Is Agent-Based Simulation a Valid Tool for Studying the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions on Local Economy? A Case Study of Four European Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Remme, Roy P. & Meacham, Megan & Pellowe, Kara E. & Andersson, Erik & Guerry, Anne D. & Janke, Benjamin & Liu, Lingling & Lonsdorf, Eric & Li, Meng & Mao, Yuanyuan & Nootenboom, Christopher & Wu, Tong, 2024. "Aligning nature-based solutions with ecosystem services in the urban century," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Alessandro Arlati & Anne Rödl & Sopho Kanjaria-Christian & Jörg Knieling, 2021. "Stakeholder Participation in the Planning and Design of Nature-Based Solutions. Insights from CLEVER Cities Project in Hamburg," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, February.
    6. Barbara Sowińska-Świerkosz & Julia Wójcik-Madej & Malwina Michalik-Śnieżek, 2021. "An Assessment of the Ecological Landscape Quality (ELQ) of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) Based on Existing Elements of Green and Blue Infrastructure (GBI)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, October.
    7. Ananya Tiwari & Luís Campos Rodrigues & Frances E. Lucy & Salem Gharbia, 2022. "Building Climate Resilience in Coastal City Living Labs Using Ecosystem-Based Adaptation: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-29, August.
    8. Chloé Duffaut & Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste & Pierre-Antoine Versini, 2022. "Barriers and Levers for the Implantation of Sustainable Nature-Based Solutions in Cities: Insights from France," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-19, August.
    9. Sharifi, Farahnaz & Nygaard, Andi & Stone, Wendy M. & Levin, Iris, 2021. "Green gentrification or gentrified greening: Metropolitan Melbourne," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    10. Hai-Ying Liu & Marion Jay & Xianwen Chen, 2021. "The Role of Nature-Based Solutions for Improving Environmental Quality, Health and Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-56, October.
    11. Agata Cabanek & Maria Elena Zingoni de Baro & Joshua Byrne & Peter Newman, 2021. "Regenerating Stormwater Infrastructure into Biophilic Urban Assets. Case Studies of a Sump Garden and a Sump Park in Western Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-16, May.
    12. Nadirah Hazwani Najib & Syuhaida Ismail & Rohayah Che Amat & Serdar Durdyev & Zdeňka Konečná & Abdoulmohammad Gholamzadeh Chofreh & Feybi Ariani Goni & Chitdrakantan Subramaniam & Jiří Jaromír Klemeš, 2022. "Stakeholders’ Impact Factors of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sustainable Mixed Development Projects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-19, August.
    13. Sjerp de Vries & Arjen E. Buijs & Robbert P. H. Snep, 2020. "Environmental Justice in The Netherlands: Presence and Quality of Greenspace Differ by Socioeconomic Status of Neighbourhoods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-17, July.
    14. Barbara Ester Adele Piga & Gabriele Stancato & Nicola Rainisio & Marco Boffi, 2021. "How Do Nature-Based Solutions’ Color Tones Influence People’s Emotional Reaction? An Assessment via Virtual and Augmented Reality in a Participatory Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-25, December.
    15. Sophie Mok & Ernesta Mačiulytė & Pieter Hein Bult & Tom Hawxwell, 2021. "Valuing the Invaluable(?)—A Framework to Facilitate Stakeholder Engagement in the Planning of Nature-Based Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-16, March.
    16. Giachino, Chiara & Bollani, Luigi & Truant, Elisa & Bonadonna, Alessandro, 2022. "Urban area and nature-based solution: Is this an attractive solution for Generation Z?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    17. Cousins, Joshua J., 2021. "Justice in nature-based solutions: Research and pathways," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    18. Mahla Tayefi Nasrabadi, 2022. "How do nature-based solutions contribute to urban landscape sustainability?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 576-591, January.
    19. Gabriel Luke Kiddle & Maibritt Pedersen Zari & Paul Blaschke & Victoria Chanse & Rebecca Kiddle, 2021. "An Oceania Urban Design Agenda Linking Ecosystem Services, Nature-Based Solutions, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Wellbeing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    20. Barbara Sowińska-Świerkosz & Malwina Michalik-Śnieżek & Alicja Bieske-Matejak, 2021. "Can Allotment Gardens (AGs) Be Considered an Example of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) Based on the Use of Historical Green Infrastructure?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:17:p:9672-:d:623780. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.