• Energy Research

Rising temperatures due to climate change are expected to have a greater impact on cities, compared to rural areas, due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. In cities of the Mediterranean Basin, cooling of the urban microclimate is becoming a priority for practitioners, stakeholders, citizens and public authorities. The use of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to address the UHI effect is often advocated in the literature but there are few accounts of these interventions in high-density historical cities. This study focuses on Cottonera, a densely populated urban area with extensive soil sealing and low natural cooling capacity on the island of Malta. Since many residents already place potted plants in the streetscape outside their homes, this informal urban greening of public space provides a currently untapped resource which could be maximised to form coordinated NbS interventions to cool the streetscape. To explore this possibility, the vegetation placed in the streetscape is surveyed for its current and potential capacity to provide shading to pedestrians, whilst an analysis of the spatial constraints of the urban fabric informs appropriate interventions for the case study area. Residents are asked for their thoughts on urban greening and their willingness to participate in such a project as an initial step towards a participatory planning approach. Three types of NbS are proposed that could be co-implemented alongside the community to achieve place-based hybrid NbS.

Rising temperatures due to climate change are expected to have a greater impact on cities, compared to rural areas, due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. In cities of the Mediterranean Basin, cooling of the urban microclimate is becoming a priority for practitioners, stakeholders, citizens and public authorities. The use of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to address the UHI effect is often advocated in the literature but there are few accounts of these interventions in high-density historical cities. This study focuses on Cottonera, a densely populated urban area with extensive soil sealing and low natural cooling capacity on the island of Malta. Since many residents already place potted plants in the streetscape outside their homes, this informal urban greening of public space provides a currently untapped resource which could be maximised to form coordinated NbS interventions to cool the streetscape. To explore this possibility, the vegetation placed in the streetscape is surveyed for its current and potential capacity to provide shading to pedestrians, whilst an analysis of the spatial constraints of the urban fabric informs appropriate interventions for the case study area. Residents are asked for their thoughts on urban greening and their willingness to participate in such a project as an initial step towards a participatory planning approach. Three types of NbS are proposed that could be co-implemented alongside the community to achieve place-based hybrid NbS.

Abstract To effectively navigate out of the climate crisis, a new interdisciplinary approach is needed to guide and facilitate research that integrates diverse understandings of how transitions evolve in intertwined social–environmental systems. The concept of tipping points, frequently used in the natural sciences and increasingly in the social sciences, can help elucidate processes underlying major social–environmental transitions. We develop the notion of interlinked ‘social–climatic tipping points’ in which desirability and intentionality are key constitutive features alongside stable states, feedbacks, reversibility and abruptness. We demonstrate the new insights that our interdisciplinary framework can provide by analysing the slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and associated flooding of the Ahr Valley in Germany as a social–climatic tipping point. This framework can enable more sustainable and equitable futures by prioritising social–climatic tipping points for interdisciplinary research, identifying opportunities for action, and evaluating the nuanced desirability and acceptability of proposed solutions. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Abstract To effectively navigate out of the climate crisis, a new interdisciplinary approach is needed to guide and facilitate research that integrates diverse understandings of how transitions evolve in intertwined social–environmental systems. The concept of tipping points, frequently used in the natural sciences and increasingly in the social sciences, can help elucidate processes underlying major social–environmental transitions. We develop the notion of interlinked ‘social–climatic tipping points’ in which desirability and intentionality are key constitutive features alongside stable states, feedbacks, reversibility and abruptness. We demonstrate the new insights that our interdisciplinary framework can provide by analysing the slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and associated flooding of the Ahr Valley in Germany as a social–climatic tipping point. This framework can enable more sustainable and equitable futures by prioritising social–climatic tipping points for interdisciplinary research, identifying opportunities for action, and evaluating the nuanced desirability and acceptability of proposed solutions. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Sustainable cultural tourism, understood as heritage-based tourism, can support inclusive and sustainable development, especially in remote or peripheral areas. While participatory processes are mandatory, they are not sufficient to ensure sustainable cultural tourism planning. For the latter, cultural tourism must embrace the four pillars of sustainable development: focusing on economic, cultural, environmental, and social sustainability. Nevertheless, a comprehensive methodology that addresses all the aspects of sustainable planning at each stage of the process through inclusive and diverse participation of local communities is still missing. The paper introduces a specific participatory methodology for cultural tourism developed and tested in eight case studies across Europe and beyond and analyzes how the devised participatory process and tools guarantee proper incorporation of the different pillars for sustainable development at each stage. The methodology and tools presented are based on three replicable steps that aim to enhance cultural tourism in a sustainable, diverse, inclusive, and innovative way. The paper specifically focuses on three activities designed for the participatory workshops: the co-mapping exercise, the Action Co-creation, and an adapted Business Model Canvas, providing an analysis of how those contribute to an innovative participatory process, constantly considering the four pillars of sustainable development.

Sustainable cultural tourism, understood as heritage-based tourism, can support inclusive and sustainable development, especially in remote or peripheral areas. While participatory processes are mandatory, they are not sufficient to ensure sustainable cultural tourism planning. For the latter, cultural tourism must embrace the four pillars of sustainable development: focusing on economic, cultural, environmental, and social sustainability. Nevertheless, a comprehensive methodology that addresses all the aspects of sustainable planning at each stage of the process through inclusive and diverse participation of local communities is still missing. The paper introduces a specific participatory methodology for cultural tourism developed and tested in eight case studies across Europe and beyond and analyzes how the devised participatory process and tools guarantee proper incorporation of the different pillars for sustainable development at each stage. The methodology and tools presented are based on three replicable steps that aim to enhance cultural tourism in a sustainable, diverse, inclusive, and innovative way. The paper specifically focuses on three activities designed for the participatory workshops: the co-mapping exercise, the Action Co-creation, and an adapted Business Model Canvas, providing an analysis of how those contribute to an innovative participatory process, constantly considering the four pillars of sustainable development.

In recent years, both mapping and assessing urban Ecosystem Services (ESs) to support urban planning has been a topic of great debate. This work aims at contributing to this discussion by developing and testing a methodological approach to first assess and map supply and demand of ESs, and then identify areas of priority of intervention. Starting from the existing models, the work develops a tailored approach to map and assess three ESs (water retention and runoff, PM10 removal, and carbon sequestration and storage) that are tested in the city of Bologna and tailored according to available open data. All data are processed in a GIS environment to allow for spatial distribution and visualization of ESs. These maps facilitate defining supply and demands and, consequently, the presence and distribution of ESs deficiencies. Building on mismatches, this paper proposes four clusters by grouping the city’s districts based on predominant land use (built-up, green urban areas) and tree canopy cover. This classification enabled the identification of intervention priority areas and suggestions of relevant nature-based solutions (NBS) to be implemented. The proposed method can serve other urban areas to perform a rapid assessment of their current needs and challenges in terms of ES provision.