Commitment 10Read more
Protecting Biodiversity
Preserving and Protecting Biodiversity in the City and Port
Supporting the efforts of civil society to protect fauna and flora in the City Port territory.
How can a diverse group of local stakeholders be effectively re-engaged to jointly improve the ecological status, water experience, communication and water security?
Co-creation, early involvement and transparent communication form a solid foundation for ecological restoration, improved water experience and long-term river stewardship. Through an inclusive and creative engagement approach, experimentation can rebuild a strong relationship with all local stakeholders of a river system. By combining innovation workshops with an educational participation action (“Message in a Bottle”), this initiative created shared understanding, identified collective needs and strengthened collaboration.
This good practice also includes objective 4.4 (Developing collaborative approaches and drawing on scientific and technologic knowledge from the scientific community and civil society to support decision-making) of the AIVP’s Agenda 2030.
The Connected River project is an EU-funded project that aims to boost the capacities of multi-stakeholder ecosystems to deliver services that guarantee the safety, accessibility, and livability of waterways & waterfronts in the North Sea Region. One of the experiments aims to restore the ecological status of the Kleine Nete River while simultaneously improving water experience, communication and water security. Given the high number and diversity of stakeholders active in the pilot area: kayak users, sports federations, kayak rentals, the Flanders Environment Agency (VMM), several municipalities, Natuurpunt, Tourism Province Antwerp, the Department of Nature and Forests, among others. The first challenge was to rebuild trust and create a shared understanding of the ambitions for the river. To achieve this, the project developed a participatory trajectory focused on dialogue, co-creation and collective learning.
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