A proposal for an ecological park towards a sustainable humane habitat in Abu Qir, Alexandria, Egypt

This paper represents a preliminary stage of a multiphase research-project, carried out at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology (AAST) by the Environmental Design Research Group (EDRG) looking at alternative proposals for urban development strategies at Abu Qir Area in Alexandria, Egypt. Abu Qir is located east of Alexandria has a very important productive bay on the Mediterranean Sea and its eastern and south east coast is the only mirror of Egypt on the Dead Sea. Besides being one of the most important spots on Alexandria bay, Abu Qir is considered one of the highest polluted areas in Alexandria, although the area itself has a very high potential on the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. This paper explores the design and development of an ecological park as a part of the urban development at Abu Qir bay. The paper investigates the proposals of conceptual design strategies for an Ecological Park at Abu-Qir. Lessons learnt from examples that have successfully introduced and developed the ideas of Ecological parks in the international built environment are reviewed. Parks are key elements in the urban ecosystem, serving dual roles as core zones of urban nature and as multi-use recreational open space. Moreover, as part of an open space system, they play important functional roles as part of landscape-scale habitat and hydrological networks. Today, there is an urging need for the development of urban parks. As urban populations have rapidly increased through civilization and industrialization, cities have been enlarged, nature has been impaired, and human relations have been damaged. For these reasons, people have lost the opportunity to come into contact with nature. Environmental problems such as air and water pollution have resulted, in conjunction with a gradual decrease in natural surroundings. Ecological destruction has caused the landscape to be devastated. For this reason, ecological parks, places serving to reintroduce beautiful birds and insects into the devastated landscape, are needed. There is a need for ecological parks as places where sound ecological values can be instilled and established through the observation and study of nature. Higher priority is given to the ecological environment than in other parks. The design proposal of the ecological park is a place that is ecologically restored and preserved for the purposes of scientific observation and study, and also to provide an easily accessible place for visitors to observe plants, animals and insects living in their natural environment. The proposed park also plays an important role as an educational open classroom for the community and aims at raising global awareness issues in Abu-Qir, thus ensuring that children grow up with an awareness of the global problems facing the world today, and how they can contribute, as active members of the society, in reducing the consequences of pollution and global warming we have created with our own hands. The paper analyses the Abu Qir village potentials and constraints and put forward an urban development strategy based on this analysis. The paper then presents the strategy that has been established to thoroughly preserve, protect and maintain areas of rich natural resources at Abu Qir, and method have been developed to allow enjoyment of them with minimum artificial influence. Eco-tours have been developed for observation of ecosystems. A variety of opportunities to experience nature has been made available by minimization of human interference and by the introduction of an "Environment Commentator" as will be discussed in this paper

LIFE [instrument for environment and climate action]. Third country projects 2005

The European Commission has selected 15 projects situated in Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Russia, Tunisia, Turkey and the West Bank and Gaza, for funding through the LIFE-Third Countries programme. These projects aim to improve the environment and achieve sustainable development by creating or strengthening the relevant institutions, policies, monitoring tools, training facilities, networks and data bases

Research report 22: liveability in NDC areas: findings from six case studies

New Deal for Communities (NDC) is a key programme in the Government's strategy to tackle multiple deprivation by giving some of the poorest communities in the UK the resources to tackle their problems in an intensive and co-ordinated way. The programme, which began in 1998, has encouraged the development of partnerships between local people, community and voluntary organisations, public agencies, local authorities and business. These partnerships are working to tackle the problems of social exclusion and make a lasting improvement to their neighbourhood, with the active involvement of the local community. While different areas face different problems, the five main issues to be tackled by NDC partnerships are: worklessness; improving health; tackling crime; raising educational achievement; and housing and the physical environment. Sustainable Cities Research Institute is part of a national consortium carrying out the evaluation of NDC. The evaluation is led by Sheffield Hallam University and involves 14 UK research centres, universities, and private consultancy firms. Sustainable Cities staff involved with this work are Keith Shaw, who is the North East Region Co-ordinator (with responsibility for Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland partnerships), and Gill Davidson, who is carrying out evaluation tasks in Middlesbrough. Also involved in this work at a regional level are staff members from the University's School of Politics, and from the University of Newcastle. The evaluation began with a scoping phase in October 2001. The evaluation is expected to continue in its current format until at least 2005, with annual evaluation reports being produced in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Sustainable Cities is also undertaking research for a series of case studies focusing on West Middlesbrough NDC; so far these have covered subjects including mainstreaming, involving hard-to-reach young people in regeneration, and liveability

Towards an\u2028 EU research and innovation policy agenda for nature-based solutions & re-naturing cities. Final report of the Horizon 2020 expert group on nature-based solutions and re-naturing cities.

1. Nature-based solutions harness the power and sophistication of nature to turn environmental, social and economic challenges into innovation opportunities. They can address a variety of societal challenges in sustainable ways, with the potential to contribute to green growth, 'future-proofing' society, fostering citizen well-being, providing business opportunities and positioning Europe as a leader in world markets. \u2028 2. Nature-based solutions are actions which are inspired by, supported by or copied from nature. They have tremendous potential to be energy and resource-efficient and resilient to change, but to be successful they must be adapted to local conditions. \u2028 3. Many nature-based solutions result in multiple co-benefits for health, the economy, society and the environment, and thus they can represent more efficient and cost-effective solutions than more traditional approaches. \u2028 4. An EU Research & Innovation (R&I) agenda on nature-based solutions will enable Europe to become a world leader both in R&I and in the growing market for nature-based solutions. For this, the evidence base for the effectiveness of nature-based solutions needs to be developed and then used to implement solutions. Both need to be done in conjunction with stakeholders. The potential for transferability and upscaling of solutions also requires further investigation. There is also a need to develop a systemic approach that combines technical, business, finance, governance, regulatory and social innovation. \u2028 5. Four principal goals have been identified that can be addressed by nature-based solutions: �� Enhancing sustainable urbanisation through nature-based solutions can stimulate economic growth as well as improving the environment, making cities more attractive, and enhancing human well-being. \u2028 �� Restoring degraded ecosystems using nature-based solutions can improve the resilience of ecosystems, enabling them to deliver vital ecosystem services and also to meet other societal challenges. \u2028 �� Developing climate change adaptation and mitigation using nature-based solutions can provide more resilient responses and enhance the storage of carbon. \u2028 �� Improving risk management and resilience using nature-based solutions can lead to greater benefits than conventional methods and offer synergies in reducing multiple risks. \u2028 6. Based on the four goals, seven nature-based solutions for R&I actions are recommended to be taken forward by the European Commission and Member States: �� Urban regeneration through nature-based solutions \u2028 �� Nature-based solutions for improving well-being in urban areas \u2028 �� Establishing nature-based solutions for coastal resilience \u2028 �� Multi-functional nature-based watershed management and ecosystem restoration \u2028 �� Nature-based solutions for increasing the sustainability of the use of matter and energy \u2028 �� Nature-based solutions for enhancing the insurance value of ecosystems \u2028 �� Increasing carbon sequestration through nature-based solutions \u2028This report was produced by the Horizon 2020 Expert Group on 'Nature-Based Solutions and Re- Naturing Cities', informed by the findings of an e-consultation and a stakeholder workshop. \u202

Production of Innovations within Farmer–Researcher Associations Applying Transdisciplinary Research Principles

Small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan West Africa depend heavily on local resources and local knowledge. Science-based knowledge is likely to aid decision-making in complex situations. In this presentation, we highlight a FiBL-coordinated research partnership between three national producer organisations and national agriculture research bodies in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Benin. The partnership seeks to compare conventional, GMObased, and organic cotton systems as regards food security and climate change

Performance assessment of urban precinct design: a scoping study

Executive Summary: Significant advances have been made over the past decade in the development of scientifically and industry accepted tools for the performance assessment of buildings in terms of energy, carbon, water, indoor environment quality etc. For resilient, sustainable low carbon urban development to be realised in the 21st century, however, will require several radical transitions in design performance beyond the scale of individual buildings. One of these involves the creation and application of leading edge tools (not widely available to built environment professions and practitioners) capable of being applied to an assessment of performance across all stages of development at a precinct scale (neighbourhood, community and district) in either greenfield, brownfield or greyfield settings. A core aspect here is the development of a new way of modelling precincts, referred to as Precinct Information Modelling (PIM) that provides for transparent sharing and linking of precinct object information across the development life cycle together with consistent, accurate and reliable access to reference data, including that associated with the urban context of the precinct. Neighbourhoods are the ‘building blocks’ of our cities and represent the scale at which urban design needs to make its contribution to city performance: as productive, liveable, environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive places (COAG 2009). Neighbourhood design constitutes a major area for innovation as part of an urban design protocol established by the federal government (Department of Infrastructure and Transport 2011, see Figure 1). The ability to efficiently and effectively assess urban design performance at a neighbourhood level is in its infancy. This study was undertaken by Swinburne University of Technology, University of New South Wales, CSIRO and buildingSMART Australasia on behalf of the CRC for Low Carbon Living

Integrating sciences to sustain urban ecosystem services

Effective water management within urban settings requires robust multidisciplinary understanding and an appreciation of the value added to urban spaces by providing multifunctional green-blue spaces. Multifunctional landscapes where ecosystem service provisions are ‘designed-in’ can help ‘transition’ cities to more sustainable environments which are more resilient to changing future conditions. With benefits ranging from the supply of water, habitat and energy to pollutant removal, amenity and opportunities for recreation, urban water bodies can provide a focal point for reconnecting humans and nature in otherwise densely built-up areas. Managing water within urban spaces is an essential infrastructure requirement but has historically been undertaken in isolation from other urban functions and spatial requirements. Increasingly, because of the limits of space and need to respond to new drivers (e.g. mitigation of diffuse pollution), more sustainable approaches to urban water management are being applied which can have multiple functions and benefits. This paper presents a review of ecosystem services associated with water, particularly those in urban environments, and uses the emerging language of ecosystem services to provide a framework for discussion. The range of supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services associated with differing types of urban water bodies are identified. A matrix is then used to evaluate the results of a series of social, ecological and physical science studies co-located on a single stretch of a restored urban river. Findings identify the benefits of, but also barriers to, the implementation of a transdisciplinary research approach. For many, transdisciplinary research still appears to be on the edge of scientific respectability. In order to approach this challenge, it is imperative that we bring together discipline specific expertise to address fundamental and applied problems in a holistic way. The ecosystem services approach offers an exciting mechanism to support researchers in tackling research questions that require thinking beyond traditional scientific boundaries. The opportunity to fully exploit this approach to collaborative working should not be lost

Photovoltaic design integration at Battery Park City, New York

This paper is a study of the photovoltaic (PV) systems in the buildings’ design of the Battery Park City (BPC) residential development, in New York. The BPC development is the first in the US to mandate, through the 2000 Battery Park City Authority guidelines, the use of PV as renewable energy generation system in its individual buildings. The scope of this study is to show how PV is integrated in the BPC buildings’ design process, and what can be learned for future PV applications. The study draws directly from the design decision making sources, investigating on the concerns and suggestions of the BPC architects, PV installers and real estate developers. It attempts to contrast a theoretical approach that sees PV as a technology to domesticate in architecture and bring, through grounded research, PV industry closer to the architectural design process. The findings of the study suggest that while stringent environmental mandates help, in the short term, to kick-start the use of PV systems in buildings, it is the recognition of the PV’s primary role as energy provider, its assimilation in the building industry, and its use in a less confining building program that allows for its evolution in architecture

Photovoltaic design integration at Battery Park City, New York

This paper is a study of the photovoltaic (PV) systems in the buildings’ design of the Battery Park City (BPC) residential development, in New York. The BPC development is the first in the US to mandate, through the 2000 Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) guidelines, the use of PV as renewable energy generation system in its individual buildings. The scope of this study is to show how PV is integrated in the BPC buildings’ design process, and what can be learned for future PV applications. The study draws directly from the design decision making sources, investigating on the concerns and suggestions of the BPC architects, PV installers and real estate developers. It attempts to contrast a theoretical approach that sees PV as a technology to domesticate in architecture and bring, through grounded research, PV industry closer to the architectural design process. The findings of the study suggest that while stringent environmental mandates help, in the short term, to kick-start the use of PV systems in buildings, it is the recognition of the PV’s primary role as energy provider, its assimilation in the building industry, and its use in a less confining building program that allows for its evolution in architecture