Nicolas Salmon, Ana Belén Suárez, Grace Yépez / YES Innovation, Quito, Ecuador
The effectiveness of nature-based solutions (NbS) in enhancing sustainability and resilience in urban areas is becoming increasingly recognised. By integrating them into urban planning and development, cities can also become more attractive places to live, which benefits both people and the environment. Urban NbS are strategies and approaches that utilise nature and natural processes to address a range of urban challenges. These solutions make use of the benefits of ecosystem services and biodiversity within urban environments, although not everyone is aware of their existence.
In European cities, the majority of planners and urban developers are aware of the necessity for NbS and the significance of co-design methodologies aimed at creating multifunctional urban spaces and empowering communities. However, in Latin American cities, the majority of planners and technical professionals are largely unaware of these strategies.
The INTERLACE project was established with the objective of promoting the implementation of NbS on a global scale. It aims at implementing measures to restore, rehabilitate and reconnect ecosystems. Furthermore, the initiative employs a multi-stakeholder, co-design approach to develop plans and programmes in collaboration with partners in Europe and Latin America.
YES Innovation, an INTERLACE partner in Ecuador, has trialled innovative tools in co-design workshops in Quito. New technologies, such as apps and programmes, provide the general public with the ability to learn about and even build new solutions that were previously the domain of specialists and designers. In the current climate, developers have found a way to utilise these new possibilities in co-design workshops, thereby fostering ownership and empowerment among the general public.
Unlimited Cities (UC) is an innovative free app that enables users to convey their concepts through a digital collage, using a photograph of the location where the project is to be implemented. This tool effectively gives insight into the needs and aspirations of the local population, while also fostering a sense of community ownership. The application allows users to add various items from the library to the photograph in order to indicate their desired future activities, natural features, or new infrastructure. The application can be used on a tablet or a high-quality mobile phone.
The INTERLACE project has two main objectives: firstly, to foster participatory engagement in the co-production and promotion of ownership of guidelines, decision support systems and tools for the design, construction and monitoring of cost-effective restorative NbS; and secondly, to raise awareness and understanding of the benefits of healthy (peri)urban ecosystems for social, cultural and economic well-being. In order to achieve these objectives, the project has proposed Unlimited Cities as a new solution to promote NbS for the benefit of the general public.
A new object library has been incorporated into Unlimited Cities, comprising 39 objects illustrating 26 NbS that can be observed in a photograph from a pedestrian perspective.
Each NbS object includes a brief description of the strategy, outlining its purpose and contribution to the city environment. The objective was to provide a straightforward and accessible overview for the general public, free from technical jargon, while still conveying the complexities of climate change and potential mitigation strategies.
A new set of tags has been included in the latest version of UC. It includes the following topics: #Water, #Biodiversity, #Heat Island, #Urban agriculture, and #Slope control. These tags allow users to easily identify which solution relates to another solution for the same problem.
