ICLEI and Swinburne University have now conducted interviews with the first group of 9 CitiesWithNature Pioneer councils.  The interviews are designed to learn about council priorities for nature-based solutions and to develop the best way for the research community and ICLEI to support their work. More interviews will be conducted in the coming months and at least one focus group webinar will be held to discuss the findings with interviewees.  Some early findings:

Responsibility for nature-based solutions, urban greening or biodiversity is distributed across multiple departments in many councils. While this means that the importance of nature is embedded in multiple council functions, it can make it difficult for a council to develop a well-coordinated approach to optimise the benefits of nature for developing greater urban resilience.

Australian councils are generally quite advanced in promoting urban greening and biodiversity but have an appetite for greater learning from other councils, national and global. They would appreciate a simple and accessible repository of case studies and best practice, supported by regular online and face-to-face peer learning opportunities.

Some great best practice examples coming out of the interviews include

• Working with traditional custodians, indigenous rangers etc to explore traditional methods for land management and fire management.

• Using citizen science to optimise community interest and resources and rapidly upscale council action 

• Many great examples of rain gardens, integrated waterway management, heat mapping and tree canopy promotion and monitoring

• Many great examples of nature-based responses to climate change.

Contact

Regional Director, Steve Gawler
steve.gawler@iclei.org