Integrated NBS Urban Planning Methodology for Enhancing the Health and Well-Being of Citizens: The euPOLIS Approach
The euPOLIS aims to improve Public Health in cities by introducing nature-based solutions into urban planning practices.
That means that our experts are taking the best from nature’s ways to regulate and improve biodiversity by incorporating various BLUE (water) and GREEN (plant life) aspects of nature into urban open spaces where it can intensify people’s wellbeing in terms of climate, ecological and socio-economic conditions. Our methodology introduces several analytical procedures making the process more transparent and open to stronger IT support. One of the specialties is the planning of urban spaces populated with vegetation with a proven beneficial impact on cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic diseases. The philosophy is deeply grounded in the extensive and permanent citizens’ participation in urban-planning processes.
Unlike the "gray" infrastructural solutions that rely on finite, unrecyclable, and more often than not, harmful materials, the NBS includes restoring and conserving natural biodiversity in the endeavor to harness rising environmental issues in urban cores.
And while the traditional approach may appear quicker to solve many of the issues, it has to be maintained and restored, again causing more damage, waste, and vast interventions. NBS has to be kept up as well, but its maintenance is way less costly in money and finite natural resources, and it’s self-sustainable to the most extent. As a plus, it is proven that staying surrounded by natural elements improves our physical and mental health, thus magnifying all our capabilities.
We believe citizens are the ultimate experts on matters of the quality of their lives.
With participation being one of the crucial pillars of the euPOLIS philosophy, the Front-Runner cities are in a constant co-creative process that puts together a team of professionals with the genuine, grounded experience and needs of local citizens. That means collecting their insights, emotions, hopes, and even psycho-physical state (through wearing special biometrical devices) and including them in the designing processes of implementing the NBS. All these steps aim to help cities embrace the transition to bottom-up decision-making methods and empower citizens to participate in inventing their public environment.
Alongside nature’s solutions being reinaugurated into urban cores, the euPOLIS uses innovative technologies to support this process:
- The myFeel application - Existing and New Functions tailored to the euPOLIS project (Sentio Labs)
- The euPOLIS BioAssist application (BioAssist)
- The Urban Water simulation tools (NTUA - UWMH Lab)
- The network of permanent sensors (Plegma)
- The euPOLIS 4D Visualisation module (GSH)
- The euPOLIS Master Planning Methodology, the GDPM (EnPlus)
- Innovative Model of Cultural - Social Community Hub (Mikser)
Integrated NBS Urban Planning Methodology for Enhancing the Health and Well-Being of Citizens: The euPOLIS Approach
The euPOLIS aims to improve Public Health in cities by introducing nature-based solutions into urban planning practices.
That means that our experts are taking the best from nature’s ways to regulate and improve biodiversity by incorporating various BLUE (water) and GREEN (plant life) aspects of nature into urban open spaces where it can intensify people’s wellbeing in terms of climate, ecological and socio-economic conditions. Our methodology introduces several analytical procedures making the process more transparent and open to stronger IT support. One of the specialties is the planning of urban spaces populated with vegetation with a proven beneficial impact on cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic diseases. The philosophy is deeply grounded in the extensive and permanent citizens’ participation in urban-planning processes.
Unlike the "gray" infrastructural solutions that rely on finite, unrecyclable, and more often than not, harmful materials, the NBS includes restoring and conserving natural biodiversity in the endeavor to harness rising environmental issues in urban cores.
And while the traditional approach may appear quicker to solve many of the issues, it has to be maintained and restored, again causing more damage, waste, and vast interventions. NBS has to be kept up as well, but its maintenance is way less costly in money and finite natural resources, and it’s self-sustainable to the most extent. As a plus, it is proven that staying surrounded by natural elements improves our physical and mental health, thus magnifying all our capabilities.
We believe citizens are the ultimate experts on matters of the quality of their lives.
With participation being one of the crucial pillars of the euPOLIS philosophy, the Front-Runner cities are in a constant co-creative process that puts together a team of professionals with the genuine, grounded experience and needs of local citizens. That means collecting their insights, emotions, hopes, and even psycho-physical state (through wearing special biometrical devices) and including them in the designing processes of implementing the NBS. All these steps aim to help cities embrace the transition to bottom-up decision-making methods and empower citizens to participate in inventing their public environment.
Alongside nature’s solutions being reinaugurated into urban cores, the euPOLIS uses innovative technologies to support this process:
- The myFeel application - Existing and New Functions tailored to the euPOLIS project (Sentio Labs)
- The euPOLIS BioAssist application (BioAssist)
- The Urban Water simulation tools (NTUA - UWMH Lab)
- The network of permanent sensors (Plegma)
- The euPOLIS 4D Visualisation module (GSH)
- The euPOLIS Master Planning Methodology, the GDPM (EnPlus)
- Innovative Model of Cultural - Social Community Hub (Mikser)
euPOLIS Cities:
euPOLIS Cities:
News
First annual meeting of the NBS Italy Hub – Palermo, 19-21 November 2024
From 19 November 2024 to 21 November 2024 the City of Palermo hosted the first NBS HUB Italy annual meeting (the City of Palermo is a Founding Member), organized by the Environmental Policies Area, Ecological Transition and Green Regeneration of the municipality in collaboration with…
Nature’s Blueprint: Palermo’s Path to Urban Resilience
On October 9, 2024, the vibrant setting of the Ecomuseo Mare Memoria Viva in Palermo, a restored former locomotive depot, hosted a significant event in the realm of urban planning and public health—the euPOLIS project expert training session titled: “NBS (Soluzioni Basate sulla Natura) e…
Community Effective and Reflective NBS Aspirations – The Łódź Training
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Capacity Building Expert Training in Palermo
Training event on NBS (Nature-Based Solutions) and resilience of the urban environment to climate change within the euPOLIS project will take place in Palermo, one of our Follower Cities on October 9, starting at 15.00 PM local time. Aiming to come up with sustainable, humane,…
New Park on Goken Street in Limassol
The Goken Park was constructed and delivered to the Limassol citizens, last May. It’s located in the westernmost district of Limassol, Zakaki district, at a distance of 6.5km from Limassol’s Municipal Garden and the city center. The target for the park is to convert the…
euPOLIS Bogotá Team @ICUD 2024 Conference
Juan Pablo Rodriguez, a euPOLIS expert from the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá participated recently in the ICUD 2024 Conference where he presented the euPOLIS methodologies through a poster, on the topic: Feasibility methodology for selecting and locating urban Nature-based solutions considering socio-economic criteria.…
News
First annual meeting of the NBS Italy Hub – Palermo, 19-21 November 2024
From 19 November 2024 to 21 November 2024 the City of Palermo hosted the first NBS HUB Italy annual meeting (the City of Palermo is a Founding Member), organized by the Environmental Policies Area, Ecological Transition and Green Regeneration of the municipality in collaboration with…
Nature’s Blueprint: Palermo’s Path to Urban Resilience
On October 9, 2024, the vibrant setting of the Ecomuseo Mare Memoria Viva in Palermo, a restored former locomotive depot, hosted a significant event in the realm of urban planning and public health—the euPOLIS project expert training session titled: “NBS (Soluzioni Basate sulla Natura) e…
Community Effective and Reflective NBS Aspirations – The Łódź Training
In June 2024, the euPOLIS project hosted an Expert Capacity Building Training in Łódź, Poland, focusing on integrating nature-based solutions (NBS) and the challenges of citizen participation. This event brought together various stakeholders to explore effective NBS selection tools and strategies for enhancing citizen engagement…
Capacity Building Expert Training in Palermo
Training event on NBS (Nature-Based Solutions) and resilience of the urban environment to climate change within the euPOLIS project will take place in Palermo, one of our Follower Cities on October 9, starting at 15.00 PM local time. Aiming to come up with sustainable, humane,…
New Park on Goken Street in Limassol
The Goken Park was constructed and delivered to the Limassol citizens, last May. It’s located in the westernmost district of Limassol, Zakaki district, at a distance of 6.5km from Limassol’s Municipal Garden and the city center. The target for the park is to convert the…
euPOLIS Bogotá Team @ICUD 2024 Conference
Juan Pablo Rodriguez, a euPOLIS expert from the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá participated recently in the ICUD 2024 Conference where he presented the euPOLIS methodologies through a poster, on the topic: Feasibility methodology for selecting and locating urban Nature-based solutions considering socio-economic criteria.…