Green Cities Framework

Cities of all sizes and types can develop effective strategies for nature-based solutions, allowing them to create innovative and inspiring ways to tackle major urban challenges, such as flooding and heat stress. Embedding nature-based solutions in this way in long-term city planning, development and management will reduce climate impacts, support health and create an attractive environment for citizens, visitors and investments.

The Green Cities Framework takes cities through the different elements of developing a successful strategy for nature-based solutions, ensuring the final outcome is grounded in evidence, co-developed with stakeholders and easy to put into practice. It is a replicable tool and is specifically designed for the distinctive characteristics of nature-based solutions, drawing on the outcomes of GrowGreen.

The Green Cities Framework handbook is coming soon.

The framework is supported by the GrowGreen Training Programme, which provides tools and resources from GrowGreen, examples of how they have been used in GrowGreen cities, and a selection of existing online resources  for each element of strategy development.

The Training Programme is structured according to the steps of the Green Cities Framework:

• Define a vision for your NBS strategy
• Set up your local working group
• Make your stakeholder and citizen engagement plan
• Review your city’s governance and policy framework
• Define and identify your city’s climate change-related problems
• Assess the current financing available for NBS and the additional financing needed
• Identify and assess scenarios for NBS implementation
• Identify business models for nature-based solutions
• Develop the financial plan for the strategy
• Embed NBS into existing planning instruments
• Develop standards and design criteria for NBS procurement
• Plan monitoring and data management
• Evaluate, report on and communicate the strategy’s impacts

The specific training activities that GrowGreen carries out are driven by the priority topics of interest for the cities in GrowGreen, including engaging internal municipal stakeholders, engaging citizens (coming soon), integrating nature-based solutions into existing urban developments, selecting the right nature-based solution for the problems experienced, financing nature-based solutions, and monitoring and evaluation (coming soon). Training activities continue on these topics and others of interest to GrowGreen and external cities.