We are pleased to announce that our seed funding programme is yielding impactful results! One of the projects funded in 2022 has led to the publication of “Enabling Justice for Nature-Based Solutions in Real Estate Development.” The article was written by Helen Toxopeus, Katrin Merfeld, and Sophie Klein from Utrecht University, and Chayanika Perera, formerly of Utrecht University and now with WWF. The research was further supported by Juliette Bekkering from Eindhoven University of Technology.
What is it about?
Nature-based solutions (NBS) have emerged as crucial and promising interventions to realize resilient, sustainable, and climate-adaptive cities. One key approach is integrating them into real estate development. While real estate-related NBS – like green roofs, walls, car parks and pocket parks – are applauded for their benefits in terms of quality of life and real estate value, they are also at the core of justice concerns. If left unaddressed, NBS can lead to green gentrification and spark a wider justice discussion on distributional, procedural, recognition, and ecological justice.
This paper explores how to shift from a ‘win-lose’ to a ‘just’ implementation of NBS in real estate, by collecting qualitative data from Dutch real estate and NBS practitioners on projects that aimed for NBS integration into real estate while attending to (dimensions of) justice. Fifteen enablers are identified that support ‘just’ real estate-related NBS, clustered under four themes (government support, knowledge, community engagement and organizational management). Based on these findings, we propose managerial implications for ‘just’ NBS integration in real estate and avenues for further NBS research.
Seed Funding: Development of the publication
This publication results from the 2022 Seed Call: Circular and Inclusive Cities. The seed funding brought together an interdisciplinary team of Utrecht University and Eindhoven University of Technology and allowed the team to hire junior researcher Sophie Klein (Utrecht University) to support the project.
Want to know more?
This publication marks a step forward in understanding and implementing nature-based solutions in a way that promotes justice in real estate development. We hope this work inspires further research and practical applications, fostering collaboration among academia, industry, and communities. We look forward to seeing how these insights are implemented in real-world projects and how they contribute to the creation of just and resilient cities!
Published in: Enabling justice for nature-based solutions in real estate development,Nature-Based Solutions, Volume 6, 2024.