Connecting Nature wrap up after five years of research on NbS

May 4, 2022

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April has been the month where the consortium of our project Connecting Nature has organized different events to celebrate the end of the this project on nature-based solutions and Bioazul has participated in the different activities.

Connecting Nature Roadshow 2022

Bioazul participated in the Connecting Nature Roadshow 2022 during one of the city stops across Europe. The idea of this mobile exhibition through Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France and Belgium was to showcase some of the key innovation and outputs created by project partners over the last 5 years.

As Connecting Nature Enterprise Platform ambassadors, Bioazul was involved in the city stop at Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France) during April 21-22 together with partners from Horizon Nua, EM|Path, Helix and Sea Going Green.

In collaboration with the Head of European Projects, Sustainable Development and Innovation of the Municipality of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the key innovations we shared with the citizens and local actors included technical solutions (Mobile Green Living Room), co-production (EM|Path arts-based process) and entrepreneurship (Connecting Nature Enterprise Platform).

Connecting Nature Impact Summit Genk 2022

The ‘Connecting Nature Impact Summit, Genk’ has wrapped up five years of research and innovation from the H2020 funded Connecting Nature project. This summit has presented innovative results and experiences that are transferable to policy makers, planners, designers, businesses, entrepreneurs and communities across the globe.

From April 28-29, the Connecting Nature Impact Summit in Genk (Belgium) has brought together a wide range of local, regional and international participants to demonstrate how nature impacts our lives, socially, environmentally, economically and how Nature-based Solutions can provide a positive impact for urban environments and protect biodiversity.

This hybrid event, and the final summit in the Connecting Nature Summit series has included both online and in person presentations, workshops, round table discussions, site visits, exhibitions and performances, all in a creative and festive atmosphere at Thor Park in Genk.

The event programme was based on three main building blocks of the Connecting Nature Framework:

‘Thinking with nature’ explored the larger scale policy, strategy, planning and theoretical implications under the umbrella theme of Nature-based Solutions. Discussions included the impact of Nature-based Solutions on different policy levels; on the impact on climate resilience; etc.
‘Building with nature’ focused on translating ideas into action. It looked at the design and development process, from defining a project to the design and development process. The integrated approach needed because of the layered character of Nature-based Solutions has an impact on the organization of a cities administration.
‘Living with nature’ was about the governance, communities and stewardship of nature and natural environments. It touched upon the impact of Nature-based Solutions on the neighbourhoods and citizens involved and invited community leaders to look at the longer-term care and management.

The summit took place in Thor Central, the former Head Quarters of the coalmine, that has been transformed into a state-of-the-art meeting and event venue at the gates of the one and only national park in the Flemish region and in the heart of Stiemervalley.

Now you can watch again the conference here: