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Urban heat islands, flooding, social cohesion? These are just some of the challenges facing cities today. It’s clear that we need more sustainable ways of building our cities, and nature may be the solution.

Hade Dorst is a PhD researcher at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, where she studies innovation and governance of urban nature-based solutions. In this interview she tells us about her work trying to understand how to increase the use of nature to make cities more attractive, liveable, healthy, sustainable and climate resilient.

Firstly, what is a nature-based solution?

Nature-based solutions are when solutions inspired and supported by nature are used for tackling socio-environmental challenges. A famous example is the New York High Line, where disused raised train tracks running through the city were converted into a 2.3km long park. It’s been a huge success, and inspired many similar projects across the US.

More locally there is of course Utrecht’s wide-scale installation of green roofs on its bus stops. They capture particulates, store rainwater, provide cooling when it's hot and promote urban biodiversity. All of these are beneficial for insects like bees, bumblebees and butterflies.

Why are nature-based solutions so relevant for cities?

Urban areas have their own particular set of challenges, which depending on the city includes continuing urbanisation, climate change, urban heat islands, flooding, social cohesion, biodiversity and economic regeneration. 

Right. So where does your research come in?

It’s clear that we need more sustainable ways of building our cities - sustainable transformations of the urban environment. Nature-based solutions are expected to be socially, ecologically and economically advantageous for cities, but despite this are not at all widely used. 

Nature-based solutions are expected to be socially, ecologically and economically advantageous for cities, but despite this are not at all widely used. I’m trying to understand why this is the case.

I’m trying to understand why this is the case, and given their apparent advantages, how we can increase the use of nature to make cities more attractive, liveable, healthy, sustainable and climate resilient.

My work is part of a large multidisciplinary European project called , with 14 partners, including universities and municipalities from various European countries. On the Netherlands side it also includes the Utrecht School of Economics and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL).

Your research is focused on Utrecht. Can you tell us about a cool initiative in the city?

We recently visited a community garden called . At first sight it’s just where the local community can come to grow vegetables, but the definition of community is much broader here. The initiative also works with more vulnerable people, for instance those reintegrating back into society after a period without work, in prison or with mental health issues. The garden is located in a more deprived area of Utrecht with many high rises, so it also provides light and space in the neighbourhood.

What kind of challenges do initiatives like this face?

Things like getting projects funded and finding space tend to be a big problem. Now we are zooming out to the bigger picture to look at the structural barriers in the construction, regulatory, finance domains.

So why is funding a challenge? Delving in further it becomes apparent that it’s simply not a priority in many local policies. There are many structural barriers like this, often related to vested interests or dominant norms and rules in urban development; it’s so much broader that it might seem in the beginning. Understanding these barriers will hopefully help us to more clearly define the steps needed to move forward.

You also work a lot with societal stakeholders. Why is this important?

When it comes to local residents, it’s important to understand how they think the city should look, how space should be used, and what they think should change. They’re the ones living in the city! It’s a continuous back and forth of asking for feedback. What do they find most important?

We’ve also done cycling and walking tours to show people how nature is being used in the city centre of Utrecht city centre, and to generate an awareness of what nature can do. 

What are the major challenges of your research?

It’s hard to get access to the right people. To really understand the barriers you should speak to the bankers making the investment decisions, the large project development companies, or the senior civil servants at the ministry. But for them nature-based solutions are a minor topic that is not yet part of how we use and design cities. 

It’s also surprisingly difficult to reach a variety of ordinary citizens. People are busy and have so many other things they also need to engage with. If you’re not careful you end up with a very homogenous group of people. 

Apart from getting to the bottom of the challenges facing nature-based solutions, what do you hope for your work? 

I hope we can bridge all the different people trying to achieve a more sustainable nature-based urban environment.

It’s important to understand how local residents think the city should look and what they think should change.

You have biologists and ecologists working on nature in the city, developers building with nature, and civil servants looking for ways to improve climate resilience or public health, but they don’t often meet! 

We try to do this through our own workshops, and also by attending other meetings where we can show people in other domains that we are actually working on the same topics! 

Further reading

• van der Jagt, A.P.N., Raven, R., Dorst, H. & Runhaar, H.(2020). . Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 35, 202-216.
• Dorst, H., van der Jagt, A., Raven, R., Runhaar, H. (2019) . Sustainable Cities and Society, 49. 
• Dorst, H., van der Jagt, A.P.N., Raven, R. & Runhaar, H. (2019) . Rooilijn, 52 (1).
• Dignum, M., Dorst, H., van Schie, M., Dassen, T. & Raven, R. (2020). . Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 34, 7-25.