Rozalija Cvejić

Cultivating nature-based solutions: The governance of communal urban gardens in the European Union

ABSTRACT In many countries in the European Union (EU), the popularity of communal urban gardening (CUG) on allotments and community gardens is on the rise. Given the role of this practice in increasing urban resilience, most notably social resilience, municipalities in the Global North are promoting CUG as a nature‐based solution (NbS). However, the mechanisms by which institutional actors can best support and facilitate CUG are understudied, which could create a gap between aspiration and reality. The aim of this study is therefore to identify what governance arrangements contribute to CUG delivering social resilience. Through the EU GREEN SURGE project, we studied six CUG initiatives from five EU‐countries, representing different planning regimes and traditions. We selected cases taking a locally unique or innovative approach to dealing with urban challenges. A variety of actors associated with each of the cases were interviewed to achieve as complete a picture as possible regarding important governance arrangements. A cross‐case comparison revealed a range of success factors, varying from clearly formulated objectives and regulations, municipal support, financial resources and social capital through to the availability of local food champions and facilitators engaging in community building. Municipalities can support CUG initiatives by moving beyond a rigid focus on top‐down control, while involved citizens can increase the impact of CUG by pursuing political, in addition to hands‐on, activities. We conclude that CUG has clear potential to act as a nature‐based solution if managed with sensitivity to local dynamics and context. HighlightsCommunal urban gardens benefit from combining hands‐on with political activity.The municipality plays a key role in facilitating communal urban gardens.Independent experimentation is key to innovation for communal urban gardens.Success is predicted by a fluent grassroots‐municipality power relationship.

Co-creating urban green infrastructure connecting people and nature: A guiding framework and approach

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) and nature-based solutions are increasingly recognized as instruments to address urban sustainability challenges, yet rely on a good understanding of complex social-ecological system (SES) to function adequately. Adaptive co-management (ACM), engaging a broad variety of stakeholders in collaborative learning, is an effective strategy to improve the resilience of a SES. However, ACM studies have been criticized for neglecting the urban context, while also offering little clarity on process objectives and outcomes. To address these knowledge gaps, while also drawing attention to the important issue of socially inclusive UGI development, we present a guiding framework and approach to encourage the ACM of UGI featuring two main components. Firstly, a Learning Alliance (LA) serves as an instrument for collaborative learning and experimentation across different scales. To facilitate upscaling, we propose to establish a complementary Urban Learning Lab (ULL) to facilitate a regular exchange between the LA and legitimate peripheral networks and stakeholders in the city region. Secondly, a stepwise approach to SES analysis serves to engage a representative group of stakeholders in the LAs and ULLs, and support the processes of setting LA objectives and monitoring of adaptive capacity. We illustrate our approach to the ACM of UGI with a case study of LivadaLAB in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Applying the framework and approach, we demonstrate increased adaptive capacity of the SES around UGI as indicated by: 1) improved overall stakeholder salience, in particular for previously disempowered actor groups, 2) increased number and strength of connections between stakeholders, and 3) the consideration of a broader range of sustainable development objectives by stakeholders in their daily practice.

Geospatial Analysis of Water Resources for Sustainable Agricultural Water Use in Slovenia

Global population growth has greatly increased food demand. This, in turn, has intensified agricultural production, already the biggest consumer of water in the world [1]. Development of irrigation techniques has contributed to the global food production [2]. However, climate change simulations predict repeated droughts and deteriorating crop production, illustrating the critical need for sustainable irrigation [3]. Thus, a proactive water management strategy is a priority of any government in the world.