Organized by Wageningen University assistant professor Agnes Patuano the symposium ‘Public Outdoor Spaces and Covid-19’ addressed the question “How will the COVID 19 pandemic impact the use and design of public spaces, and how was it impacted by them in the first place?”

Mathias contributed with a talk on his view and research on nature-inclusive public space, with a focus on reclaiming ‘car-space’ in cities, in order to redefine integral blue-green-grey networks that boost quality of public space, while contributing to human health and well-being. Read his 1 A4 paper summary @ nextcity.nl.

The symposium brought together recent research from WUR, HvA, BOKU, Radboud University, Marie Curie University, University of Milan, Aeres University and Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina.

On May 27 Mathias will speak about his research and findings within his vision of the ‘Next City’ as a biodiverse and nature-inclusive city of the future. The lecture is part of the session on design consequences of integral nature-inclusvie building as part of the ‘Green as Building Material -ecological and nature inclusive design of the climate resilient city’ Two-day international virtual life conference on May 26-27 2021.

The aim of the conference is to investigate and discuss the value of implementation of Nature in the built environment. Nature offers a range of specific ecosystem services. Two examples of such services are provided by vegetation in form of mitigation of heat stress in cities through provision of shadow and evaporation of water, and retention of water during intense rain showers reducing risk of flooding. Ecosystem services can play an important role in designing current and future climate-proof cities.
In addition to aforementioned city cooling and water retention, many more useful ecosystem services can be provided by Nature. Further examples are cleaning of air, water and soil, and strengthening of biodiversity in the urban environment. Nature-inclusive cities are therefore healthier, more attractive, and thus overall more liveable.
The application of ecosystem services is particularly suitable for an integrated approach, i.e. solving multidisciplinary problems. In relation to latter this symposium also seeks answers to questions relevant in the field of ownership and regulations. Who is or feels owner(ship) of which specific problem and is willing to finance (a part of) integral green solutions? What is the status of current regulation with respect to (affording) city greening or is it necessary to further develop and implement nature-inclusive building legislation? Methods and strategies for implementing ecosystem services in the urban structure at different levels of spatial scale (roof, façade, street, living quarter) will also receive attention.
The two-day symposium is organized by the Sustainability group of the Material & Environment section, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Delft University of Technology, and aims to bring together representatives of governments, the creative sector, science, urban design agencies, and the supply industry.

On Monday April 12, Mathias will speak at th University of Amsterdam on ‘Nature inclusive building’: Dive into the Anthropocene an find out how the rapid growth of metropoles is not only a threat but also an opportunity to bundle forces and design a new generation of cities based upon the hypothesis of the Next City that provides Quality of Life – for all Species.

The lecture is part of the Master on Earth Sciences: Future Planet Ecosystem Science at the University of Amsterdam and its course ‘Metropole Ecology’ given by Prof. Judy Shamoun-Baranes, Dre Verena Seufert (VU).

“An increasing part of Earth’s terrestrial surface is taken up by urban and peri-urban land use, forming large agglomerates known as metropoles. These intensively-used areas are dynamic ecosystems with distinct properties, hosting particular species and communities, but also creating nuisances e.g. through invasive species or human-wildlife conflicts. At the same time, metropolitan ecosystems are pivotal in supporting human well-being, as over half of the global human population lives in cities, facing challenges related to e.g. air quality, heat, storm water, and space for leisure. Urban ecosystems can provide services to address some of these challenges. In this course we use an interdisciplinary approach to understand specific challenges and opportunities of an urbanizing world for biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and people. Specifically, we will learn about biodiversity, human-wildlife interactions, urbanization, human well-being, and the role of ecosystems and their services in addressing these challenges.”