JUSTNature Final Conference

Towards JUST, Sustainable Urban Transformations: On-the-ground insights on delivering equitable Nature-based Solutions

Five years of learning, transforming, and co-creating, and now we tie the final bow! After almost five years of collaborative research, innovation, and on-the-ground green transformations across European cities, we’re thrilled to conclude our journey together at the JUSTNature Final Conference.

This event marks the culmination of our journey advancing equitable Nature-based Solutions in urban areas: from meaningful stakeholder engagement to inclusive strategies that help ensure fair access to ecological space for all. We’ll bring these insights to life through interactive sessions and panel debates with invited speakers. A guided visit in Leuven will wrap up the event, immersing participants in our project’s interventions firsthand!

Whether you’re a policymaker, urban planner, researcher, activist, or practitioner, come be part of this exchange, and take away actionable learnings for inclusive, sustainable urban change.

Register here


Conference Programme

February 10th: Atelier 29 (Brussels) - 9:30 to 19:00

A full day with a collection of talks, interactive workshops, and discussions based on real-world experiences of delivering nature-based solutions. With insights from local practitioners and experts in sustainable architecture, the conference will explore the complex topic of how to create urban change that has social justice and co-governance at the centre.

February 11th: Martelarenplein (Leuven) - 9:30 - 12:00

Field visits within Leuven, by foot and by bike: participants can choose between five tour options in Leuven's City Practice Lab, guided by local experts, who will discuss operational challenges, community engagement strategies, and the conditions that support replication and scaling within EU frameworks.

About our Keynote Speakers

FARZANA GANDHI

Gandhi is most interested in how widespread social impact can be achieved by rethinking the relationship between architecture and its environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic framework. By acting at the intersection of multiple disciplines, a single intervention has potential to act as a catalyst for systemic change. Her community outreach work in places like Dakar, Senegal, and Puerto Rico is driven by inquiry, investigation, and integration. She continues to bring this unique approach to design to the classroom, where her students are invited to tackle multi-layered, real-world problems and collaborate to test new dimensions of practice.

Farzana Gandhi is a registered architect in New York and a LEED accredited professional. Her architecture practice, Farzana Gandhi Design Studio, focuses on sustainable and socially conscious solutions, both locally and abroad. At New York Tech, she has been teaching introductory, advanced, and thesis-level architecture design studios, research-driven design-build elective courses, and visualization seminars.

SIMONE SANDHOLZ

Simone Sandholz leads the Urban Futures & Sustainability Transformation Programme at UNU-EHS.In her research, Dr. Sandholz focuses on urban sustainability transformation, and systemic approaches for future-oriented vulnerability and risk reduction and climate action. Her particular fields of expertise are sustainable urban and regional development, green and grey infrastructure as drivers of resilience, and related governance approaches, with a focus on interlinkages and uptake in local to global policies. In doing so, she also covers newer approaches such as adaptive social protection and loss and damage, with a focus on marginalized population groups.

SONJA GANTIOLER

Empowering people to deal with the manifold complexities of sustainability concerns is a key driver of Sonja Gantioler’s educational and professional life. It influenced her decision to pursue an interdisciplinary study in biology and environmental economics and policy in Munich and Vienna. Later on, it steered her engagement in providing high-quality analysis, research and advice on sustainable finance and environmental policy at EU level in Brussels. Her desire to directly engage key players at city and regional level subsequently led her to take on the role of sustainability consultant, and also resulted in a PhD in spatial development and design at the Technical University Munich. She has been successfully leading and managing a wide range of research projects and studies, and authoring a series of publications with high policy impact.

Linked to her enthusiasm in unravelling the big picture, and combing different views across scientific disciplines and stakeholders, as a senior researcher she currently focuses on the integration of nature-based solutions and on environmental policy and governance in order to identify, clarify and solve the transformational puzzles of a just (energy) transition.

About the Site Visit

TOUR 1: Nature Behind Bars and Beyond Life. A visit to Leuven Cemetery, passing by the JUSTNature prison pilot.

The days when cemeteries were only used to bury the dead are long gone. Today, cemeteries have the potential to serve interesting new functions related to ecology, experience, art, and more. We do not shy away from experiment. Would you like to discover the various possibilities for yourselves? Feel free to come and visit us.

On our way to the cemetery, Leuven Central prison is located, where one of the JUSTNature pilots is located. We can’t enter, but we will tell you the story at the gates!

TOUR 2: From Prototype to Climate Street: Exploring JUSTNature’s Constantin Meunier Pilot

Join us for a visit to the pilot site of the JUSTNature project in the Constantin Meunierstraat — a street currently being transformed a ‘climate-street.’ To redesign this public space, the city tested large‑scale greening measures and mobility changes through a full‑street JUSTNature prototype. During the visit, you’ll explore this test setup and learn how traffic measurements, citizen science, and local engagement shaped the final design.

And there’s a special twist: we travel to the site with Leuven’s autonomous shuttle — Belgium’s first self‑driving bus operating in regular traffic. It’s a unique chance to experience two innovative pilots in one tour, and to see how Leuven is experimenting its way toward a cooler, greener and more future‑proof city.

TOUR 3: Stand up for your neighborhood! Shaping public space with citizens

The city of Leuven is running a citizens engagement program ‘Stand up for your neighborhood”, in which citizens are guided through a co-creation process for realizing all kind of projects in their own street or neighborhood.

When redeveloping urban space, we also try to make room for nature-based solutions. In the Constantin Meunierstraat, a temporary installation is testing how the implementation of Nature Based solutions can change neighborhoods. During this tour, you will explore various Stand up for your Neighborhood projects and our JUSTNature pilot in the Constantin Meunierstraat.

TOUR 4: From Grey to Green: A Life Pact Bike Tour

Join us for an inspiring bike tour through Leuven and discover how the European funded Life Pact project is reshaping the city for a changing climate. As we cycle beyond the historic center, we explore how climate adaptation and community participation go hand in hand. Technical solutions like water infiltration or cooling measures only work when they are co-created with the people who live there.

Along the way, we visit examples of greener streets, redesigned public spaces, and resident‑driven initiatives that make neighborhoods more resilient. You’ll see how replacing asphalt with plants and trees not only cools the city but also turns ordinary streets into vibrant meeting places. Whether your focus is climate or community, this tour offers a unique look at how Leuven is moving toward a greener, more connected future.

* Practical note: Pick up your bicycle at the Leuven train station between 9:00 and 9:15. Please let us know if you bring your own bike.

TOUR 5: Brewing a New Future: Sustainability in the Vaartkom — A Revitalised Waterfront

The Lower Town and the Vaartkom district have undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years — and the evolution is still ongoing. Former industrial brewery sites have been reimagined as vibrant residential neighbourhoods where sustainability plays a central role. A wide range of initiatives focused on greening, energy, water management, and mobility have helped create a pleasant and highly liveable urban environment.

During this guided walk, participants explore both the flagship projects that have already been completed and the sometimes challenging journey it took to realise them. While the main focus is on climate adaptation, many other innovative urban projects will also be highlighted.

Register for free