The city of Breda is struggling with unsustainable urbanisation, degradation of urban ecosystems, and lack of resilience to climate change. To resolve these challenges the GreenQuays project aims to implement sustainable urban renaturation practices using nature inclusive regenerative solutions as part of a bigger project targeting the urban restoration of the river Mark.

Daylighting of the New Mark River is part of the Breda municipal strategy to renature the city and make it more liveable and climate resilient with increased biodiversity and actions to prevent heat-stress. Daylighting rivers or streams is the process of removing obstructions (such as concrete or pavement) which are covering a river, creek, or drainage way and restoring them to their previous condition.

The objective of the GreenQuays project’s is to create a better living environment for residents, flora and fauna and the city as a whole and includes:

Technical innovation

The technological innovation of the GreenQuays project consists of a newly developed material propositions combined with an innovative technical implementation approach (different quay angles, protruding bricks, backspace, platform for riparian plants, shelters for macro fauna, specific rainwater runoffs, etc.) to achieve optimal renaturing results.

Systems innovation

GreenQuays’ proposed solution uses the technical innovation in a climate-adaptive, spatially regenerative, and restorative manner, supporting biodiversity, providing living space for flora and fauna, and contributing to water stress relief.

Social innovation:

The solution applied by GreenQuays builds on an intensive participatory co-design process, targeting the engagement of external stakeholders and citizens.

The Project team comprises an integrated set of partners, all essential for the development, testing, implementation, monitoring, scaling up and roll-out of the project.

• The Municipality of Breda, responsible for urban development and management of public space in Breda.
• two academic institutions, one providing expertise on materials and architectural engineering (TU Delft), the other on landscape architecture and climate responsive design (Wageningen University).
• a federation of environmental associations covering experience both on flora and fauna (Natuurplein de Baronie).
• a conservation NGO bringing expertise on habitat management and monitoring (RAVON).
• the regional water authority of Mid- and West-Brabant (Waterboard Brabantse Delta).
• a tree nursery (Boomkwekerij Van de Berk).
• an organisation experienced in stakeholder consultations (Blast).

The design phase of the project was facilitated via two physical partnership-wide meetings, regular conversations via phone and email, and collaborative drafting of working processes using Google Drive and similar services.

Municipality of Breda

Involvement in the design phase
Municipality Breda is the main initiator of the project and therefore the lead designer and organiser. The project is part of the larger challenge to construct the New Mark River. In this ongoing challenge, all relevant departments and internal stakeholders were already involved. This involvement was continued and intensified in the design phase of the project.

Involvement in the implementation phase
As the project’s lead partner, Breda will lead the management and coordination of work processes. It will also lead three parts of the project that require municipal-level coordination:

• Scaling up, roll-out and policy support
• River restoration and installation of NIQ in the pilot site
• Creation of the network of green spaces in the pilot site.

In addition, the Municipality will provide strategic input as a facilitator to:

• Communication
• Technology development, testing, and piloting
• Green space participatory planning
• Monitoring and evaluation

Furthermore, the Municipality will ensure synergies between GreenQuays and the New Mark project are maintained.

Natuurplein de Baronie

Involvement in the design phase
NB has been cooperating with the Municipality for several years by providing information on local flora and fauna. In the early design stage of the project, NB’s knowledge was used to develop the project phases, planning, and suggestions for additional partners.

Involvement in the implementation phase
In addition to leading the communication process in close cooperation with the Municipality, NB will provide strategic inputs to the development, testing, and pilot utilising its expertise in urban nature as it leads the development of the solution’s ecological aspects and provide inputs to the small-scale and verification pilots. NB will also provide strategic inputs to the Comprehensive Regenerative Urban Design Strategy in the scale-up and roll-out.

RAVON

Involvement in the design phase
During the design phase, Ravon’s experience was used to ensure the measurability of the project and to provide some guidance in the development of the NIQ technology.

Involvement in the implementation phase
RAVON’s monitoring expertise will be put used in its leadership of the monitoring and evaluation process, with the exception of the economic analysis. In addition, Ravon’s habitat management and restoration expertise will be used to provide strategic inputs to the development of the solution’s ecological aspects in the development, testing, and pilot and to the Comprehensive Regenerative Urban Design Strategy in the scale-up and roll-out.

TU Delft

Involvement in the design phase
TU Delft possesses the required technological expertise for NIQ. TUD has been actively involved in the design of the project, particularly the early testing phases.

Involvement in the implementation phase
TU Delft’s technological expertise on materials and architectural engineering will be used in its leadership of the technology development and the small-scale pilot testing aspects of the project. In the former it will lead or provide strategic input to all activities bar the development of the solution’s ecological aspects. TU Delft will also provide strategic inputs to the monitoring and evaluation and the scale-up and roll-out, where it will leverage its global profile to aid with international networking and wider outreach.

Van de Berk

Involvement in the design phase
Van den Berk provided advice for the design of the NIQ tree-growing spaces and aspects of the project that involve trees and other large plants.

Involvement in the implementation phase
Van den Berk’s cultivation expertise will be used to provide strategic inputs to the technology development and to the second phase of the project, particularly in relation to the use of trees. It will use this same expertise to provide strategic inputs to the monitoring and evaluation.

Wageningen University

Involvement in the design phase

Wageningen’s involvement grew from a previous project collaboration on climate adaptivity and heat stress. With GreenQuays, they played a significant role in the design of the monitoring and evaluation and the participatory design process.

Involvement in the implementation phase
Wageningen’s expertise in urban climate responsive research and design will be used in its leadership of the participatory planning and design of green spaces, where it will lead or provide strategic inputs to all the related activities. In addition, its climate monitoring and modelling expertise will be used extensively in its provision of strategic inputs to the monitoring and evaluation, particularly in its leadership of the long-term effect’s simulation activity. Furthermore, it will make a significant contribution to the scale-up and roll-out, where it will lead the development of the Comprehensive Regenerative Urban Design Strategy.
 

Waterboard Brabantse Delta

Involvement in the design phase

WBD was already involved in the design of the larger New Mark project before work on GreenQuays commenced. As a legislative authority for water, they have
a key role in both projects and have contributed to the design of the scaling up, roll-out, and policy support.

Involvement in the implementation phase
Waterschap Brabantse Delta will use its water management expertise in the development of the engineering aspects of the project’s solutions as part of the technology development. This expertise, coupled with its profile of regional significance, will be used in the scale-up and roll-out where it will
provide strategic inputs (or at least contribute) to all of its activities.
 

BLASt

Involvement in the design phase

BLASt is replacing a partner in the project and joined the partnership in December 2019, they have not been involved in the design phase.

Involvement in the implementation phase

BLASt Foundation is an open, independent platform where both professionals and other interested parties with an interest in landscape, architecture and urban
design in and around Breda meet. BLASt schedules, discusses, organizes, initiates, inspires, stimulates, and connects. BLASt does this by organizing activities for the widest possible audience, including lectures, debates, workshops, competitions, exhibitions, and excursions. In addition, there is always a search for a connection with the city and cooperation with other Breda cultural parties. They will use their familiarity with local citizens to lead the participatory planning activity. They will use their knowledge and experience to provide strategic inputs to the monitoring and evaluation, where they will play a facilitatory role by organising and mobilising citizens.

The Municipality of Breda has the benefit of the knowledge and experience from the different partners. The partners have the benefit of being able to try new things and learn from these and improve. In addition to this the project offers the partners a platform to showcase their experience and knowledge.

The lead agency for the project is Breda Municipality.

The project receives 80% of its funding from the European Regional Development Fund through the Urban innovation Actions Initiative and the remaining 20% is financed by the partners.

The partnership has devised the result indicators as definable variables that will provide tangible information on specific aspects of results that can be measured. The indicators are proposed so they provide clear results to be achieved and help define the project focal point. Tracking the values of result indicators will allow a judgement on whether the project is proceeding in the desired direction, as well as the effects of key project outputs. If at any point during project implementation, the viability of achieving the desired results is lingering, the indicators will prompt reflection on the appropriateness and effectiveness of intervention logic. The result indicators are responsive to policy, normative (clearly stated, which direction is the right path of project progress), reliable, verifiable and can be followed-up in a timely manner.

The project has set 9 result indicators, covering the TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL and ENVIRONMENTAL aspects of the project results.

The maturity of the NIQ TECHNOLOGY is expected to reach TRL 7 (system prototype demonstration in operational environment) by the end of the project.

The SOCIAL indicators will focus on the number of inhabitants positively affected by new green urban areas (indicator 2) and the perceived improvement of living conditions by inhabitants (indicator 4). Complementing this, indicator 3 will monitor the increase of awareness of citizens. Additionally, SOCIAL indicators will follow the results of capacity building (indicator 6) and policy support activities (indicator 5). The unique co-design and co-creation process of the project will be monitored by indicator 7.
Results related to the ENVIRONMENT will be assessed by identifying and monitoring indicator species on land and in water (indicator 8) and by the size of renatured urban areas seven years after the project (indicator 9).

The impact will be primarily local.

There has been no significant resistance to the initiative and its innovations. There were some questions about the money required to implement the project, but after explaining the benefits for the community that was mostly solved.

Due to Covid-19, the project team was unable to involve stakeholders as closely in the design and development as originally planned. To address this, webinars were organised where stakeholder could give their input and ask questions. Furthermore, there will be further online and offline workshops to encourage stakeholders to contribute to the project and to inform them how they can renature their own environments and thus contribute to improve the living conditions in the city.

An extensive benchmarking analysis done by the consortium concluded that in densely urbanised areas intense greening through urban river renaturation has not yet been achieved in Europe.

One of the objectives of the GreenQuays project is to encourage other urban authorities to adopt the solutions developed within the project – i.e., rolling out and scaling up project results. The project focuses on unlocking the potential for larger replication by providing a suitable base for its exploitation and upscaling. Within the city of Breda itself, this will provide a basis for future implementation of the New Mark project designed to restore the entire New Mark River and its adjacent areas.

Additionally, increasing knowledge at local government level and among national and European policy makers is a key issue to ensure wider integration of project results.

After the project is realised, the Municipal Government plans to share knowledge learned and project outcomes with other cities that are facing similar problems.

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