Abstract
According to the European Commission’s working definition of Nature Based Solutions (NBS),
these are diverse solutions inspired and supported by nature, delivering co-benefits in the
triple bottom line. Properly implemented, NBS work as modular vehicles for ecosystem
services (ES). To test the effectiveness of NBS in urban climate resilience strategies and to
mainstream them towards a 2050 scenario, the H2020 UNaLab project provides cities across
the world with know-how, tools, technical assistance and network support.To address the
challenge’s complexity, UNaLab calls for the participation of diverse stakeholders in
prospective planning exercises following the Roadmapping Methodology (RM). Previously,
researchers and practitioners have affirmed the capacity of the RM to increase participation,
develop ownership, and make more just decision-making processes. These features are
relevant when stakeholders aim to give place to commonly shared ES in their city – i.e. urban
commons. The present research studies the potential of the RM to enable stakeholder
cooperation beyond the planning stage and, thus, providing an alternative approach to
taking ownership of and managing the urban commons.A literature review framed the
conceptualization of urban ES as urban commons, and allowed a clear understanding of the
RM principles and modes of implementation. Then, surveys and interviews with UNaLab RM
practitioners allowed to assess the actual implementation of the RM and its potential for
cooperative engagement and democratic community development. Results show that good
practices, such as the importance of soft-skills for facilitation to enable stakeholder
participation and visual media to support sense-making, and areas of opportunity such as a
methodic approach to address biases in stakeholder selection and allowing participants to
influence the RM activities to locally-attune them, are relevant to enable the potential of the
RM to deploy collective action for managing urban commons created by NBS.
these are diverse solutions inspired and supported by nature, delivering co-benefits in the
triple bottom line. Properly implemented, NBS work as modular vehicles for ecosystem
services (ES). To test the effectiveness of NBS in urban climate resilience strategies and to
mainstream them towards a 2050 scenario, the H2020 UNaLab project provides cities across
the world with know-how, tools, technical assistance and network support.To address the
challenge’s complexity, UNaLab calls for the participation of diverse stakeholders in
prospective planning exercises following the Roadmapping Methodology (RM). Previously,
researchers and practitioners have affirmed the capacity of the RM to increase participation,
develop ownership, and make more just decision-making processes. These features are
relevant when stakeholders aim to give place to commonly shared ES in their city – i.e. urban
commons. The present research studies the potential of the RM to enable stakeholder
cooperation beyond the planning stage and, thus, providing an alternative approach to
taking ownership of and managing the urban commons.A literature review framed the
conceptualization of urban ES as urban commons, and allowed a clear understanding of the
RM principles and modes of implementation. Then, surveys and interviews with UNaLab RM
practitioners allowed to assess the actual implementation of the RM and its potential for
cooperative engagement and democratic community development. Results show that good
practices, such as the importance of soft-skills for facilitation to enable stakeholder
participation and visual media to support sense-making, and areas of opportunity such as a
methodic approach to address biases in stakeholder selection and allowing participants to
influence the RM activities to locally-attune them, are relevant to enable the potential of the
RM to deploy collective action for managing urban commons created by NBS.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 2018 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
| Event | ESP EU 2018: Ecosystem services in a changing world: Moving from theory to practice - Kursaal Congress Centre and Auditorium, San Sebastián, Spain Duration: 15 Oct 2018 → 19 Oct 2018 https://www.espconference.org/eu2018 |
Conference
| Conference | ESP EU 2018 |
|---|---|
| Location | Kursaal Congress Centre and Auditorium |
| Country/Territory | Spain |
| City | San Sebastián |
| Period | 15/10/2018 → 19/10/2018 |
| Internet address |