INTERLACE - Project participants exchange ideas
Meeting in Costa Rica with participation from Chemnitz
The City of Chemnitz has committed to further dialogue on nature-based solutions at an international meeting on the EU INTERLACE project. Sarah Arnold from the Environmental Agency ceremoniously presented the signed Engagement Letter, through which the City of Chemnitz agrees to participate in the regional and global dialogues of CITIES TALK NATRURE for the CELAC region. This means that Chemnitz exchanges ideas with like-minded people, shares experiences and learns from other cities in order to improve its own implementation of measures that have a positive and sustainable impact on the socio-ecological environment.
The city of Chemnitz has been involved in the EU INTERLACE project to restore and connect urban ecosystems since 2020. INTERLACE (International Cooperation to Connect and Restore Urban Ecosystems in Latin America and Europe) is led in Chemnitz in close cooperation between the City Planning Department and the Environment Department.
The meeting took place in San José, Costa Rica, in mid-May and was the first meeting of representatives from all 21 project organisations since the start 18 months ago due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the meeting, reports were given on the successes already achieved in the project, but also on upcoming tasks such as the creation of three policy instruments in each of the six project cities and the status of the development of the Urban Governance Atlas (UGA).
The Urban Governance Atlas (UGA) will be an interactive online database of around 250 proven policy tools that support the use of nature-based solutions for urban ecosystem restoration and more inclusive green space planning. Chemnitz will also contribute to these 250 examples with selected examples. In addition, the exchange between the six project cities Krakow (PL), Granollers (ESP), San José (CR), Portoviejo (ECU) and Envigado (COL) was further promoted.
At the end of the meeting, the first regional Cities Talk Nature event for the CELAC region took place in San Jose. In addition to a presentation of the INTERLACE project, various nature-based solutions from the partner cities were presented.
According to the European Commission, nature-based solutions are "solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, are cost-effective, provide environmental, social and economic benefits and contribute to building resilience".
Background
The EU INTERLACE project aims to support European and CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) cities to effectively (re)build urban ecosystems to create more liveable, resilient and inclusive cities. The urban ecosystems are to be restored and rehabilitated with the help of nature-based solutions (NbS).
The INTERLACE project is funded by the EU and involves a total of 21 partners from various sectors and continents. Six cities are represented. From the CELAC region, these are Portoviejo (Ecuador), Envigado (Colombia) and the metropolitan region of San Jose (Costa Rica). The three European cities are the metropolitan region of Krakow (Poland), Granollers (Spain) and Chemnitz.