How Nature-Based Solutions Can Contribute to Enhance Circularity in Cities

Pineda-Martos, Rocío; Andreucci, María Beatrice; Atanasova, Nataša; Baganz, Gösta F. M.; Calheiros, Cristina S. C.; Castellar, Joana A. C.; Đolić, Maja; Istenič, Darja; López, Antonia María Lorenzo; Ribeiro, Ana R.; Langergraber, Guenter

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-91843-9_19

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 19 publications

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“…Nature-based solutions (NBS) have the potential to be used as an educational framework that requires critical system thinking, a crucial component of truly democratic active citizenship, raises awareness about global environmental, social, and economic issues and fosters environmental citizenship among students (Pineda-Martos et al, 2022).…”

Section: Integrating Nature-based Solutions In Social Economy Educati...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Nature-Based Solutions in Social Economy Education for Enhancing Environmental Sustainability

Murzyn,

Czyzewska,

Lupa-Wojcik

et al. 2024

ERSJ

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Purpose: This study aims to provide internationally comparative insights into the ways in which higher education institutions (HEIs) in selected EU countries, particularly their social economy (SE) departments, effectively integrate active environmental learning using NBS (nature-based solutions) into their settings. Design/methodology/approach: Desk research was used to identify the best practices among HEIs in selected countries (Poland, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal), while case studies were developed on the basis of best practices analysis and interviews with relevant stakeholders. Findings: The social economy's focus on social and environmental issues creates a favourable context for citizens to develop essential green skills. However, it can be noted that the use of NBS approach is not widespread. The need for an interdisciplinary approach was identified in most case studies, as was the need for more collaboration. Future approaches should focus more on creating paths of communication between educators from different disciplines.

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Section: Integrating Nature-based Solutions In Social Economy Educati...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Nature-Based Solutions in Social Economy Education for Enhancing Environmental Sustainability

Murzyn,

Czyzewska,

Lupa-Wojcik

et al. 2024

ERSJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Urban System Transformation: Addressing Circularity in Building System Recovery

Pineda-Martos,

Andreucci,

Calheiros

et al. 2024

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering

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Urban system transformation in view of sustainability is fundamental for efficient adaptation and mitigation of challenges faced by cities. Sustainable urban transitions, under the umbrella of circular economy, are key to effectively addressing future challenging scenarios and their impacts. The adoption of nature-based solutions (NBS) for circular resource management can provide beneficial ecosystem services to the urban built environment while promoting the conservation and reuse of resources within the urban cycle. The Circular City framework outlined the use of NBS to tackle challenges related to urban circularity. One such challenge is ‘Building system recovery’, which involves the regeneration of the built environment. By implementing NBS, the lifespan of building systems, construction materials, buildings, as well as open spaces can be extended. This is achieved by reducing exposure to weathering from external agents, thereby reducing the rate of infrastructure renovations, retrofitting and replacements. Moreover, strategies that prioritize resource savings, greener environments, and water-sensitive systems can increase resilience by providing critical ecosystem functions such as stormwater management, greywater treatment and mitigation of the urban heat island effect. Building upon the Circular City framework, this contribution presents NBS units and interventions at different urban scales – materials, components, systems – aiming at addressing the circularity challenge of ‘Building system recovery’. This is followed by a comprehensive analysis of input and output resource streams for strengthening circularity solutions in cities. This contribution describes state-of-the-art circularity frameworks aiming at supporting decision-makers and practitioners, while providing guidance tools for involving all relevant stakeholders, thereby supporting multifunctional implementation of NBS for inclusive and resilient circular cities.

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Alternative Growing Medium for Indoor Living Walls to Foster the Removal Efficiency of Volatile Organic Compounds

Dominici,

Comino,

Pérez-Urrestarazu

et al. 2024

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering

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Increasing urbanization trends led to growing concerns regarding human health risks linked to long-time exposure to poor indoor air quality. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), e.g., formaldehyde and benzene, are the most significant pollutants in indoor environments due to the high number of sources contributing to increase their concentration. Vertical Greening Systems (VGSs) have been proven as space-efficient nature-based solutions (NBS) using the ability of ornamental plants in removing VOCs. Growing media and rhizosphere community often play a pivotal role in removing indoor VOCs, especially in active biofilters. Although horticultural substrates are often overlooked in VGSs’ applications, an increasing number of studies focus on: (i) investigating sustainable opportunities provided by organic materials to produce alternative growing media; and, (ii) exploring compositions of substrates to maximize VGSs phytoremediation efficiency. This work presents preliminary results on the influence of almond shells as an alternative growing medium for VGSs on the removal efficiency of formaldehyde. For that, a VGS module with almond shells as substrate and a single species of ornamental plant was placed in a sealed chamber – specially designed to recirculate the air contaminated by formaldehyde through the module acting as an active biofilter. The system produced a clear reduction of the formaldehyde concentration, and the plants developed correctly with the substrate. Green building-integrated systems are multifunctional NBS which address challenges such as human wellbeing and circularity at local scale. Using organic growing media to improve the biofiltration capability of these systems is a promising alternative towards successful implementation in the built environment.

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How Nature-Based Solutions Can Contribute to Enhance Circularity in Cities

Cited by 5 publications

References 19 publications

Integrating Nature-Based Solutions in Social Economy Education for Enhancing Environmental Sustainability

Integrating Nature-Based Solutions in Social Economy Education for Enhancing Environmental Sustainability

Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Urban System Transformation: Addressing Circularity in Building System Recovery

Alternative Growing Medium for Indoor Living Walls to Foster the Removal Efficiency of Volatile Organic Compounds

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