This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are currently being deployed in many European Commission Horizon 2020 projects in reaction to the increasing number of environmental threats, such as climate change, unsustainable urbanization, degradation and loss of natural capital and ecosystem services. In this research, we consider the application of NBS as a catalyst for social inclusivity in urban regeneration strategies, enabled through civic participation in the co-creation of green interventions with respect to social cohesion and wellbeing. This article is focused on a social monitoring framework elaborated within the H2020 CLEVER Cities project, with the city of Milan as a case study. Firstly, we overviewed the major regeneration challenges and expected co-benefits of the project, which are mainly human health and wellbeing, social cohesion and environmental justice, as well as citizen perception about safety and security related to the NBS implementation process. Secondly, we examined the relevance of using NBS in addressing social co-benefits by analyzing data from questionnaires against a set of five major indicators, submitted to citizens and participants of activities during pre-greening interventions: (1) Place, use of space and relationship with nature, (2) Perceived ownership and sense of belonging, (3) Psychosocial issues, social interactions and social cohesion, (4) Citizen perception about safety and security, and lastly, we analyzed (5) knowledge about CLEVER interventions and NBS benefits in relation to socio-demographics of the questionnaires’ respondents. Thirdly, we cross-referenced a wind-rose multi-model of co-benefits analysis for NBS across the regeneration challenges of the project. Because of the COVID-19 emergency, in this research we mainly focused on site observations and online questionnaires, as well as on monitoring pre-greening scenarios in three Urban Living Labs (ULLs) in Milan, namely CLEVER Action Labs. Lastly, this study emphasizes the expected social added values of NBS impact over long-term urban regeneration projects. Insights from the pre-greening surveys results accentuate the importance of the NBS interventions in citizens’ perceptions about their wellbeing, general health and strong sense of neighborhood belonging. A wider interest towards civic participation in co-management and getting informed about NBS interventions in the Milanese context is also noted.
Israa H. Mahmoud; Eugenio Morello; Chiara Vona; Maria Benciolini; Iliriana Sejdullahu; Marina Trentin; Karmele Herranz Pascual. Setting the Social Monitoring Framework for Nature-Based Solutions Impact: Methodological Approach and Pre-Greening Measurements in the Case Study from CLEVER Cities Milan. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9672 .
AMA StyleIsraa H. Mahmoud, Eugenio Morello, Chiara Vona, Maria Benciolini, Iliriana Sejdullahu, Marina Trentin, Karmele Herranz Pascual. Setting the Social Monitoring Framework for Nature-Based Solutions Impact: Methodological Approach and Pre-Greening Measurements in the Case Study from CLEVER Cities Milan. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (17):9672.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIsraa H. Mahmoud; Eugenio Morello; Chiara Vona; Maria Benciolini; Iliriana Sejdullahu; Marina Trentin; Karmele Herranz Pascual. 2021. "Setting the Social Monitoring Framework for Nature-Based Solutions Impact: Methodological Approach and Pre-Greening Measurements in the Case Study from CLEVER Cities Milan." Sustainability 13, no. 17: 9672.
Integrating the perspective of smart grid users is the next challenge to be tackled in order to deploy fully the broad technical development of this new generation of electrical grids and improve the efficacy thereof. This is the conclusion reached by the social research developed within the framework of the European UPGRID project. This paper presents the main findings of the Spanish demonstration, working with domestic electricity consumers. The results indicate that these consumers know little about their contract and consumption of electricity, with regard to smart grids. In spite of this, there is some evidence that there is willingness among these consumers to make a change in their energy use towards more environmentally responsible behaviours, a tendency that needs to be developed so that consumers play an active role, which is essential in order to deliver optimal energy supply through smart grids. However, the results must be taken with a degree of caution, since, in spite of the major drive for recruitment, the sample was small and the experimental mortality between phases was high, so the research presented is exploratory in nature.
Karmele Herranz-Pascual; Eduardo Garcia-Quincoces; Itxasne Diez-Gaspon; Raúl Bachiller-Prieto. Moving towards for Active Role for Smart Grid Users: study about the perception of smart grids among domestic consumers in Spain (UPGRID project)(Avanzando hacia el rol activo de los usuarios de las smart grids: estudio sobre la percepción de las redes eléctricas inteligentes entre los consumidores domésticos en España (proyecto UPGRID)). PsyEcology 2019, 11, 148 -160.
AMA StyleKarmele Herranz-Pascual, Eduardo Garcia-Quincoces, Itxasne Diez-Gaspon, Raúl Bachiller-Prieto. Moving towards for Active Role for Smart Grid Users: study about the perception of smart grids among domestic consumers in Spain (UPGRID project)(Avanzando hacia el rol activo de los usuarios de las smart grids: estudio sobre la percepción de las redes eléctricas inteligentes entre los consumidores domésticos en España (proyecto UPGRID)). PsyEcology. 2019; 11 (1):148-160.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKarmele Herranz-Pascual; Eduardo Garcia-Quincoces; Itxasne Diez-Gaspon; Raúl Bachiller-Prieto. 2019. "Moving towards for Active Role for Smart Grid Users: study about the perception of smart grids among domestic consumers in Spain (UPGRID project)(Avanzando hacia el rol activo de los usuarios de las smart grids: estudio sobre la percepción de las redes eléctricas inteligentes entre los consumidores domésticos en España (proyecto UPGRID))." PsyEcology 11, no. 1: 148-160.
The capacity of natural settings to promote psychological restoration has attracted increasing research attention, especially with regards to the visual dimension. However, there is a need to extend these studies to urban settings, such as squares, parks or gardens, due to the global trend towards urbanisation, and to integrate the dimension of sound into landscape. Such was the main aim of this study, in which 53 participants assessed four public spaces in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) as part of the CITI-SENSE Project (137 observations were used for analysis). A smartphone application was used to simultaneously collect objective and subjective data. The results show that at the end of the urban environmental experience, there was a statistically significant reduction in negative emotions and perceived stress, and a slight increase in positive emotions. Emotional restoration was mainly associated with prior emotional states, but also with global environmental comfort and acoustic comfort. The soundscape characteristics that contributed to greater emotional restoration and a reduction in perceived stress were pleasantness, calm, fun and naturalness. Therefore, in agreement with previous research, the findings of the present study indicate that besides contributing to the quietness of the urban environment, the urban soundscape can promote psychological restoration in users of these spaces.
Karmele Herranz-Pascual; Itziar Aspuru; Ioseba Iraurgi; Álvaro Santander; Jose Luis Eguiguren; Igone García. Going beyond Quietness: Determining the Emotionally Restorative Effect of Acoustic Environments in Urban Open Public Spaces. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2019, 16, 1284 .
AMA StyleKarmele Herranz-Pascual, Itziar Aspuru, Ioseba Iraurgi, Álvaro Santander, Jose Luis Eguiguren, Igone García. Going beyond Quietness: Determining the Emotionally Restorative Effect of Acoustic Environments in Urban Open Public Spaces. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16 (7):1284.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKarmele Herranz-Pascual; Itziar Aspuru; Ioseba Iraurgi; Álvaro Santander; Jose Luis Eguiguren; Igone García. 2019. "Going beyond Quietness: Determining the Emotionally Restorative Effect of Acoustic Environments in Urban Open Public Spaces." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 7: 1284.
The need to improve acoustic environments in our cities has led to increased interest in correcting or minimising noise pollution in urban environments, something that has been associated with the resurgence of the soundscape approach. This line of research highlights the importance of context in the perception of acoustic environments. Despite this, few studies consider together a wide number of variables relating to the context, and analyse the relative importance of each. The purpose of this paper is therefore to identify the acoustic and non-acoustic characteristics of a place (context) that influence an individual’s perception of the sound environment and the relative importance of these factors in soundscape. The aim is to continue advancing in the definition of an acoustic comfort indicator for urban places. The data used here were collected in various soundscape campaigns carried out by Tecnalia in Bilbao (Spain) between 2011 and 2014. These studies involved 534 evaluations of 10 different places. The results indicate that many diverse contextual factors determine soundscape, the most important being the congruence between soundscape and landscape. The limitations of the findings and suggestions for further research are also discussed.
Karmele Herranz-Pascual; Igone García; Itxasne Diez; Alvaro Santander; Itziar Aspuru. Analysis of Field Data to Describe the Effect of Context (Acoustic and Non-Acoustic Factors) on Urban Soundscapes. Applied Sciences 2017, 7, 173 .
AMA StyleKarmele Herranz-Pascual, Igone García, Itxasne Diez, Alvaro Santander, Itziar Aspuru. Analysis of Field Data to Describe the Effect of Context (Acoustic and Non-Acoustic Factors) on Urban Soundscapes. Applied Sciences. 2017; 7 (2):173.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKarmele Herranz-Pascual; Igone García; Itxasne Diez; Alvaro Santander; Itziar Aspuru. 2017. "Analysis of Field Data to Describe the Effect of Context (Acoustic and Non-Acoustic Factors) on Urban Soundscapes." Applied Sciences 7, no. 2: 173.