MCAST launches research on green spaces and nature-based solutions

With more competition for space arising from a sharp demographic growth and associated urban and industrial development, the need to assess the availability and accessibility of green spaces has become more pressing.

Recent EU-funded research carried out by the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) has mapped green spaces, assessed their actual use and highlighted some of the arising social, economic and environmental benefits. This study found a strong gradient in terms of green spaces availability from rural to urban areas and, consequently, lower capacity of urban centres to provide key benefits to the well-being of their inhabitants.

Benefits provided by urban green spaces include the reduction of ambient temperatures, flood mitigation by limiting storm water runoff, and the removal of air pollutants and noise buffering by vegetation. Green spaces also provide physical and psychological benefits to city inhabitants and there is a rapidly growing evidence base of the rising health benefits.

The accessibility of green spaces is also critical as these provide opportunities for recreation. This is demonstrated by another recently published study using the outdoor game Geocaching, described as the world’s largest treasure hunt. This research was led by one of MCAST’s undergraduate students reading for a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Environmental Engineering at the Institute of Applied Sciences. The results obtained from this study indicate that this recreational activity is strongly associated with the presence and accessibility of urban green spaces. Geocaches in urban gardens and other urban green spaces were highly favoured by those participating in this recreational activity, especially when these were located in a landscape of high aesthetic value. Most of the users also saw geocaching as an opportunity to spend time with family and friends while visiting interesting places.

These results demonstrate a strong need for land use planning to provide green spaces and to promote the use of ‘nature-based solutions’, which create spaces for people and, by doing so, bring back biodiversity to cities and landscapes. The need for improved use of nature-based solutions also appears to be strongly felt by Maltese citizens, who were the most likely in the EU to be in favour of the promotion and use of nature-based solutions while, in a recent Eurobarometer survey, Malta was the EU member state with the highest fraction of citizens favouring urban greening (81 per cent) measures.

Our research team at the MCAST Institute of Applied Sciences has seen this as an opportunity to launch a project, which, by working closely with policy-makers, businesses and stakeholders, will develop a strategy to build a research and innovation network to advance the development and uptake of nature-based solutions. These are some of the goals of the recently funded project ReNature aimed at promoting research excellence in nature-based solutions for innovation, sustainable economic growth and human well-being in Malta.

The ReNature project is funded by the Horizon 2020 programme and has a budget of around €1 million. During ReNature, the MCAST Institute of Applied Sciences will collaborate with renowned universities in Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom with a long experience in this sector. This collaboration is expected to offer an opportunity to increase the institutional and national research capacity in this sector, develop a research community with strong international collaborations, and to advance new practical solutions for sustainability.

The ReNature researchers aim to foster a culture of evidencebased environmental decisionmaking and planning for human well-being; during this study, an open-source data repository will be developed to share the outcomes of the project. This open repository will include protocols, maps and other spatial data and results that can be used in environmental decision-making, in landscape and urban planning while also being available to the public.

The first meeting of the ReNature project will be held on 25th October at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology in Paola. We invite the public and interested stakeholders to join the stakeholders meeting for an open discussion on the project, its objectives and the development of a network of researchers, practitioners and interested members of the public.

Kindly book your place by sending an email to Judita.Tomaskinova@mcast.edu.mt. Follow us on Facebook @ReNatureH2020 and on Twitter @ ReNature_H2020 for more details and updated information about the ReNature events.