ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability services

In its current form, urbanisation and the lifestyle of city populations is rapidly depleting biodiversity, as well as public and private green spaces. To create a healthy living environment and to be sustainable, urban development must preserve biodiversity by safeguarding and developing multi-functional and connected green spaces in cities. Green spaces and their ecosystems can act as a nature-based solution to tackle societal, economic, and environmental challenges. ICLEI is a long-term advocate of the importance of urban biodiversity and green spaces and supports local governments in maintaining and encouraging it. By working with cities to implement nature-based solutions, ICLEI also helps them to improve their resilience and create a cohesive urban society.

Moving European consumption of natural resources down to a level that respects the limits of local and global ecosystems requires a socio-cultural, socio-economic and technological transition. Governance Innovation is key for local governments and their communities to shape this transition. ICLEI looks at how societies organise themselves and how this needs to change in order to support the sustainability transition. Processes of interaction, such as co-production and co-design, governance frameworks and management systems, urban-rural linkages and cultural change, crowd mechanisms and sharing approaches, can be applied to various policy areas that local governments deal with.