Modern cities are facing various socio-economic problems such as increasing inequalities, unemployment, poverty, and social exclusion. Creating sustainable livable cities is one of the biggest urban challenges.
Nature-based solutions (NbS) are widely accepted for their manifold potential in addressing key societal challenges. However, a comprehensive NbS evaluation that will effectively monitor and evaluate the performance and impact of NbS interventions and the progress toward urban sustainability while assuring that the outcomes will equally affect all human and non-human groups is still required. Based on this, Thodoros Glytsos from Technical University of Crete (TUC) gave a presentation on the Development of an NbS evaluation framework in the nexus of Sustainability, Circularity and Justice. The concept proposed a tailored indicator framework to holistically monitor and evaluate the performance and impacts of NbS interventions at neighbourhood/city scale.
By using Chania, one of the JUSTnature's City Practice Labs, as the case study, the novelty of the framework was demonstrated. This is the first attempt to combine the principles of sustainability, circularity, and ecological justice into a tool for NbS evaluation which is designed to be dynamic and adjusted to the needs at each phase of the NbS life. The application of the framework can be expanded to plan and design future NbS interventions on the city/neighbourhood scale in a way that circularity is enhanced, and ecological justice is preserved.
The presentation was given during the conference “Closed cycles and the Circular Society 2023: The power of ecological engineering” of the International Ecological Engineering Society (IEES). that was held between October 1st – 5th, 2023 in Platanias – Chania on the island of Crete, Greece.
