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Titre : COLLABORATION ON NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES (CONSUS) SOUTH AFRICA

Pays : Afrique du Sud

Code projet : 23-M02-AU

Période d’exécution : Start date : 1 July, 2023 // End date : 30 June, 202

Objectifs et Résultats
Objectives and results Competition for space is becoming intense in the world’s rapidly urbanizing cities, where basic infrastructure needs outcompete that of green space. With rising climate extremes and biodiversity loss, calls for innovative approaches to urban planning and design become louder than ever. With a drive for more liveable, healthy, equitable, biodiverse, and resilient cities, the main objective of CONSUS is to facilitate a sustainable transformation of urban blue-green spaces in South Africa together with local communities and government actors. The project focuses on developing so-called nature-based solutions : alternative and non-traditional approaches that protect, restore and manage ecosystems in order to address critical environmental issues like flooding and pollution. Examples of nature-based solutions include river renaturation, constructed wetlands or bioretention areas, but we need to understand how these approaches can be adapted to local needs and conditions.

Most research studies and design protocols on nature-based solutions are from developed economies and may not be suitable for countries like South Africa. Responding to the local context is essential, and so the project intensely involves local communities, their perspectives and know-how, in everything from the design of nature-based solutions and restoration activities to the communication of results within and beyond the local context. CONSUS aims at delivering concrete outputs that include the training of young researchers, policy recommendations, interactive nature-based design prototypes, ecological restoration by the local community, and outreach activities, such as webinars, film productions, and physical demonstration of results to local stakeholders.

Institutions participantes
Leader : Aarhus University (AU), :
Partenaires : University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa Habitat Landscape Architects (Pty) Ltd., South Africa SLA Architects, Denmark

Financement : DKK

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