ICLEI’s main activities in the project include: Taking the lead in transferring and customizing NBS, Co-developing NBS replication roadmap for FE, Co-developing the Urban NBS Plan along with the funding and investment strategies for FE, Co-developing the NBS implementation plan and opportunity-based implementation in FE districts and Launching a CLEVER Exchange Programme by organizing webinars, workshops, study visits etc. to ensure knowledge transfer. ICLEI will also ensure strategic coordination of communication and dissemination activities and Organize dissemination and knowledge brokerage events. These efforts will help to (i) advance the knowledge base on NBS for inclusive urban regeneration, (ii) integrate NBS in urban regeneration and planning processes, and (iii) produce governance, business and financial models for NBS projects.

Water should be a priority in the EU policies due to its importance for the economy, environment, and quality of life of the European citizens. ICLEI has created an alliance with 25 cities to prepare a framework for European cities with the objective of achieving a more coherent and thus more effective representation and visibility for water at the EU level. ICLEI aims to achieve this by supporting the implementation of the European Union water policy and the SDGs through sustainable water management at local level.

Local governments are leading the change to an integrated planning approach, in which protected areas are a fundamental component of both urban and rural landscapes. Innovative solutions at the local level are being applied to integrate local protected areas into municipal planning and territorial development strategies, as well as into local management systems. ICLEI is improving the conditions of local governments to conserve biodiversity through the effective and equitable management of protected areas and other area-based conservation measures. The project combines a multi-scale and programmatic approach, focusing on strengthening local level capacities and governance as well as the role of local governments in the effective management of protected areas and other area-based conservation measures within the four countries’ institutional and legal frameworks. Benefits and challenges are disseminated at the local, subnational, national and international level.

Through CitiesWithNature (CWN), local and regional governments are able to enhance the potential of nature to provide essential ecosystem services and solutions for the overall health of human habitats and urban areas. Through this platform, cities can engage, connect, learn, share, act, and inspire each other in the way of biodiversity and urban nature. ICLEI enables its local and regional constituency to access and influence global biodiversity processes and provides a one-stop-shop, or “big tent” under which projects, initiatives, and programs aimed at enhancing nature can be celebrated, shared, and promoted. ICLEI develops strategic global partnerships and the ongoing and continuous development of the various components of the CWN platform. CWN is recognized by the SCBD as the official vehicle for local and subnational governments to report their commitments and ambitions for the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

ICLEI provides awareness raising and capacity building to all spheres of government in mainstreaming biodiversity, through guidance on vertical and horizontal integration to ensure successful implementation of biodiversity strategies and action plans (BSAPS); clarifies the role and contribution to be made at national, subnational and local level; and provide practical technical guidance to national, subnational and local governments in 13 areas of action to promote integration, coordination and cooperation in developing and implementing National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans under the Convention of Biological Diversity.

ICLEI supports the sub-national governments’ initiative on achieving Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Aichi Prefecture called for a group of leading sub-national governments showing significant efforts for achieving the Aichi Targets. The initiative was established during CBD-COP13 in Cancun, Mexico in 2016 and joined by a significant number of sub-national governments. ICLEI supported its launch and is contributing to develop their joint activities toward COP14 and beyond.

The goal of this project is to mainstream biodiversity, nature-based solutions and ecosystem management, seek recognition for these as cross-sectoral tasks and integrated them in subnational Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans and sector plans in three model city-regions. ICLEI launched the four-year INTERACT-Bio project in three Global South countries: Brazil, India and Tanzania. ICLEI is using a co-creation and co-production approach to implement the project activities. Through the project, city-regions will align their planning with their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs), which are required by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Through strengthened cooperation between the different levels of government, subnational action in support of the NBSAPs is promoted and enabled. Such collaborative approaches will ultimately support nations to accelerate biodiversity goals.

Using empirical research, ICLEI is developing a framework and tools to assess changes in food-water-energy nexus, their related trade-offs and the building of innovative capabilities in cities for developing innovative solutions to the food, water and energy nexus and manage green and blue infrastructure at the urban level. ICLEI is supporting the development of frameworks and tools that guide urban governance on the food-water-energy nexus, delivering innovative solutions to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss, while advancing development goals from food security to job creation across cities worldwide. The project assesses the changes in trade-offs of food-water-energy nexus (FWEN) in green and blue infrastructure (GBI) and their association with spatial planning and governance in eight cities using empirical cases. This will provide a better understanding of the barriers that hinder innovative and integrated FWEN approaches using GBI at different scales; and look for the common features of diverse interventions.

Since 2008, ICLEI’s Cities Biodiversity Center (CBC) has convened successive summits as official parallel events to the Conference on Biological Diversity COP, to enable local and subnational governments engagement. These Summits have resulted in strong political outcomes, including the Quintana Roo (2016) and Sharm El-Sheikh (2018) Communiques, Nagoya Plan of Action on Subnational Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2011 – 2020), adopted at COP 10 in 2010, and of many decisions on local and subnational governments. Through these outcomes, ICLEI CBC has shaped a global policy environment that supports local and regional governments in their efforts to scale up and mainstream nature in sustainable urban development worldwide. ICLEI has also developed a dedicated website for local and subnational governments to advance the Action Agenda for Nature and People and the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and holds monthly informational webinars. The CBC supports the work of CitiesWithNature.

Through the project, ICLEI will support 20 cities, with emission inventories, targets and guidelines for mitigation. It includes preparation of an inventory of GHG emissions and atmospheric pollutants; future emission scenarios for 5, 10, 20 and 40 years, with reduction targets; institutional implementation strategies and inventory review mechanisms; and training of RMC technicians in the GPC methodology to allow the initiative to be internally replicated in the inventory review processes.