Concepts such as green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and ecosystem services gained popularity in recent discourses on urban planning. Despite their recognition as innovative concepts, all of them share a degree of ambiguity. Fuzziness can be a weakness but also an opportunity to shape novel concepts together with the stakeholders that are supposed to implement them in the planning practice. The paper traces concept development processes of green infrastructure through transdisciplinary knowledge exchange in three different projects, a European and a national research project and a local city-regional project as part of an EU regional cooperation project. In all projects, the green infrastructure concept evolved in different stages. Stakeholder involvement during these stages span from consultation to co-creation. The cases reveal two different approaches: concepts that are developed “for planning practice” might be based on a plethora of insight via consultation, while those “with planning practice” foster co-creation and might result in high acceptance among the involved stakeholders. Depending on the purpose of the novel concept, each approach can be beneficial and result in practice-related and operational products, such as guidance documents or planning strategies. However, the cases also show that in any new context an exchange about fuzzy concepts is not only needed but also a chance to stimulate cooperation and joint understanding about urban challenges and how to address them.

This article examines the need and opportunities to implement vertical green in Ljubljana as a case of a medium-sized European city with a relatively green feel. Sustainability-oriented urban development supports the introduction of nature-based solutions in principle; however, there is a lack of vertical green as well as actual legislative and administrative support. Therefore, several methods were applied in the present study to link this idea to execution, starting with semi-structured interviews and a workshop for selected city officials. Legislative and formal backgrounds for implementation were then assessed. An inventory of green façades and other structures (e.g., noise barriers and retaining walls) in Ljubljana was prepared, and a geographic information system-based decision support system was developed to identify the potential areas in the city where additional green space elements would be most favourable for humans, the environment, and climate indicators. The results reveal a gap between opportunities and the actual situation. The general opinion that there is never too much green space in urban areas is confirmed by direct information from the city administration and strategic documents. There are many potential sites for implementation; however, this is hindered by ownership, management, and economic issues. The study concludes with some suggestions for following the best practices in other central European capitals, such as Vienna and Berlin.

Article presents the review of the theoretical framework for a specific question that arose from the use of the scenario technique in the field of landscape planning. This specific issue is: does the use of scenarios influence the perception of the cultural landscape changes and actions the individuals take to change the cultural landscape? Review includes research articles aiming to approve the influence of scenarios and also case studies of scenario use in the field of landscape planning that perceived possible influence of scenario use on stakeholders. The decision for the review was stimulated by the growing popularity of the scenario-based studies connected with landscape planning and environmental issues. Scenarios are also an important incentive for public participation. The question is whether we can influence relations between individuals and cultural landscape by showing them evidently with scenarios, how the future landscape will look like.

Cultural heritage holds a constitutional status in Slovenia, immovable cultural heritage being its vital part. The most extensive categories of the Register of cultural heritage are buildings and settlements. In accordance with the principles of revitalizing and adapting heritage buildings to contemporary requirements with the aim of their sustainable conservation, energy renovation is also included in the integral approach. Such approach must adhere to cultural protection conditions and include measures that do not threaten the protected values. Energy renovation should be coordinated with other technical measures to meet the essential requirements for buildings. To support these efforts, the national Guidelines for energy renovation of cultural heritage buildings were introduced in 2016 as a manual that supports the conservators’ decisions and informs building owners and renovation contractors about the specifics of the approach to designing and implementing measures. At the end of 2023, the national research project V5-2358 (DEDIS) began, focused to provide an update of the guidelines. The additions will include refreshed chapters on the relevant national and European legislation, characteristics and regulation of cultural heritage protection, necessary preliminary investigations of the condition of buildings, and, as the main part, technical measures of renovation and their interdependence, with a special focus on the installation and use of renewable energy sources. The guidelines will consider the experiences of successful renovation projects and the results of an extensive interaction with key stakeholders through interviews and online surveys. The paper presents the preparatory activities leading to conceptualisation of the refined purpose, goals and content of the renewed guidelines.