We are starting the implementation of a two-year project called Urban Biodiversity Refuges, under which we will work on changing the approach of officials and decision-makers to urban nature and equipping them with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to make such a change possible.
What do we want to achieve?
The project aims to support city governments in changing traditional ways of maintaining urban greenery and water facilities to more sustainable ones that respond to the needs resulting from climate change. For example, by reducing the intensity of mowing or raking, more conscious activities aimed at creating “wild zones”, changing the species selection to native plants, renaturalising park trees and water facilities, and increasing biodiversity and retention.
To make these changes possible, our activities aim to build acceptance among city residents and other entities involved in maintaining greenery to increase biodiversity and diversify the intensity of maintaining urban nature as tools for adapting the city to climate change.
The project will last from January 2024 to December 2025.
Why is this important?
Green areas and water in cities are essential for protecting residents and infrastructure against the negative effects of climate change. Violent rainfall and related urban floods, the heat island phenomenon and heat waves, and chronic droughts increasingly impact residents’ health and quality of life and the costs of maintaining urban infrastructure. The development of blue-green infrastructure is one of the essential tools for adapting cities to climate change and protecting urban biodiversity.
The potential of green spaces and water to offer ecosystem services that increase cities’ resilience to adverse weather events depends on current management and maintenance practices. Traditional gardening, which still dominates in many Polish towns, promotes activities that not only do not support biodiversity and increase the potential of ecosystems to offer services but also harm the environment (noise, emissions of pollutants from fuel and dust combustion).
60% of Poland’s population lives in cities (GUS, 2022), and global trends predict an increase in this percentage. Additionally, with economic development, Polish cities are spreading into the surrounding agricultural and natural areas. Therefore, building acceptance for wild nature, less tamed greenery, increasing urban biodiversity, and naturalising water bodies are critical to increasing Poles’ awareness of the need to protect biodiversity, mitigate, and adapt to climate change.
Research and diagnosis – starting point
We will start the project by conducting a study of the perception of various forms of “wild” nature in the city (e.g. “wild zones”, flower meadows, thickets, natural water features) by residents using a nationwide online survey and focus groups. We will look at the residents of cities of various sizes – those with specialised departments responsible for green areas management and those without. Our experience shows that residents’ attitudes – often sceptical about activities related to creating biodiversity refuges and reducing the frequency of mowing or naturalising water facilities – constitute a significant barrier to implementing changes in the maintenance of urban greenery.
The research will allow us to better understand residents’ beliefs and attitudes, identify myths existing in public opinion, and develop recommendations related to communicating the planned changes and building social acceptance for them. We will prepare the results in the form of a publicly available report and use them to prepare all activities within the project.
What actions will we address to officials and decision-makers?
In 2022, the Sendzimir Foundation, in cooperation with 35 Polish city offices, developed Urban green areas maintenance standards, which was the first step to disseminating a new approach to maintaining green spaces. The activities carried out as part of the project are intended to help implement those parts of the standards that, in particular, positively impact the environment and urban nature. We are planning:
- A series of 6 specialised webinars in the form of panels with the participation of expert practitioners on exemplary practices from Polish cities regarding the maintenance of urban green areas in a way that supports biodiversity and building the resilience of cities to climate change, prepared in cooperation with the monthly industry magazine Zieleń Miejska;
- 6-week (02-03.2025) e-learning training conducted using the Foundation’s innovative teaching methods based on a two-stage approach and developing skills by developing solutions to real problems (see what distinguishes our Training activities);
- a series of 4 workshops for e-learning training graduates (04-09.2025):
- How do we manage urban greenery? – effective communication of changes in the way urban greenery is managed to residents
- How can a zonal approach to maintaining green areas in the city be implemented in practice?
- Determination and development of “wild zones” of various sizes in the city, as well as rules and methods for managing deadwood
- Renaturalisation of water reservoirs in the city and maintenance of river valleys
conference summarising the project (10/2025)
- A series of articles in Polish on uslugiekosystemow.pl website
What activities do we plan for city residents?
Creating biodiversity refuges, reducing the frequency of mowing, etc., often arouses resistance from the local community, which does not understand why such practices are being introduced and considers them to be a lack of care for public areas. Additionally, many residents’ sense of aesthetics makes them expect tidy greenery; less intensively maintained greenery reduces the perception of security, which results in complaints. The perception of nature in the city is limited only to organised nature, and knowledge about its functions other than recreational ones is limited. City dwellers have limited contact with wild, natural ecosystems, so they do not know nature and are afraid of it. Therefore, as part of the project, we focus on educational and awareness-building activities. We are planning:
- A series of educational podcasts and radio broadcasts on maintaining urban green areas in a biodiversity-friendly way and contributing to building the resilience of cities to climate change,
- a series of articles on the website uslugiekosystemow.pl about urban nature,
- a social media campaign – on our Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.
The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management co-financed the project. The Sendzimir Foundation is solely responsible for the content published on the website.
