Every city faces the challenge of climate change. Mitigation measures, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, are essential, but cities will still experience the impacts of climate change, such as increasing summer temperatures, adverse weather, localised flooding and biodiversity decline. Adapting to predicted climate change impacts is essential to keep Liverpool functioning and provide a good quality of life for residents, workers and visitors.

The key aims of URBAN GreenUP were to trial exemplar living laboratories and to quantify their environmental, social and economic benefits.  To identify new ways of working and the use of new technologies to open up opportunities for NbS (nature-based solutions). To provide a new evidence base and help develop an EU wide reference framework on NbS and their multiple benefits. And, to embed the concept of ‘Renaturing Urbanisation’ (RUP) into city regeneration initiatives.   

The URBAN GreenUP initiative retrofitted over 40 NbS projects across Liverpool to directly tackle the predicted impacts of climate change and make the city more resilient and liveable. NbS are low-cost, sustainable, and effective ways to address the challenges of climate change and urbanisation. The NbS were installed in the city where mapping showed they could be most effective. They included green walls, rain gardens, water retention ponds, experimental pollinator spaces and verges, innovative floating ecosystem islands, a mobile pop-up forest and various forms of tree planting in urban spaces. Three new green routes link the NbS for active travel and interpretive signage promotes and explains the multiple benefits. 

The City’s Bold and Innovative Vision

• URBAN GreenUP was a bold initiative with a vision to challenge how things had been done traditionally and demonstrate a new way of doing things to achieve better future outcomes for the city, its residents and nature. It built on previous work and laid a solid foundation for future programmes.
• The initiative pioneered and tested several new technologies for NbS. The floating island in the docks was a groundbreaking innovation that has since been improved, revised and replicated. The urban raingarden was delivered through a consortium of businesses that adapted their skills for a new purpose. Other notable innovations included a room-sized mobile forest for pop-up events, a tweeting tree (Bowie the Birch) that promoted the benefits of trees, a dual-sided freestanding green wall, a solar-powered self-irrigating lamp post planter, and a sustainable low-carbon approach to pollinator planting.
• Innovative monitoring technologies were used to track the impact of the URBAN GreenUP project, including solar-powered continuous air quality monitors, remote Soil Life sensors, and flow meters for tree SuDS and raingarden schemes. Data was analysed using a mix of established and emerging tools.
• URBAN GreenUP developed a groundbreaking Renaturing Urban Planning (RUP) approach and used multiple geographical data layers to identify and target gaps in the urban green infrastructure network, intelligently installing the most appropriate NbS for maximum benefit. In Liverpool, the initiative delivered on a city scale, linking NbS to create new green corridors and active travel routes, providing a blueprint for sustainable future city development.

Reducing Negative Impacts and Ensuring Sustainability

• URBAN GreenUP committed to reducing its carbon footprint at every stage of implementation.

Environmental Considerations

• The team committed to sustainable planting schemes and procurement of materials and services.

Sustainable Practices

• To further minimise impact, the URBAN GreenUP team championed a no-chemical approach. Materials on site were reused or reclaimed, some seeds were collected locally, and habitats created reflected their locations.
• Energy costs and carbon savings were made either through local procurement to reduce fuel miles, a reduction in mowing to reduce fuel consumption, or the thermoregulatory benefits on buildings benefitting from exterior green walls or direct tree shading. Other initiatives used solar power for irrigation and data collection.
• Sustainable Procurement: specifications included direct questions on sustainable approaches, and the cost/quality scoring ratio was adjusted to favour quality over cost.
• Consultants, contractors and materials were all sourced locally as far as possible.

Use of Natural Resources

• The team were committed to sustainable practices throughout implementation, from the design of its planting schemes to the materials and methods used on site.

The lead agency for URBAN GreenUP is the City of Liverpool.  The project secured funding from a variety of sources, including the European Regional Development Fund, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the Environment Agency, demonstrating it was seen as a viable and worthwhile investment by a range of funders.

The wider URBAN GreenUp team comprised skilled stakeholders and people from across a range of internal, external, voluntary, charitable, faith, educational and business enterprises.

Broad and early consultation was key to the success of URBAN GreenUP, particularly in light of the challenges of implementing over 40 new and “untested” NbS during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community Engagement: Officers engaged with local residents, businesses, stakeholders, community groups and councillors through public drop-in sessions, street and postal surveys, and online. A co-creation approach ensured URBAN GreenUP was responsive to the needs of the community and benefits were shared widely.

Internal Collaboration: The team maintained ongoing dialogue and consultation with city council colleagues from Highways, Legal, Procurement, Drainage, Public Health, Regeneration, Planners and Parks. This was essential to ensure the initiative met all necessary requirements and was supported by relevant stakeholders.

External Collaboration: Officers consulted with utility providers, environmental regulators and statutory bodies to secure their approval and necessary licenses and permissions. This ensured schemes were implemented in a compliant and sustainable manner.

Building Relationships and Partnerships: The initiative established new working relationships and contacts, and led to invitations for partners to speak at key city events, support requests to progress partner NbS schemes and undertake tours of the demonstration sites. Moreover, local residents volunteered to provide ongoing care for some sites, and land and property owners willingly took on the ownership and ongoing maintenance of their NbS. The Liverpool Business Improvement District also provided sponsorship for the ongoing maintenance of other NbS.

These NbS are already having a significant impact on the city's environment and wellbeing as data shows:

Environmental benefits:

• Over 5,200,000 litres of water diverted from sewers.
• Air surface temperature reductions of up to 7.5^oC on hot days.
• Cleaner air with a reduction of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide.
• Improved water quality with the removal of some heavy metals and nutrients.
• Enhanced biodiversity with pollinator counts up 920% at one site.

Social benefits:

• Accessible green routes with less pollution and enhanced active travel.
• Improved mental health and wellbeing.
• Community-focused initiatives, such as the promotion of the iNaturalist species identification app, physical and mental health programmes, citizen science events and volunteer opportunities.

Economic benefits:

• 82% of businesses see greening as beneficial.
• 94% of businesses rate green areas twice as highly.
• 92% of businesses think street trees attract footfall and trade.

Monitoring Results: URBAN GreenUP was underpinned by a comprehensive monitoring framework based on 40 EU EKLIPSE key performance indicators, covering a range of environmental, social and economic parameters. This framework ensured that progress and impact could be tracked and areas identified for improvement.

Demonstrating Progress: URBAN GreenUP placed a strong emphasis on monitoring and evidence-building, recognising the importance of demonstrating the value and benefits of NbS to stakeholders.

Measuring Impact:

URBAN GreenUP has had a significant impact on Liverpool, and its findings are being shared widely through a combination of measured, modelled and story data. Measured data is collected through comprehensive monitoring that tracks the performance of NbS interventions against environmental, social and economic indicators, and quantifies multiple benefits:

• 155,000kgCO2e sequestered by trees (507kgCO2e sequestered by other land changes)
• Energy savings from cooling (298kw/hour/year) with associated avoided carbon emissions of 149kg CO2
• 5,200,000 litres/year of stormwater diverted from the sewer
• 26 lives saved/year (increased walking and pollution reduction)
• 817 more houses have a greenspace view
• 0.16 hectares added biodiversity
• Air pollution reductions (0.01t/year ozone and 0.01t/year PM2.5)
• 20 new volunteers
• 500,000 local users
• 100,000 visitor tourist days
• 60 new FTE jobs (tourism)
• 2 FTE jobs (land management)
• Reduced absenteeism between 9,070–48,400 days/year

Modelled data predicts long-term benefits of NbS and identifies areas for effective NbS deployment such as a 7.5oC  reduction in peak summer surface temperatures. Story data brings the human dimension to life. This includes personal stories of community engagement, descriptions of evolving spaces and places created, and accounts of unexpected benefits that have emerged, such as the establishment of new food webs in pollinator spaces.

The URBAN GreenUP story is captivating and vast, and can be adapted to suit any audience. Its impact is inspiring other cities to embrace NbS and to shape more sustainable and liveable urban environments.

Data is reported to the EU website, on the Liverpool portal, and is publicly available free of charge.

Liverpool is using the URBAN GreenUP initiative to address its climate emergency and to tackle climate related challenges, including flooding, biodiversity loss and extreme heat.

Flooding: Liverpool has the fourth-highest surface water flood risk in the UK. The city’s drainage infrastructure is 150 years old and not designed for modern-day larger populations and decreasing green space. Surface water flooding is unpredictable and circa 486,000 Liverpool residents are at risk. Moreover, there are a number of known hot-spots where many homes have been flooded and others where people have tragically died. URBAN GreenUP has implemented several nature-based flood alleviation schemes, such as rain gardens, retention ponds and tree Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDs), to reduce flood risk and improve water quality.

Biodiversity loss: Liverpool is facing a decline in biodiversity due to development and loss of habitat. The initiative has planted over 10,000 trees and shrubs across the city, creating new habitats for wildlife and improving air quality.

Extreme heat: Liverpool is experiencing hotter summers due to climate change. URBAN GreenUP partners have planted trees and created green spaces to provide shade and cooling, helping to reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses.

URBAN GreenUP is a valuable example of how NbS can be used to address climate change challenges. Failing to address these climate change problems now will only exacerbate the situation and create more problems in the future. The initiative has had a positive impact on Liverpool, and it is a model that can be replicated in other cities around the world.

URBAN GreenUP has attracted attention and interest from around the world, showcasing the innovative potential of NbS to address urban challenges in a changing climate and inspiring other cities to raise their greening ambitions.

The floating island in Liverpool docks has been a particular source of interest, with enquiries from Vietnam, Romania, Seattle, a First American Indian tribe and India. These have focused on adapting the design to meet a variety of local needs, such as food production, growing medicinal plants, habitat provision or coastal protection.

The initiative also had a formal mentoring aspect, with Liverpool’s work regularly shared with follower cities in China, Germany, Italy, South America and Vietnam. Additionally, 26 network cities across the globe were invited to webinars specifically designed to address key areas of interest, such as site preparation, project implementation, maintenance and monitoring, water interventions, early data insights and challenges.

All of the webinars and a range of documentation on deliverables, such as procurement and technical specifications, along with decision-making tools, are available to download for free: www.urbangreenup.eu

The learning has also influenced Liverpool’s new Public Realm Masterplan, supported a city Supplementary Planning Document, is reflected in the Mersey Forest Plan, and has helped to secure follow-on Green Recovery funding for replication. New city regeneration initiatives are seeking to replicate NbS in current schemes for ongoing transformational change.

Liverpool Public Realm Strategy SPD

URBAN GreenUP

New Strategy for Renaturing Cities through Nature Based Solutions