The 5th Local Stakeholder Workshop, named “Reimagining South Tyrol’s municipalities with enterprise! Forming new nature-climate alliances” and organised by Eurac Research in collaboration with the Municipalities of Bolzano and Merano, was held on May 8th 2025 at Eurac Research.
The event brought together local authorities, business associations, practitioners, private company representatives and researchers from various disciplines to engage in a cross-sectorial debate on public-private alliances to plan, implement, maintain and upscale urban Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for biodiversity conservation and counter-acting changing climate in municipalities across the Province of Bolzano.
During the first part of the workshop, a keynote speech was given by Eurac Research representative and JUSTNature project coordinator Sonja Gantioler. Together with an overview of the project, NbS and the EU Nature Restoration Law, she focused on the importance of greening cities, as well as on the value of urban biodiversity conservation, and the key role that both citizens and local businesses can play in that process. Her introduction was followed by three presentations from regional experts who discussed practices to implement NbS in cities, from both the public and private sector. First, Maria Donata Bancher, from the Agenzia per l'Energia Alto Adige, talked about the integration of the Nature Pillar in the KlimaGemeinde / ComuneClima initiative. Then, Saca Nicli, from Laimburg Research Centre, presented the initiative 'Nature in the Garden' from South Tyrol. Last, Andrea Balestrini, from the Merano Municipality, discussed on green and blue infrastructure in South Tyrol, while presenting some of the main actions of the JUSTNature project in the area. Their presentations were followed by a Q&A session, during which the audience raised questions, and participants debated on supporting policies, measures, incentives and funding for the integration of urban NbS into the development of municipalities.
