MCAST holds ‘Evidence-based Planning for Greener Cities Conference’ in collaboration with the Maltese Presidency
Yesterday MCAST held a conference on ‘Evidence-Based Planning for Greener Cities’ in collaboration with the Maltese Presidency of the EU. The conference was held at the Institute of Applied Sciences, Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, Paola.
The conference was addressed by invited speakers who analysed the important role of green infrastructure, opportunities and challenges arising from the development of green infrastructure in urban environments, and the role of science in informing city-planning and policymaking to improve the quality of life of European citizens.
Green infrastructure has been defined as a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas that provide benefits to society whilst protecting biodiversity, thus serving the interests of both people and nature. Green infrastructure is considered by the green economy policy for Malta as a catalyst for economic growth as it provides several benefits to society. These include increased land property values, work productivity and tourism potential, the reduction of noise and air pollution, natural flood regulation, and improved opportunities for recreation, leisure and exercise. In contrast to the most common ‘grey’ (man-made, constructed) infrastructure approaches that serve one single objective, green infrastructure promotes multifunctionality, which means that the same area of land is able to perform several functions and offer multiple benefits if its ecosystems are in a healthy state.
The ‘Evidence-Based Planning for Greener Cities’ Conference included the participation of 20 cities from all across Europe and that of Maltese stakeholders. Invited speakers presented casestudies and analysed the role of science in providing tools to inform policy-making and urban planning. Amongst others, the conference includes an analysis of the link between green spaces and selected benefits to the Maltese society, the influence of equal access to urban spaces on the health of citizens, and the importance of green infrastructure as an adaptation to climate change and for inter-sectorial policy development.
The Conference was organised by the EnRoute (‘Enhancing Resilience of urban ecosystems through green infrastructure’) project, which aims to provide scientific evidence to help policymakers and planners achieve this target. EnRoute delivers guidance on the creation and the management of urban green infrastructure and illustrates how collaboration between and across different policy levels can lead to green infrastructure policy setting.
EnRoute is a project of the European Commission in the framework of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. EnRoute will develop and analyse European case-studies on the implementation of green infrastructure for citizen well-being. Malta’s casestudy is being implemented through the scientific support of the Institute of Applied Sciences of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) in collaboration with the Planning Authority.
More information about the conference and Malta’s work on green infrastructure within the project can be obtained by contacting MCAST Senior Lecturer Dr Mario V Balzan, who is coordinating the national case-study, on mario.balzan@mcast.edu.mt