ReNature took part in the 10th ESP World Conference 2019: "10 years advancing ecosystem services science, policy and practice for a sustainable future". The event took place in Hannover, Germany and welcomed about 800 delegates from 65 countries. The conference had a diverse program, featuring keynote speakers from the fields of ecosystem service science, policy and practice and was open for NGOs, environmental agencies, educators, policymakers, politicians and the general public....

This press release was written by ReNaturing Cities Summer School participants Marina D'Este, Nina Zarrineh, Letisia De Santis, Silvia Croce, Rocio Pineda Martos within a Science communication training session.  The first ReNaturing cities: Interdisciplinary Summer School brought together around 40 students and international experts from different backgrounds to discuss and outline innovative ideas for nature-based solutions in Malta. The Summer School took place from 30th...

Renaturing Cities: Interdisciplinary Summer School will be held from 30 September to 4 October 2019 in Malta. The event will bring together around 40 students and international experts from different backgrounds to discuss and outline innovative ideas for nature-based solutions in Malta.    Along with the insightful lectures that will be presented by the project's leading experts, ReNature's Summer School will carry out exercises assigned to the...

With the support of ReNature, a new open access book on ecosystem services in cities has been published! The book will be used during ReNature's training courses and summer schools as major helping tool. The open access book called "Planning for Ecosystem Services in Cities" presents current knowledge about ecosystem services (ES) in urban planning, and discusses various urban ES topics such as spatial distribution of urban ecosystems, population distribution, and...

The second ReNature training on nature-based solutions took place in Dublin, Ireland from 11 to 13 June 2019. Trinity College Dublin welcomed scientists, practitioners and students to a three-day training called "Mainstreaming nature-based solutions in planning and policy-making". The training began with a green infrastructure workshop in the form of a game for planning nature-based solutions in a real-world landscape. Mixed groups of students and experts had the task...

The first ReNature training course "Techniques and Methods in Biodiversity and Land Monitoring" took place between 7 and 9 May 2019 in Malta. The Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology (MCAST) welcomed over 30 students, researchers and stakeholders to a training on ecosystem services and green infrastructures, led by project partners and the ReNature research community. The training began with a workshop on the priority knowledge needs for nature-based solutions...

ReNature is happy to announce that the project’s first training course is taking place on 7-9 May in Paola, Malta to teach practitioners, students and the general public how to use techniques and methods in biodiversity and land monitoring. The training aims to provide participants with an understanding of ecosystem services and green infrastructure, give an overview of the main green infrastructure elements in urban areas in the Maltese Islands, and to identify methods that may...

What was ReNature up to in the past months, how did we get featured on national TV and what is coming up in the future - the ReNature newsletter can tell!  Our regular bulletin aims to make you part of the project's latest events, keep you up to date with exciting developments and inform you about upcoming meetings, workshops and trainings.  The first edition of the ReNature newsletter gave an overview of key facts and outcomes from conferences,...

ReNature was officially launched by the Minister for Education and Employment Evarist Bartolo during a press conference held on Friday 8 February at the Institute for Applied Sciences, MCAST, Malta. Project coordinator Dr. Mario V Balzan gave an overview of ReNature’s objectives and timeline of events, whilst MCAST Principal Prof. James Calleja and MCAST Deputy Principal Dr. Alex Rizzo also addressed the press conference and reiterated the college’s commitment to...

On January 22 - 24, 2019, around 90 experts met in Marseille, France, to promote adaptation and mitigation to climate change based on ecosystems and to facilitate their integration into national climate change adaptation policies. This workshop aimed to capitalize on the outcomes and "lessons learned" from projects that are being carried out in Europe and the Mediterranean by different partners across different ecosystems and develop and share knowledge about the role of...

The Nature of Cities presents the goals and future plans of ReNature in an article, written by project coordinator Mario Balzan. The need for improved use of nature-based solutions, which appears to be strongly felt by Maltese citizens, is a key driver for the project progress. Given the complexity of the environmental systems, which increase the risk of inadequate or contested decisions or of not properly implementing policies, a stronger knowledge and evidence base is considered as...

ReNature actively participated in the international scientific conference "Global and regional in environmental protection" (GLOREP 2018) in Timisoara (Romania)  through the oral presentation "Cultural ecosystem services as a bridge to future challenges for sustainable development" and the poster presentation "The productive, ecological and environmental functions of grasslands in agricultural landscape". The conference afforded a great opportunity...

by Mario Balzan, ReNature Coordinator With an area of just 316 km2 and a population of more than 475,000, Malta is the smallest member country of the European Union. The island state has been moulded through human action since the first recorded human settlement more than 7000 years before present. Today, more than 30% of the land cover consists of built-up areas and more than 50% is considered as agricultural. However, Malta is currently undergoing a rapid economic growth, increased tourist...

ReNature has been officially approved to receive funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 809988. The project will officially kick off with the first ReNature assembly, planned to take place on 25-26 October 2018, in Malta. ReNature will establish twinning between the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), and internationally leading research institutions from other member states to stimulate...