Participatory tools for urban nature planning and management

Including collaborative and multi-stakeholder initiatives for promoting urban sustainability is an emerging approach, even if the general perception is that this type of initiative slows the decision-making process. This often leads to a confusing contribution of different stakeholders in the decision-making process (e.g., scientists, planners, private companies, public companies, NGOs, and citizens).

However, public participation is a cornerstone of attending to urban sustainability, and consistent tools must be oriented constructively. As a critical component of urban green infrastructure, urban nature is considered a panacea for many societal challenges related to our cities, which is an excellent lab to experiment with ideas related to participation. 

The course aims to discuss concepts, methodologies, and best practices related to participatory tools for urban nature planning and management. This will help the bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. students better understand the challenges of public participation in urban areas and diverse urban contexts. 

• Urban Nature – an Open Lab for Participatory Practices in Urban Areas
• Public Participation in Urban Sustainability
• GIS as a Supporting Tool for Participatory Management of Urban Nature
• Global experiences in public participation related to urban nature

During this course, the students:

• will gain a critical understanding of the participatory tools for promoting urban sustainability;
• learn practices related to public participation in different urban settings;
• will gain skills in using different tools for planning and management of urban nature; 
• will understand the advantages and disadvantages of participatory urban planning and management tools.

This course involves physical mobility to Salzburg, Austria, from 30 June to 4 July 2025. The 5 days of intensive learning experiences focus on practical exercises, applications, and discussions. The teaching staff will give input and lead small working groups dedicated to deepening the learning experiences.

These include:

• drawing lessons from interdisciplinary theoretical approaches and problematizing them in terms of practicability (case studies about urban participations, types of urban nature, interactions between stakeholders);
• building micro-projects related to participatory tools related to GIS;
• experimenting with existing tools for public participation in urban nature planning and management;
• meet stakeholders from local governments, NGOs, private companies, administrations, and citizens, and learn about their interests, needs, and recommendations for public participation;
• participating in excursions to analyze the impact of public participation/ less participation.

The online mobility will take place from 6 March to 29 May 2025.

Course 1: Urban Nature – an open-lab for participatory practices in urban areas

• Urban nature – connection with urban infrastructure
• Categories of urban nature and contribution to urban sustainability and resilience
• Main typologies of human–urban nature interactions in urban settings
• How could public participation be in urban nature planning and management? 

Course 2: Public Participation in Urban Sustainability and for Urban Nature

• Collaborative planning, sustainability, and participatory management
• Forms of participation in urban planning, design, and management
• Who, when, and how could participate?
• Expected impact of public participation
• Ethics of participatory management
• Efficiency, efficacy, and performance of participatory practices
• Challenges of public participation in urban planning

Course 3: GIS as a supporting tool for participatory management of urban nature

• Built/ used the GIS application for participatory management of urban nature
• Existing participatory tools in practice (e.g. Green cadaster, local online platforms)
• From data collection to geo-visualization (story maps, dashboards etc.)
• Integration of remote sensing data, Copernicus services, and other geospatial data

Course 4: Global experiences of participatory practices in urban nature planning and management

• Presentation of different case studies around the world.

Learning will take place around blended formats of online teaching and the 5-day meeting:

• students must prepare to engage with the core readings for the roundtables and the on-site course. They must formulate questions to facilitate the discussions and hand them in via the learning hub. At the on-site meeting, they will also do a group presentation on a real-world problem;
• students' participation in the experimental use of tools and techniques and reflect on their experiences in a short position presentation;
• students' contribution to final documentation of their learning experience to the open repository (this could be presentations, posters, podcasts, videos, or written reports). The teaching staff advises students and examines the assignments. 

The assignments are evaluated considering:

• 50% of the grades for the assignments related to the virtual part;
• 50% from the short position presentation related to the physical part.

Motivation Letter

Level of english (According to CEFR)

CV

Applications will be evaluated based on:

• connection of motivation letter with the course topic, content, and outcomes;
• past experiences relevant to urban nature planning and management presented in the motivation letter;
• interest in interdisciplinarity approaches;
• equity in terms of gender, regions, fields, and universities;
• English level; 
• level of study - a low preference will be considered for PhD and master students.

Professor Cristian Ioja, University of Bucharest, Urban Ecology Professor Stefan Lang, Paris Lodron University, GIS Dr. Catalina Dobre, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Landscape Architecture Professor Mihai Niță, University of Bucharest, Environmental Science Professor Maria del Mar Alonso Almeida, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Geography Professor Fernando Borrajo Millan, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Geography Associate Professor Andreea Nita, University of Bucharest, Environmental Impact Assessment Associate Professor Diana Onose, University of Bucharest, GIS Angela Hof, Paris Lodron University, GIS Dr Sabine Hennig, Paris Lodron University, Geography Dr. Maximilian Grund, Paris Lodron University, GIS Dr. Giuseppe Faldi, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Landscape Architecture Dr. Andrea Aragone, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Landscape Architecture