The Professorship's Research

Project start: 01.04.2022
Project end: 30.03.2024
Sponsor: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation

Urban development funding provides important contributions to sustainable urban development. The current conditions for urban development funding also enable the implementation of biodiversity-promoting measures. In order to make these possibilities better known and applicable, there is a need for stronger technical and conceptual support of municipalities. This includes presenting the municipal scope for action and provision of practical information, but also supportive conditions by the federal and state governments. To address these challenges, the project "Recommendations for municipalities on the consideration of biodiversity in urban development funding areas" aims to evaluate the integration of measures for biodiversity in urban development funding areas. Based on this, a handbook for municipalities (i.e., for municipal planning offices and nature conservation authorities) will be created on measures for the protection of biodiversity in urban development funding areas. For this purpose, a collaborative process with various stakeholders will be initiated (learning alliance) to ensure that the handbook is practice-oriented and tailored to the needs of municipalities. Finally, recommendations for the federal and state level will be derived and options for the dissemination of the handout will be identified and used.

Project start: 01.11.2020
Project end: 31.01.2024
Sponsor: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation

A wealth of research, guidance documents, and best practice examples have recently emerged on "urban green infrastructure" (UGI). Nevertheless, municipalities are faced with the challenge of utilizing and implementing UGI in view of the complexity of spatial scales, planning phases, and fields of action. To support municipal planning practice, the “Masterplan Stadtnatur” (BMU 2019) envisions the provision of a "toolbox" with recommendations for action. The development of such a web-based toolbox is the goal of the project "Urban green infrastructure concretized – sample solutions and recommendations for action". The focus is on approaches and methods for mapping and evaluating existing UGI elements and ecosystem services. Furthermore, tools and measures for planning, implementation, and maintenance of UGI are provided. The tools cover a broad range of actions including qualification and connectivity, UGI in new constructions, and combined grey-green elements. In addition, advice is given on possible actor constellations, participation methods, and municipal steering and monitoring processes. The theoretical knowledge will be supplemented with the practical experience from four municipalities and regions. They will be involved to discuss the challenges of implementing urban green infrastructure and knowledge needs for the toolbox.