It seems so long ago now. A conversation with Jonny Sadler from the Manchester Climate Change Agency, about the possibility of the City of Manchester’s involvement with a new EU project looking at demonstrating how scientific knowledge of urban ecosystems and green infrastructure (GI) could support the development of policy at different spatial scales. This...

26th – 27th March 2019 Manchester City Football Club, Manchester, UK Green cities are healthy, liveable and resilient to climate and water risks. Investing in nature-based solutions helps cities to tackle flooding, heat stress, drought, poor air quality and unemployment, and helps biodiversity to flourish. Despite increasing awareness of the many benefits of nature-based solutions,...

On December 12th 2018, the partnership between Wuhan and Manchester City was selected as the final winner at the EU-China City-City partnership awards ceremony of the Horizon 2020 China-Europe Sustainable Urbanisation Innovation Platform, held in Beijing and jointly organised by the China-Europe Sustainable Urbanisation Innovation Platform Project Team, China Urban and Small Town Reform and...

Worldwide out of the 47 megacities, China alone counts 17. These are cities with a population in excess of 10 million people. Today over half of the Chinese mainland population lives in cities. Towards 2030, China aims for 70% of its population, about 900 million people, to live in cities. Such numbers can be mindboggling...

In September, GrowGreen partners Manchester Climate Change Agency and IUCN hosted a workshop on designing and implementing nature-based solutions at the URBACT City Festival in Lisbon.  Through examples from Bologna (IT), Manchester (UK) and Stavanger (NO),  participants explored the contributions nature-based solutions can make to creating healthy, liveable, climate resilient and sustainable cities. These cities understand...

Valencia, in Spain, already experiences hot and dry summers, a problem likely to be made worse by climate change. For the city administration, tackling this threat is a key priority. GrowGreen is investing in nature-based solutions in the Valencian neighbourhood of Benicalap to improve quality of life, reduce pollution and tackle heat stress. Citizens of...