C BBIN O RRT N IIONN NE GGC C III T NNT IN IGGE G SCL N II A FT T EI U E R S E T – O LIFE, A collaboration between Trinity’s School of Natural Sciences, Trinity Business School and Trinity Centre for Social Innovation providing nature-based solutions. A very large proportion of the human population now lives in urban areas, and the remainder are heavily influenced by the dominance of cities and towns globally. All human communities are now urbanised to some extent. Furthermore, in order to accommodate the global urban population expected by 2050 we will have to increase our cities by up to 30%. This growth of cities and urban living has By Dr Marcus Collier, Assistant Professor of Botany at Trinity resulted in a significant altering of the planet’s ecosystems and their services. We are hearing, on a daily basis, about the problems caused by climate and environmental changes and especially how these are augmented in cities and urban areas, so Connecting Nature was devised to address this using nature as a form of technology. In Connecting Nature , we recognise that nature and natural processes can provide solutions to climate pressures in cities. We see co-creation and innovation as key pathways to modify our unsustainable behaviour. This is the essence of the ‘nature-based solution’ approach. Read more. What are nature-based solutions? There are several definitions, but the consensus is that nature-based solutions are those solutions that are inspired by and support nature, that are cost effective, and that are capable of providing multiple co-benefits, especially in cities. These co-benefits include providing environmental services (such as clean air and water, pollution control, and carbon sequestration), improving ecological services (such as increased biodiversity and habitat restoration), and promoting social and cultural services (such as improved health and well-being, cohesive communities, and social innovation).
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