Nature Based Solutions ~ Cities & Backyards

 I have to admit I  never looked at Urban Design in terms of colors! Grey, Blue and Green! Always had a fear of maps to navigate and needed to write down instructions. And now Google has turned that world upside down with the aerial view handy for anyone inclined to look at it.  So what started this Color Analysis of Urban Landscapes, with ideas of patches and corridors? Here is the short story!

As I looked into designing a one day Eco Sustainability tour, as  part of our Design Thinking Travel Bootcamp to Amsterdam, doors and further doors opened up. Do you remember the infinity mirror? A never ending array of topics burst open! I signed up for a MOOC Audit course at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions,titled ‘Nature Based Metropolitan Solutions’. The picture on the Course Header was our very own New York High Line! I do recommend this MOOC as it takes 2 days to complete and is a gold mine of related topics.



A note from the Introduction to Nature Based Solutions MOOC:

‘Green-blue infrastructures in this sense are alternatives for fully human-built ‘grey’ infrastructures by
using designed and engineered nature for the management of flows. The beauty of operationalizing nature in such a way is that nature is multifunctional and besides delivering the same performance as grey infrastructures deliver, they can contributein many more ways. Think about pollination, aesthetics, improving both physical and mental health, facilitating social cohesion, providing natural materials or even jobs, as nature requires maintenance. These added values bring us to the term nature-based solutions which capitalizes the full potential of nature and this is what makes it so comprehensive. 

Nature-based solutions do not only deliver the performance from a functional and environmental point of view but also include the potential benefits for the society and the economy. In this way nature-based solutions bring together the three elements of sustainability: environment, economy and society, through the design of structures which are based on natural processes.’

When we look around our cities, how much grey, green and blue are we seeing? A pleasing balance is a very good sign of a plan in place that tries to bring Nature in as a partner.

I  was also thinking of our home gardens. To get more Blue in our back and front yards with natural collection of rain water instead of allowing it all to drain away.  There is a whole design element involved of bringing the water up and being used, instead of letting it drain. This is a topic to be looked into. Came across this article In My Backyard  on how we can design our homes to use Nature Based Solutions. We had removed the asphalt from our Driveway and used pavers instead so that is probably a terrible thing for CO2 emissions. It is clearly better to plant trees and allow the soil to develop biodiversity. Our own back yard can do carbon sequestration. Many topics here and of course need some action steps!


The work done by the Kew organization in South America is note worthy for creating a Manifesto for Nature Based Solutions.  

A 10 point plan for Gardeners to make a difference for the Planet in their own backyard! Something worth looking into is a Water Butt. Minimizing use of the main water is a something to look even though we have not experienced water shortage. Conserving water, collecting and deploying rain water smartly seems to be the way to go.

Would love to hear from the Real Gardeners in our group! Ravi, Pratima, Runi, Deepak!! Any others?



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