This masterclass at the 8th Capacity-building Hub of the 2026 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP31) will explore how urban nature and nature-based solutions (NbS) can support climate adaptation and mitigation while advancing just urban transitions. The session will combine a short expert presentation, a visual reflection exercise and an open Q&A, drawing on the Sustainable Urban Nature (SUN) Project in Kanazawa, Japan, and on case studies from cities in different regions.
Cities concentrate a growing share of climate risk, from extreme heat and urban flooding to biodiversity loss, while also being key arenas for mitigation. NbS are increasingly recognized in adaptation and mitigation planning, yet they are often understood in narrow technical terms, treating nature as a tool rather than a living system of which people are part. In addition, urban greening can reproduce existing inequalities when communities are excluded from planning (procedural injustice), exposure to heat and pollution remains unequal (environmental injustice), or access to green space is unevenly distributed (spatial injustice), including through green gentrification.
This master class addresses these gaps by presenting a holistic framework for urban NbS that integrates three interconnected spheres: traditional knowledge, science-based sustainability and human well-being. Drawing on UNU-IAS OUIK’s participatory action research in Kanazawa, where traditional gardens and sacred forests function as biodiversity hotspots, carbon sinks and spaces for well-being in a context of urban shrinking, the session offers practical, transferable lessons on how cities can plan, co-design and govern NbS with local communities.
Participation
This event is open to attendees of COP31. It will be held in the Capacity-building Hub located in the Blue Zone.
Please note that participants in UNU events may appear in photography, screen captures, videos and/or audio. For further information please refer to Events.
Language
This event will be held in English.
Organizers
The session will be co-organized by UNU-IAS Operating Unit Ishikawa/Kanazawa (UNU-IAS OUIK) in coordination with UNU and the UNFCCC Capacity-building Hub.
