July 2017 INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE A GUIDE FOR PRACTITIONERS July 2017 INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE A GUIDE FOR PRACTITIONERS INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE. A GUIDE FOR PRACTITIONERS Suggested citation: Ambrose-Oji, B., Buijs, A., Gerőházi, E., Mattijssen, T., Száraz,L., Van der Jagt, A., Hansen,R., Rall, E., Andersson, E, Kronenberg, J., and Rolf, W. 2017, Innovative Governance for Urban Green Infra TABLE OF CONTENTS I CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE GUIDE AND THE PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE FOR UGI 1.1. What is UGI governance? 1.2. Principles of UGI governance 1.3. What is this guide and who is it for? 1.4. How to use this guide 1.5. Resources II CHAPTER 2: A TYPOLOGY TO MAKE SENSE OF INNOVAT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE GUIDE AND THE PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE FOR UGI 4 INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 1.1. WHAT IS UGI GOVERNANCE? Contemporary society is an urban society. The majority of Europes people now live in cities, towns and urban areas. The role of urban nature and urban green infrastructure (UGI) has never been more important to hundreds of thousands of urban dwellers. Individuals derive range of ways in which non-state actors can become involved in green space decision-making processes in Europe. These vary from: formal consultation in city or site level planning; through to the public transfer of management responsibility and co-governance of particular sites by civil society and and fails to take into account the views of the local population3. Changes to the balance of power and the outcomes for social inclusion may also alter significantly when the forms of governance applied rely heavily on financial mechanisms, and are then open to the imposition of the market and marke 1.3. WHAT IS THIS GUIDE AND WHO IS IT FOR? This guide aims to provide a tool for navigating through some of these important UGI governance questions and issues. The guide synthesises results from the European research project GREEN SURGE on the current state-of-art of knowledge and innovative practi 1.4. HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE This guide is not produced as a step-by-step guide to building participatory governance processes. It is a resource that outlines some of the key questions and principles that those involved in green space governance should be considering. Evidence and good practice exampl 1.5. RESOURCES Research papers 1. Arnouts, R., M. van der Zouwen, and B., Arts, Analysing governance modes and shifts Governance arrangements in Dutch nature policy. Forest Policy and Economics, 2012. 16: p. 43-50. 2. Swyngedouw, E., Governance Innovation and the Citizen: The Janus Face of Governan INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 11 CHAPTER 2: A TYPOLOGY TO MAKE SENSE OF INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR UGI 12 INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 2.1. INTRODUCTION: MAKING SENSE OF GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE It is well argued that bringing different groups of people and organisations together to work on specific issues can lead to social innovations that drive the ecological, economic and social development of European cities1. overlapping objectives and priorities of the municipality, the community, and citizens in a particular space, facilitating governance involving all these groups is appropriate (Figure 1). The degree to which municipalities involve themselves in the governance process can vary. Whether municipalities for the municipality to keep control over a process because the outcome needs to be assured or aligned with their processes and objectives, then the better options are to be found at the governmentled or co-management end of the spectrum. The important point is for municipal actors to be clear about Expressions of active citizenship in governance of UGI Including citizens, civil society groups, social enterprises and businesses in active citizenship means that there is a significant diversity in the arrangements and ways in which active citizenship is organised. Citizens may act together as loo However, the diversity in active citizenship arrangements and the objectives that they are working to delivers different kinds of benefits. In addition this broad range of arrangements means a diversity of people with different motivations, perspectives and skills will be included. The resources, ca Some of these active citizenship arrangements might be easy recognisable, grassroots initiatives for example. However, these examples may incorporate one, or a number of the four key areas of innovation shown in Figure 4. For example: 1. The green space initiatives themselves may be innovative, invo creative partnerships. These forms of non-government led approaches have significant potential to push for innovation in governance, so are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 3. Just a short description of three different arrangements is given here. i. Grassroots initiatives Grassroots initiati social enterprises and individuals. Other examples include the experimental Gardens of Art approach in Poland, which developed a method with art and theatre to be used in participatory governance in order to stimulate stakeholders past stalemates in conversations and negotiations8. In another exampl between the partners is formalised, but at least some of the power and decision-making processes are shared between municipality and the organisations involved. Across Europe, numerous such cogovernance structures exist. For example the active citizen group Mooi Wageningen (Beautiful Wageningen), th of including citizens. It is often included as part of formal planning processes with a different degree of flexibility towards citizens. It also always happens on a bigger scale citywide or including many neighbourhoods. For these projects a strong commitment is required from the municipality to e 2.5. RESOURCES Guides and tools The Community Planning Toolkit a guide for municipalities to help them understand an plan their working with civil society to align efforts supporting public assets and services www.communityplanningtoolkit.org Ambrose-Oji, B., et al., 2011, Public Engagement in Fores CHAPTER 3: ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP AND NON-GOVERNMENT LED APPROACHES 24 INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 3.1. WHAT IS NONGOVERNMENT LED GOVERNANCE? Cities across Europe have for some time looked to increase public participation in green space management. However, in more recent years, the involvement of citizens in green space governance has developed from a focus on public participation in government 3.2. TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW Motivations for active citizenship in non-government led governance The motivations for individuals and organisations to involve themselves in urban green spaces activities are very diverse. They will be related to the individuals interests or the organisational objectives. M development objectives may be facilitated by such organisations. The urban farming case in Malmö described below illustrates how the creative power of social enterprises may contribute to innovative solutions for challenges in urban development and regeneration. The focus in this chapter is on the t environmental and social improvements can also contribute to an increasing value of real estate in the area6 Grassroots initiatives often work independently from municipalities and tend to focus more on the small scale solutions in local neighbourhoods, business parks or development areas. They have Green Hubs Green Hubs are innovative coalitions between citizens, businesses, and nongovernmental organisations, sometimes also municipalities. They are related to the recent rise of social enterprises, in which often single individuals try to combine moral responsibility for e.g. sustainability iss 3.3. EXAMPLES IN PRACTICE Across Europe, many examples exist of grassroots initiatives, organisation led grassroots initiative and Green Hubs. We will now illustrate these types with examples from within the GREEN SURGE project. ORGANISATION INITIATED GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE: STOPPING-PLACE, SZEGED, GRASSROOTS INITIATIVES: GRANTON COMMUNITY GARDENERS, EDINBURGH, UK Granton Community Gardeners are an association of people located in one of the most socially deprived areas of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton Community Gardeners was a group started 10 years ago by local residents who were unhappy abou GREEN HUBS: URBAN FARMING IN HYLLIE, MALMÖ, SWEDEN Image: Pixabay In 2015 the urban agricultural initiative Stadsbruk (Urban Farming in Swedish) was started on some urban development sites in the neighbourhood called Hyllie on the outskirts of the city of Malmö. The project aims to create innovativ 3.4. KEY MESSAGES FOR DECISION MAKERS One of the big challenges associated with non-government led initiatives is whether municipalities are aware of them, and how they relate to municipal scale objectives and strategies. Even though Green Hubs and some organisation-initiated grass roots initiatives 3.5. RESOURCES Guides and tools Enabling Social Action: Guidance for the public sector (2015). www.gov.uk/government/publications/enabling-social-action-guidance Places to Be: Green Spaces for Active Citizenship (2014). www.fabians.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/PlacesToBe-Final1.pdf Research pa INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 35 CHAPTER 4: GREEN BARTER AND PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: INVOLVING BUSINESS IN UGI GOVERNANCE 36 INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 4.1. INTRODUCTION Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have different definitions in different fields. In the case of creating, managing, and operating green spaces we refer to PPP as the cooperation (risk and benefit sharing) of business entities with public actors, even when these business entities FIGURE 5: SHIFT OF DECISION MAKING POWER BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ACTORS 100% public decision Taxing Outsourcing 100% business decision Sponsoring BID Internal intervention Green Barter Public-private mutual governance Taxing and obligations: In this scheme the public sphere creates the le PPP includes collaboration where co-decision is made by the public and private actors together and both the risks and the benefits are shared. Sponsoring, green barter, and Business Improvement Districts fall into this category. The main reasons for entering into a PPP are different for private and into PPP arrangements; but room for cooperation should still be created to establish a partnership rather than just a pure obligation. As experience shows, obligations alone (e.g. environmental regulations, compensation for environmental damages during construction, restricting advertisement possibi Despite the conflicting interests and the mutual mistrust, there are tools that enable the creation of trust and transparency, such as a reliable contractual framework. The contractual framework on rights and obligations provides a stable background for both contracting parties; however, it is impor 4.3. EXAMPLES IN PRACTICE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT IN HAMBURG, GERMANY Tibarg is a central area of Niendorf quarter in Hamburg, where traditional retail activities became endangered by a shopping mall that was opened in 2002 at the northern edge of the pedestrian street. An organisation establi GREEN BARTER IN LODZ, POLAND Lisciasta Park Residence (Osiedle Liściasta Park in Polish) is a new residential area in the northern part of Lodz, built between 2009 and 2013. The Residence has seven buildings with 158 apartments. This residential area is bordered in the south and east by a green spac GREEN BARTER IN ORADEA, ROMANIA In 2009 the municipality of Oradea decided to follow the experience of some other Romanian cities in letting private companies adopt some smaller green spaces. Companies sign contracts with the municipality for one year (which can be extended) on developing and mainta 4.5. RESOURCES Research papers 1. Davies, C., et al., Green infrastructure planning and implementation 2015, GREEN SURGE project report. Andersson, E., Kronenberg, J., Cvejić, R. and Adams, C.: Integrating green infrastructure ecosystem services into real economies (GREEN SURGE Deliverable 4.1, Octo CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL INCLUSION IN THE GOVERNANCE OF UGI 46 INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 5.1. INTRODUCTION The terms social inclusion and social exclusion can be considered as two sides of the same coin. Talking about inclusion is generally regarded as more positive, and focuses attention on overcoming the barriers related to social exclusion. Social inclusion in terms of governance mea So in general terms, there is a growing recognition of the importance of social inclusion in European cities. This has led to environmental justice aspects being considered more frequently by some municipal authorities and departments using the kind of insights and tools mentioned above. For example characteristics but an equal interest in the green space. Local variation in who is involved or invited to a process may support social inclusion at a larger scale. A totally open process will, for a number of reasons, exclude or under-represent some groups. It is also important to distinguish betw FIGURE 8: BARRIERS TO SOCIAL INCLUSION IN UGI GOVERNANCE Economic Social Lack of resources required for engagement Poor networks Gentrification marginalises some individuals Lack of confidence Lack of knowledge Social inclusion in decision making and management processes and organisation Cul i. Set the objectives of the process iv. Anticipate difficulties and manage expectations Why is the municipality/ organisation engaging the community? What governance model and active citizenship arrangements is the municipality/ organisation hoping to facilitate? Are the appropriate organisations v. Design an effective communication strategy Build peoples involvement in a governance process by using a variety of different forms of communication media and platforms to engage with them. Consider the way in which information is presented for people who do not speak the local language well, or c processes (such as Stakeholder Dialogue) are good at building relationships and finding common ground, while those from marketing, such as Focus Groups, are good at identifying existing wants and needs. This is why it is so important to clarify the objectives and reasons for working to build social 5.3. EXAMPLES IN PRACTICE The following examples in practice illustrate the role of the municipality in three different UGI examples. Each example involves a different scale levels, and a different governance model that has involved different approaches to social inclusion for particular groups. CI Being such a large scale city-wide programme, the municipality almost always worked in association with neighbourhood councils, which functioned as a consulting body for the municipality in each specific neighbourhood. Working with the neighbourhood councils was one method of ensuring that barriers LOCAL SITE LEVEL INCLUSION THROUGH SOCIAL MOBILISATION AND CO-GOVERNANCE GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK, BARRHEAD WATER WORKS COMMUNITY GREEN SPACE AND GARDEN Water Works is a co-governance initiative that has worked to regenerate a neighbourhood by transforming a derelict sewage works covering 2 hectares of between men to overcome social isolation; Renfrewshire Association for Mental Health; Dunterlie Youth Group and Young Enterprise Scotland, were all included in the planning, renovation and onward maintenance of the site as a public green space. The outcome is a project that has not only reclaimed th NEIGHBOURHOOD LEVEL INCLUSION THROUGH THE MOBILISATION OF SOCIAL CAPITAL LED BY A GRASSROOTS ORGANISATION BRISTOL, ENGLAND, UK, NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING OLD MARKET QUARTER Neighbourhood planning was introduced in England as part of the Localism Act 2011. A neighbourhood development plan establishes ge 5.4. KEY MESSAGES FOR DECISION MAKERS Different approaches for developing socially inclusive governance of UGI will need to be developed at different scale levels. This is particularly true when considering processes which are suited to larger scale city-wide or neighbourhood-wide initiatives. Gover Research papers 1. CABE Space, Community Green - Using local spaces to tackle inequality and improve health. 2011, CABE Space: London. 2. Gidlow, C.J. and N.J. Ellis, Neighbourhood green space in deprived urban communities: issues and barriers to use. Local Environment, 2011. 16(10). 3. Jay, M. INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 61 CHAPTER 6: GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND CONTINUITY: PLACE-KEEPING 62 INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 6.1. WHAT IS PLACEKEEPING AND HOW DOES IT LINK TO GOVERNANCE AND ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP? Designing and planning urban landscapes tends to focus on creating high-quality public spaces. The sustainable long-term management of such spaces, in other words place-keeping is often overlooked2. The concept of p Active citizenship for governance has been seen as a way to meet some of these challenges. The benefits of collaborative working to place-keeping are welldemonstrated: Sharing responsibilities lessen the resource burden on any one partner and different actors have access to different resources and n 6.2. TECHNICAL KNOWHOW: FEATURES OF SUCCESSFUL PLACEKEEPING There are many important aspects to successful place-keeping that are part of a continuous and dynamic process, and closely linked with participatory governance. The most important factors to consider include: policy and politics surroundin Design and management Place-keeping literature emphasizes the importance of considering long-term management and maintenance issues early on in the designphase, clearly linking placemaking and place-keeping. If places are not maintained, the qualities that are attributed to them will generally dec BOSCOINCITTÀ, MILAN, ITALY Boscoincittà (Forest in the City) is a public park in the urban peripheral area of Milan established in 1974 on 35 ha of abandoned farmland. This area of private land was taken into public ownership and totally transformed into a forest and parkland through a multi-actor, nowadays the municipality provides 85% of the place-keeping budget. Italia Nostra and volunteers provide additional income contributing to place-making through donations and fund raising activities. The success of Boscoincittà engaging in long-term management has been reliant on building partnership DE RUIGE HOF, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS For the past 30 years the nature association De Ruige Hof (DRH; The Wild Court) has managed 13 ha of peri-urban greenspace in the southeast of Amsterdam with the aim of bringing nature closer to citizens and citizens closer to nature. The local community form from selling produce and renting out their accommodation as an event space. DRH reserves the majority of its fixed management budget for the ongoing maintenance of green areas, while new elements (i.e. place-making activities) are generally grantfunded. Recently, the groups income has been under pre DUDDINGSTON FIELD GROUP, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, UK Duddingston Field Group (DFG) is an urban community woodland group based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since 2011 DFG has managed a 2.5 ha existing green space, a meadow on the slopes of Arthurs Seat, which they lease from the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC Two public meetings were organized ahead of signing the lease to address concerns by, and win the support of, local people. Only the rough parameters of what the group wanted to achieve were set early on, and exact decisions about what would happen were made as time progressed, so in effect the gree 6.4. KEY MESSAGES FOR DECISION MAKERS The examples of active citizenship in the three case studies demonstrate the potential of these practices to place-keeping, more than the provision of a site to nongovernmental actors. In Boscoincittà, partnership working with citizen groups and volunteer organi 6.5. RESOURCES Guides and tools Dempsey, N. 2015, Partnerships Handbook: A guide to good place-keeping Available from: https://place-keeping.squarespace.com/s/Partnerships_handbook.pdf Heriott Watt University. 2012, Place-keeping in Master Planning. Available from: http://archive.northsearegion.eu/ INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 75 CHAPTER 7: THE STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP IN UGI GOVERNANCE 76 INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDE July 2017 7.1. INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC HIGHLIGHTS Different kinds of urban green infrastructure (UGI) have different features and characteristics which offer different opportunities and constraints for municipalities, active citizens, organisations, and businesses. The benefits that come from different ki In the past, much research focused on defining and documenting the characteristics of the urban green space that are likely to influence its use, such as its accessibility, quality, facilities, attractiveness, and security1. There is some research that has measured and documented the benefits that c 7.2. TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW Urban green spaces are very diverse in ecology, size, functionality, ownership, tenure and social interest. They range from city parks to green walls and rooftop gardens, from urban forests to allotment gardens. Some government agencies and organisations will also include blu Researchers associated with the GREEN SURGE project undertook several inventories looking for examples of different kinds of governance and active citizenship arrangements associated with different kinds of green space2. It is possible to find examples of different governance arrangements involving TABLE 2: AN INVENTORY OF DIFFERENT UGI TYPES, ASSOCIATED GOVERNANCE AND BENEFITS TYPE OF UGI PREDOMINANT GOVERNANCE MODELS DOCUMENTED KEY BENEFITS DOCUMENTED EXAMPLES Play grounds A few examples with Government led social mobilisation, co-governance and grassroots initiatives rare Physical h TABLE 2: AN INVENTORY OF DIFFERENT UGI TYPES, ASSOCIATED GOVERNANCE AND BENEFITS TYPE OF UGI PREDOMINANT GOVERNANCE MODELS DOCUMENTED KEY BENEFITS DOCUMENTED EXAMPLES Arable land and horticulture or market gardening Many examples which include co-management and community-led governance Many TABLE 2: AN INVENTORY OF DIFFERENT UGI TYPES, ASSOCIATED GOVERNANCE AND BENEFITS TYPE OF UGI PREDOMINANT GOVERNANCE MODELS DOCUMENTED KEY BENEFITS DOCUMENTED EXAMPLES Wetland Ponds/lakes Examples include co-governance and non-government led approaches Ecological where biodiversity improvemen The key learning points that came through from these inventories and from the in-depth case studies that the GREEN SURGE researchers undertook were that: The Rules of the game are fundamentally important in influencing multifunctionality and the range of benefits to come from green space Ownershi 7.3. EXAMPLES IN PRACTICE BENEFITS FROM INNOVATIVE CO-GOVERNANCE RIVER STEWARDSHIP COMPANY, SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND, UK The River Stewardship Company (RSC) is a social enterprise which works to improve the waterways for people and for wildlife in the city of Sheffield, England. A social enterprise is a involved as volunteers, old and young, employed and unemployed, those with and without health issues. Volunteers have included people referred through health services, for example through the brain injury clinic or through green exercise prescriptions; there has been engagement with groups wanting t BENEFITS FROM INNOVATIVE NON-GOVERNMENT LED GRASSROOTS PROJECTS ARNOS VALE CEMETERY, BRISTOL, ENGLAND, UK Arnos Vale Cemetery is an historically important cemetery that was established in Bristol in 1837. The cemetery has conservation status and is recognised as Grade II on the Register of Historic The Trust now employs the equivalent of nine full-time staff. The active citizens in the Friends of group provide labour and skills for much of day to day management of the site including maintenance of the grounds and all types of landscaping work, as well as acting as tour guides, helping to run t 7.5. RESOURCES Guides and tools NESTA, Learning to rethink parks, a guide for park managers, local authorities, policy makers: www.nesta.org.uk/publications/learning-rethink-parks Respublica, A Community Right to Beauty: Giving communities the power to shape, enhance and create beautiful places, de LIST OF CONTRIBUT ORS CONTRIBUTOR AFFILIATION CONTRIBUTIONS TO Ambrose-Oji, Bianca Senior Social Scientist, Social and Economic Research Group, Centre for Ecosystems, Society and Biosecurity Forest Research (FCRA), UK Coordination, contributor and editor of Guide Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter CONTRIBUTOR AFFILIATION CONTRIBUTIONS TO Rall, Emily Researcher at Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany Chapter 5: Social Inclusion Rolf, Werner Researcher at Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Technical Unive WWW.GREENSURGE.EU