The Greenkeys projects

The problem of abandoned and devalued urban areas is common among many European cities. The environmental, economic and social decline, which these areas often entail, requires rapid reconsideration and improvements as the lowering of the quality of life may not only spill over to adjacent neighbourhoods, but also the area itself does not need to be relinquished.

The cities are facing difficulties in finding an adequate solution to the main problem of how to apply methods of sustainable rehabilitation to redevelop and enhance the areas in the long term.

The European Commission has started the EU Community Initiative INTERREG III B CADSES (2005-2008), which focuses on increasing the sustainability of cities by initialising the endowment of green spaces. By means of that, local residents and medium-sized enterprises would benefit immediately, but the scientific and practical experiences gained during the projects are equally important as they will promote transnational cooperation in Europe and bring about further projects.

The key question posed by the GreenKeys project is: What are the tools and methods necessary for increasing the sustainability of urban areas by adding green spaces, given the fact that ecological, social and economical conditions are often mutually dependent?
Greenkeys focuses on the improvement of urban green spaces as a step towards more sustainable cities. The three main objectives are

  1. to provide incentives for structural changes in cities by offering opportunities for the enhancement of green spaces. Its 12 partner cities will, together with local stakeholders, develop a strategic approach for the pilot projects to create new or upgrade existing green areas to achieve more accessibility, social and recreational values and ecological efficiency. By the involvement of local activists, the political attention to the benefits of green spaces to urban environments will be increased. GreenKeys will support the implementation/evaluation of pilot projects in order
  2. to develop a “Pool of Green Strategies” (instruments, methods, concepts and good examples) based on the experiences being made to meet the demands of future needs and
  3. to use the synergies to promote the transfer of knowledge by a transnational network and, thus, foster the exchange of the particular national experiences.

In pursuing these goals, GreenKeys brings together 12 cities in 7 countries, 8 scientific supporters, external experts, design studios and NGOs, which participate through their own networks.

Home Contact Sitemap Disclaimer

e-glossary

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

P

Participation

Participation means the dialogue between citizens and local elected representatives, planers (1); it encompasses a wide range of ways in which different stakeholders can play a direct part in planning, preparing shared visions and decision-making process. Clark at al. considers participation fundamental to the practice of active citizenship (2).
Source:
(1) Recommendation 19 of the Council of Ministers to Member States on the Participation of Citizens in Local Public Life (2001) – http://www.coe.int (2) Alison Clark, Barry Percy-Smith. Beyond Consultation: Participatory Practices in Everyday Spaces – Children, Youth and Environments (16)2, 2006) – http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye
User: [Maria Samardjieva]

Pedestrian Streets

As one of the Urban Indicators for Healthy City Pedestrian Streets are defined as streets entirely used for pedestrians from which all vehicular traffic is banned (in kms steets / km2 surface area of city).
Source:
World Health Organisation http://www.euro.who.int/document/hcp/ehcpquest.pdf
User: [Maria Samardjieva]

Planning

A complex process with many meanings, all of which imply an ability to think ahead and organise actions and projects. Spatial planning, territorial planning and land-use planning describe the various statutory systems that exist for controlling and shaping the use of land in both urban and rural areas. Green planning means the planning process for green spaces and for the urban landscape.
Source:
LUDA-Project (www.luda-project.net), with an addendum from IOER
User: [Carlos Smaniotto]

Planning Documents

to be understood as all documents related to planning and implementation of projects and programmes in urban spaces. In GreenKeys context planning documents contain the following elements: spatial plans, strategies, conceptions for urban development and for urban landscape development and protection, detailed plans, planning Information and reports.
Source:
IOER, UPIRS
User: [Carlos Smaniotto]

Policy

A policy is a plan of action for tackling issues. It is often initiated by a political party in government, which undergoes reforms and changes by interested actors. Policy designates a process that includes the elaboration of programs by different, usually public and private collective actors and the way the programs are then applied as concrete programs and actions. Policies in short can be understood as political and administrative mechanisms arranged around explicit goals.
Source:
wikipedia.org
User: [Carsten]

Programme

A group of interventions often linked together over time and encompassing more than one project (in order to deliver a plan or part of a plan)
Source:
luda-project (luda-project.net)
User: [Carsten]

Protected area

"Protected area" means a geographically defined area which is designated or regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives.
Source:
Convention on Biological Diversity, 2000 http://www.cbd.int/convention/articles.shtml?a=cbd-02
User: [Maria Samardjieva]

Public access to green spaces

This Urban Indicator for Healthy City allows the surface area of green spaces per inhabitant to be open to the public (in m2).
Source:
World Health Organisation http://www.euro.who.int/document/hcp/ehcpquest.pdf
User: [Maria Samardjieva]

What is the e-glossary?

The e-glossary is a free, collaboratively written collection of words or phrases covering the issues of green spaces development and urban sustainability in the broadest sense. Anyone who is within the GreenKeys network can edit the e-glossary. Its purpose is to create common definitions and make them available as a quick reference for both the public and members of GreenKeys.

Do you have a term or phrase that has to be clarified? It’s easy to add a contribution to our e-glossary. Just fill in the form provided
 here .