On 2 March 2023, Foresight, an online platform of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), published an interview with Juan Pastor-Ivars (Research Associate, UNU-IAS). The interview discusses the multiple benefits of urban green spaces and their role in developing ecosystem services in cities. Stressing the urgent need to restore harmony between humans and nature, Dr Pastor-Ivars argued that it was crucial to conserve existing urban greenery and to create new green infrastructure. He also spoke about local initiatives to restore urban nature in Kanazawa city, Japan to tackle the challenges brought on by rapid urbanisation and ageing population.
Excerpt:
There are many different types of urban green spaces and each place will have a solution that is more suited to its context. The priority is that they can be easily maintained and used by urban communities now and in the future. Citizens have to actively collaborate to conserve the nature that exists in cities. All of us gain benefits from it so we all have a responsibility to maintain the new green commons.
The full article is available on the Foresight website.