University of Silesia in Katowice

Funding: Regional Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management

Aim: The project referred to the concept of a natural ecosystems – participants were seeking parallels between the structure of a city and that of a natural ecosystem. The project identified how various functional components of the city are connected and influence one another, including natural elements.

Challenges: While humans influence ecosystems, they also have their own needs. A key challenge was to initiate actions aimed at sustaining the functioning of urban ecosystems as spaces that:

• meet basic human needs,
• enable interactions with elements of the natural environment,
• provide other ecosystem services.

Completed activities: The project has carried out a series of seminars aimed at:

1. Raising public awareness by:

– increasing the understanding of global climate change,

– identifying local challenges faced by the cities,

– encouraging actions based on scientific research.

2. Developing research on cities:

– highlighting the potential for studying urban development in the context of urban ecosystem functioning,

– carrying out expert analysis covering the relationship between cities and the environment.

3. Initiating collaboration:

– engaging local entities,

– developing pro-ecological good practices and solutions.

Thematic scope of the seminars:

1. City with the Biodiversity Indicator – participants focused on exploring architectural solutions that may in the future answer the issues of restoring areas transformed by the industrial activity or left to be reclaimed by the nature itself;
   
2. City Like a Sponge! – participants investigated the significance blue-green infrastructure has for the quality of life in the city. They also explored the best ways to retain water in urban areas; 
3. Life in the City Depends on Soils – participants focused on the issue of soil pollution and its regeneration potential; 
4. Healthy City – Healthy Residents – participants explored how significant nature is for the human health; 
5. How Does the City Breathe? – participants focused on the main reasons behind air pollution in the city; 
6. Ecosystemic Generosity of the City – participants discovered the latest approaches to urban ecosystem development; 
7. Urban Green Deal – participants explored the concept of the city as as energy system; 
8. Us and Global Changes in the City – participants explored the ways to minimise negative effects of climate change in cities.