Rivers crossing large cities bring along numerous benefits as well as challenges. Their importance, from a biodiversity point of view as well as for climate resilience, is growing, although sometimes undervalued due to other priorities. Bucharest, with its two crossing rivers, is a place where Dutch experience and expertise in nature-based solutions can prove again their value.
Beeld: © Parcul Natural Bucuresti
Romania’s capital city is crossed by two rivers: Dambovita and Colentina. According to experts, these two blue-green nature reservoirs are currently underutilised and hold a significant ecological potential.
In a past AgroberichtenBuitenland article an extraordinary activity related to the Dambovita River was shared, namely the efforts of the Vacaresti Natural Park Association to put the Vacaresti Park – where nature re-conquered the city – to the place where it belongs: a nature area in the heart of Bucharest with full protection status.
Bucharest Natural Park Association
With this mission already accomplished, our friends and partners of the Vacaresti Natural Park Association have transformed their organisation into the Bucharest Natural Park Association (APNB). With a greater ambition to protect, conserve, and promote urban nature in several other natural areas of the capital, among which the Dambovita Delta, Baneasa Forest, and the chain of lakes along the Colentina River (including the less known Petricani Meadow). An ambitious plan meant to expand the urban biodiversity network and collaboration for a greener, healthier, and more future-proof Bucharest.
LAN-BKR involved as partner
Following up on earlier activities, and aligned with LVVN biodiversity-related policies and ambitions, the LAN-BKR team decided to explore a possible Dutch contribution to this plan and in spring. Consequently, a first roundtable meeting of the now called “Bucharest blue-green corridor support initiative” was organised at the premises of SOS Children’s Villages (SOS) in Romania’s capital city, in cooperation with longstanding partners such as APNB and Business Development Group/Agri Edu Centre of Excellence.
This first meeting was the start of a dialogue on concrete issues, topics, possibilities and ways forward, to share Dutch expertise and experience with Romanian partners involved in the complex topic of urban blue-green corridors. The Colentina river, with its necklace of lakes, offers room for countless possible nature based interventions which could deeply transform the river, its neighbouring areas as well as the city as a whole.
Exploring NBS in a complex urban environment
The aim of the first meeting was to enhance dialogue and facilitate partnerships/collaboration among key stakeholders in order to develop and implement Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in selected areas along the Colentina river. These would lead to environmental improvements (in air and water quality, soundscape), biodiversity loss mitigation, more resilience to climate changes as well strengthening the needed institutional dialogue and community engagement.
As guidance for the discussion, the winners of the 2024 project competition on solutions for the Colentina lakes, namely the architects of Pelinu Projects – Beros Abdul Arhitecti Asociati, made a very interesting and content-full presentation.
The roundtable session has resulted in valuable ideas of cooperation, starting from existing initiatives and the extensive Dutch expertise in NBS for climate adaptation and nature restoration at city level – which could also serve as inspiration at national level in the future.
Link to green education
The kick-off took place intentionally during a symbolic week for Bucharest green education: the so-called “green week” – a week dedicated by all schools and high schools to environmental/sustainability activities and education. In a first collaboration between Zone College (Dutch green education college) and Harnaj College (agricultural college in Bucharest), a group of Dutch and Romanian students and professors performed a practical activity in the garden of SOS, namely the sowing of wild flora species, generously provided by APNB.
It is worth noting that, besides being a best practice model in community engagement, SOS has recently launched its SOS Children’s Green Hub – an initiative that aims at transforming its garden into a ‘living classroom’ for green education. And being located in the proximity of the Colentina corridor, it is an ideal place to share knowledge about the importance of blue-green areas in urban environments. Therefore, it is and will remain a relevant partner for LAN-BKR in urban greening/biodiversity activities, where also community involvement plays a role.
Main focus area: the Petricani Meadow
The initial discussions have led to a general agreement on the focus area: the Petricani Meadow. This nature area located in the north-eastern part of Bucharest and along the Colentina River has recently gained the status of natural park, also thanks to the efforts of APNB.
The final goal would to transform the Petricani Meadow, through NBS and building up on ongoing initiatives, into an accessible nature reserve for the local community and beyond, one that enhances biodiversity, improves water management, and contributes to urban climate resilience. For example, green islands could be used, to serve as nursing areas for birds or fish, but also as natural filters for water. Another goal is to create better awareness of the value of green and nature and to contribute to green education – an area where substantial Dutch-Romanian cooperation has taken place over the past years (nicely reviewed in the brochure “A decade of Dutch-Romanian collaboration in green education”).
Petricani Meadow is envisaged to become a showcase and a pilot for other parts of the green blue corridor. Eventually, if well managed, the Colentina blue-green corridor could have great benefits for the city of Bucharest as a whole.
Petricani Meadow
Stay tuned to find out how the project will unfold!
The coming weeks, in close cooperation with LVVN nature colleagues, the next phase will start. LAN-BKR team aims to enlarge and deepen its dialogue with current and future Romanian and Dutch parties and start concrete and practical exchange/actions along the identified cooperation lines.
Do you have any ideas/nature based solutions that could be relevant in the case of the Colentina blue-green corridor? Then we would love to hear from you BKR-LVVN@minbuza.nl.