DivAirCity “recognizes, accepts and celebratesDivAirCity is an ambitious project that aims at shifting the urban paradigm by valuing human diversity (with a focus on gender and multiculturalism) as a resource to define new urban services and models towards cultural-driven green cities. The project focuses on the Urban nexus that combines people, places, peace, economic growth, climate robustness and its impact on Air quality and decarbonization. DivAirCity, through citizen science and creativity will co-design solutions and trace their impact in a transparent and safe way. The project involves 5 EU cities representing replicable case studies: Orvieto (IT), Castellon (SP), Potsdam (D), Aarhus (DK) and Bucharest (RO). DivAirCity aims at creating different solutions: 5 Permanent Living Labs (PLL), 1 Diversity and Inclusion green city index (DIGCI), 5 Smart Cities Climate contracts (SCCo), 1 Community of Practice (CoP), 5 air pollution mitigation services, and 1 EU protocol for decarbonization diagnosis. The PLLs will implement NBS by leveraging over 55 mio budget already allocated by the cities; the DIGCI aims at assessing diversity and decarbonisation strategies; the SCCos will be delivered by co-designing new business models supported by blockchain technologies; the CoP will include the full urban ecosystem; and the air pollution new services have the ambition to enter in the market. DivAirCity presents a project beyond EU borders with an ambitious international dissemination strategy beyond Europe by the involvement of Belmont Forum CRAs, key international networks and H2020 funded projects. The consortium represents a mix of stakeholders selected out of the usual only research-focused organizations, to provide a real route-to-market, with the ambition to bring the project outcomes on the market by the end of the project. DivAirCity visibility will be enhanced by the participation of the Belgian National TV (RTBF) and its associated European and Global channels.

C2G supports 8 cities to move away from a project-by-project NBS intervention approach towards the development of greening and renaturing strategies that (a) are cross-scalar and participatory (b) inform existing development agendas and policies, and (c) are implemented through demonstrators that create tangible impact on the ground for the local communities and broader ecosystem. This paradigm shift is founded on the operationalisation of Ecosystem Services (ES) in city decision-making at the district and city scale. Specifically, C2G assesses the current supply of ES in cities (e.g. flood and heat risk reduction, recreation) and runs targeted engagement activities to map community vulnerabilities, as perceived by stakeholders themselves. These vulnerabilities translate into key place-based priorities, i.e. the demand for ES. C2G works intensely to bridges this gap between supply and demand using districts as entry points. Considering that citizens experience life and meet their needs in this spatial scale, local greening contributions can significantly improve quality of life. A portfolio of projects is defined in the district scale (zoom-in), while coherence with the broader urban fabric, whether blue, green or grey, is maintained (zoom-out). In this way, C2G achieves cross-scalar ecological connectivity. Ultimately, each city will develop context-specific planning guidelines and nature-inclusion strategies that will be turned into “Design solutions for blue-green-grey infrastructure with biodiversity net-gain”. Demonstrators will apply these solutions with citizens participating along the NBS life cycle, from vulnerability assessments in the early phases through to placemaking activities during implementation. This innovative participation approach ensures that interventions maximise perceived value and minimize trade-off risks (e.g. changes in streetscape uses). Satisfaction assessments shall serve as a validation of the success of the co-design approach.