Nature-Positive Design and Development

A special issue of Urban Science (ISSN 2413-8851).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 September 2022) | Viewed by 41181

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
Interests: positive development and net-positive (i.e., eco-positive, nature-led) design and rating tools for increasing biodiversity; social justice by transforming built environments

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, enlightened businesses have been making commitments to become “nature positive”, “biodiversity positive”, or even “net positive”. However, these terms are used loosely, such as “value add nature” or “restore biodiversity to 2020 levels”. Progressive green building proponents have called for “regenerating” the environment for decades, but this usually meant only “more good and less bad” compared to contemporary buildings, practices or site conditions. In both sectors, definitions and standards are rubbery and often lack serious consideration of the “embodied nature” that accumulates across supply chains and lifecycles. Without whole-system gains in nature, its accelerating losses cannot be reversed.

Net-positive design and development was originally defined as that which increases (a) the “ecological base”, or natural life-support systems, and (b) the “public estate” or social life-support systems. Hence, a net-positive building or business would increase nature beyond pre-urban conditions, and improve environmental and social justice in the wider area. Criteria are assessed against earth-based, fixed baselines and benchmarks, instead of current norms or conditions (see netpositivedesign.org). With increasing usage, however, the “net-positive” concept is being weakened to mean, at most, “regenerating leftover spaces”, “making nature more resilient”, or “protecting existing reserves”. A critical examination of strategies and standards for increasing nature is therefore necessary.

Any proposed topics relevant to “nature-positive” or “net-positive” projects or products are welcome. The following are suggestions:

  • Concepts and definitions: How have, or could, differing definitions of nature positive, net positive, biodiversity positive, and similar terms using “positive”, shape specific frameworks and standards that would lead to better ecological performance?
  • Incentives and standards: How could certification schemes or other mechanisms be altered to incentivize socio-ecologically positive outcomes rather than, for instance, merely adding biophilic amenities or offsetting “more” adverse impacts?
  • Products and materials: Are there examples of products or production systems that go beyond closed-loop recycling? For example, can algae-based fabrics or mycelium-based materials (which need little land, energy, water or structures) be net positive?
  • Exemplars and assessment: Are there already buildings, infrastructures or products that meet the formal criteria for (net) nature-positive development? What issues arise in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of these projects?
  • Environmental-social justice: Most assessment tools only consider the wellbeing of project stakeholders and not social impacts on the region, such as segregation by class or wealth. Are there developments that achieve measurable gains in regional equity?
  • Dissemination strategies: What changes to professional education or design processes, methods, or tools (beyond rating, assessment or award schemes) could accelerate the awareness and adoption of net-positive sustainability goals and outcomes?
  • Whole-system accounting: There are arguably products already in the market that offset their own ecological footprint and replace harmful products. Yet, if displaced products end up as waste, a net public gain is unlikely. Can this “designed waste” be prevented?
  • Regulatory incentives: Since the majority of businesses have not responded to the nature-positive challenge, regulations or other policy levers are still necessary. What frameworks of governance or administration might be effective in bringing real change?

Prof. Dr. Janis Birkeland
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Green building rating tools
  • Sustainable design tools
  • Sustainable development strategies
  • Net-positive design
  • Nature-positive development
  • Urban design
  • Social inclusion
  • Building assessment
  • Design review processes
  • Regenerative design

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 6747 KiB  
Article
A Transformative Architectural Pedagogy and Tool for a Time of Converging Crises
by Amanda Yates, Maibritt Pedersen Zari, Sibyl Bloomfield, Andrew Burgess, Charles Walker, Kathy Waghorn, Priscila Besen, Nick Sargent and Fleur Palmer
Urban Sci. 2023, 7(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7010001 - 20 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3664
Abstract
The institutional frameworks within which we conceive, design, construct, inhabit and manage our built environments are widely acknowledged to be key factors contributing to converging ecological crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and social inequity at a global scale. Yet, our ability [...] Read more.
The institutional frameworks within which we conceive, design, construct, inhabit and manage our built environments are widely acknowledged to be key factors contributing to converging ecological crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and social inequity at a global scale. Yet, our ability to respond to these emergencies remains largely circumscribed by educational and professional agendas inherited from 20th-century Western paradigms. As the crises intensify, there is a compelling case for radical change in the educational and professional structures of the built environment disciplines. This paper presents a work-in-progress examination of an emergent architecture programme at Te Wānanga Aronui O Tāmaki Makau Rau/Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Aotearoa New Zealand. The program is within Huri Te Ao/the School of Future Environments, a transdisciplinary entity formed in 2020 to integrate research and teaching across Architecture, Built Environment Engineering, and Creative Technologies. The school itself is conceived as a collaborative project to co-create an outward-facing civic research platform for sharing ecologically positive design thinking across diverse communities of practice. The programme foregrounds mātauranga Māori (Indigenous ways of knowing), transdisciplinary systems, and regenerative design as regional place-oriented contributions to planetary-scaled transformation. We illustrate and evaluate a specific curriculum change tool, the Living Systems Wellbeing (LSW) Compass. Grounded in Te Ao Māori (Māori cosmology and context), the Compass offers a graphic means for students to navigate and integrate ecological relationships at different scales and levels of complexity, as well as affords insights into alternative foundational narratives, positive values, design strategies, and professional practices. This paper identifies four foundational factors for transformative pedagogies. The first factor is the value of a collectively held and clearly articulated vision and focus. The second factor is the capacity and commitment of an academic team that supports and values the vision. Thirdly, the vision needs to meet and acknowledge place-specific knowledges and values. Finally, the pedagogy should have an action research component founded in real-world interactions. While this research-based pedagogy is place-based and specific, we argue that these four factors are transferable to other learning institutions and can support critical pedagogies for social, cultural, and ecological wellbeing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Positive Design and Development)
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17 pages, 259 KiB  
Article
Identifying Limits in Domestic Law Delivering Net Ecological Benefit: A New Zealand Example
by Stephen Knight-Lenihan
Urban Sci. 2022, 6(4), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6040093 - 9 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1770
Abstract
Achieving a real net ecological benefit requires among other things legislative changes to existing environmental laws. New Zealand is one country undertaking such a review. The proposed new laws recognise a need to enhance the quality of the environment as a move away [...] Read more.
Achieving a real net ecological benefit requires among other things legislative changes to existing environmental laws. New Zealand is one country undertaking such a review. The proposed new laws recognise a need to enhance the quality of the environment as a move away from minimising harm. As such, this appears to be a move toward a Positive Development (PD) approach to environmental management. However, as this paper concludes, the shift remains incomplete partly because while science is used to inform the creation of policies, plans, legislation and regulation, this is only achieved up to a point. That point is where the socio-economic norms and expectations prevent the on-going application of what is required by science to address observable and quantifiable ecological degradation. The understanding and application of ecological integrity is used as an example of how this can result in legislation apparently enabling significant change and a possible net ecological benefit but failing in effect to do so. The article concludes that legislative changes can better frame the problem of on-going ecological decline within the dominant paradigm, and as a result, it may deliver benefits, but these will not be net benefits in the Positive Development sense. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Positive Design and Development)
21 pages, 3538 KiB  
Article
Nature-Positive Design and Development: A Case Study on Regenerating Black Cockatoo Habitat in Urban Developments in Perth, Australia
by Giles Thomson, Peter Newman, Dominique Hes, Jo Bennett, Mark Taylor and Ron Johnstone
Urban Sci. 2022, 6(3), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6030047 - 7 Jul 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 15898
Abstract
The benefits of ecosystem services to cities are well documented; for example, water-sensitive urban design to mitigate stormwater flows and purify run-off, the cooling benefits provided by tree shade, and psychological benefits of urban greening. Cities tend to displace nature, and in urban [...] Read more.
The benefits of ecosystem services to cities are well documented; for example, water-sensitive urban design to mitigate stormwater flows and purify run-off, the cooling benefits provided by tree shade, and psychological benefits of urban greening. Cities tend to displace nature, and in urban environments where nature exists it tends to be as highly altered ecosystems. This paper sets out how it is possible to regenerate nature in cities. We outline the principles of how to do this through a study on a new regenerative urban development in Perth, Australia, where urban planning is intended to support the regeneration of a bioregional habitat within the city. The authors, drawn from sustainability, property development and ecological backgrounds, describe how urban regeneration can potentially facilitate the regeneration of endemic habitat within the city. This builds on the original ecosystem functionality to provide an urban ecosystem that enables biodiversity to regenerate. Perth lies on the Swan Coastal Plain, a biodiversity hotspot; it is home to 2.1 million people and numerous endemic species such as the endangered Black Cockatoo. Low reproduction rates and habitat loss through agricultural clearing, fire and urban expansion have greatly reduced the Black Cockatoo’s range and this continuing trend threatens extinction. However, the charismatic Black Cockatoos enjoy passionate support from Perth’s citizens. This paper describes a range of strategies whereby new urban development could potentially harness the popularity of the iconic Black Cockatoo to build momentum for urban habitat regeneration (for the cockatoos and other species) on the Swan Coastal Plain. The strategies, if systematically operationalised through urban planning, could allow city-scale ecological gain. The authors suggest a framework for nature-positive design and development that offers multiple benefits for human and non-human urban dwellers across scales, from individual gardens, to city/regional scale habitat corridors. Collectively, these strategies can increase the capacity of the city to support endemic species, simultaneously enhancing a bioregional “sense of place”, and numerous associated ecosystem services to increase urban resilience in the face of climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Positive Design and Development)
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Review

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12 pages, 462 KiB  
Review
Future Options Redundancy Planning: Designing Multiple Pathways to Resilience in Urban and Landscape Systems Facing Complex Change
by David J. Brunckhorst and E. Jamie Trammell
Urban Sci. 2023, 7(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7010011 - 17 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2920
Abstract
Urban systems include complex interactions and interdependencies with adjoining landscapes and regions. The pressures of change are complex, constant, and increasing. Declining biodiversity, ecosystem function, social institutions, and climate change underwrite serious sustainability challenges across urban, peri-urban, and ‘natural’ landscapes. Urban and other [...] Read more.
Urban systems include complex interactions and interdependencies with adjoining landscapes and regions. The pressures of change are complex, constant, and increasing. Declining biodiversity, ecosystem function, social institutions, and climate change underwrite serious sustainability challenges across urban, peri-urban, and ‘natural’ landscapes. Urban and other human ‘development’ often results in environmental damage that drives the need for ecological regeneration and restoration. Integration of interdisciplinary urban sciences and landscape sciences can guide the design of regenerative pathways and nature-positive sustainability. Social perceptions, however, tend to promote a cast-back view that favors the old ‘locked-in’ policy that attempts to restore ‘what was’ the former environment or ecosystem. Often, however, these are no longer suitable to the circumstances and future pressures of change. If urban design and planning disciplines are to help society anticipate change, we need to move from primarily deterministic approaches to those that probabilistically explore trajectories to future landscapes. Urban science and landscape design can now provide future regenerative capacity for resilient and continuous adaptation. Ongoing sustainability requires urban and landscape designs that provide ongoing anticipatory, restorative, nature-positive capacity in the context of future change and pressures. Complexity, connectivity, and redundancy are important system attributes of social-ecological systems creating adaptive capabilities. A diversity of plausible future social-ecological system responses provide several response options and redundancy, with multiple pathways to alternative sustainable futures, enhancing our adaptive capacity. A diversity of feasible responses increases the likelihood of sustaining ecological processes under changing conditions. We propose Future Options Redundancy (FOR) plans as a useful tool for nature-positive design. FOR plans are a variety of possible pathways and alternative futures defined using the characteristics of a social-ecological landscape context. Foresight design capabilities recognize in advance, the accumulating circumstances, along with policy and design opportunities for social-ecological system transformation options in urban-landscape spaces, that are nature-positive—the mark of a sustainable regenerative society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Positive Design and Development)
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27 pages, 2988 KiB  
Review
A Review of Existing Ecological Design Frameworks Enabling Biodiversity Inclusive Design
by Cristina Hernandez-Santin, Marco Amati, Sarah Bekessy and Cheryl Desha
Urban Sci. 2022, 6(4), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6040095 - 16 Dec 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5304
Abstract
Built environment practitioners currently seek options and opportunities to respond to the biodiversity emergency. Biodiversity Inclusive Design (BID) is an approach to design that seeks to foster functional ecological systems, enable species’ persistence within the built environment and (re) connect people with nature. [...] Read more.
Built environment practitioners currently seek options and opportunities to respond to the biodiversity emergency. Biodiversity Inclusive Design (BID) is an approach to design that seeks to foster functional ecological systems, enable species’ persistence within the built environment and (re) connect people with nature. BID can support designers’ quest toward biodiversity positivity. However, design projects that prioritise biodiversity are sparse and are limited to ad hoc initiatives by individual champions rather than being standard practice. Frameworks providing a structured design process to achieve biodiversity positivity already exist, but they can be difficult to find, compare and navigate. Responding to calls to further develop the concept of Biodiversity Inclusive Design, we systematically analyse 15 design frameworks compatible with BID. We explore how existing design frameworks position biodiversity as a client. For each framework, we uncover the underlying rules, ideas, beliefs, design principles and proposed structure of the design process. Through a thematic analysis, we identify re-emerging concepts and themes underpinning BID. Nested within complementary design frameworks, we conclude by positioning BID as a set of parallel processes that specifically explore biodiversitys’ perspectives (needs, preferences) and how they interact with the socio-ecological system to give a voice to biodiversity within the planning and design process. Our paper formalises BID as a practice and identifies three core dimensions of design action and nine design principles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Positive Design and Development)
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29 pages, 868 KiB  
Review
Nature Positive: Interrogating Sustainable Design Frameworks for Their Potential to Deliver Eco-Positive Outcomes
by Janis Birkeland
Urban Sci. 2022, 6(2), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6020035 - 30 May 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5433
Abstract
Built environment design is implicated in virtually all socio-ecological sustainability problems. Nonetheless, paradoxically, construction will be essential to creating sustainability by increasing social and natural life-support systems. Given the rates of land, resource, water, and biodiversity depletion, urban development must do more than [...] Read more.
Built environment design is implicated in virtually all socio-ecological sustainability problems. Nonetheless, paradoxically, construction will be essential to creating sustainability by increasing social and natural life-support systems. Given the rates of land, resource, water, and biodiversity depletion, urban development must do more than restore nature. It must increase nature and environmental justice in real, not relative, terms. The necessary technologies and design concepts for nature-positive development already exist. However, most sustainable building regulations, design criteria, and performance standards only aim to regenerate landscapes and integrate more nature into cities. This cannot sustain nature or society. This paper canvasses contemporary sustainable design and development thinking and finds that a progression toward ‘nature positive’ is occurring. However, so-called ‘sustainable buildings’ still do not compensate for past inequities or nature degradation, let alone the material flows, pollution, or biodiversity losses they themselves cause. This is partly because current standards and measurements are based on existing conditions, not sustainability standards, and do not distinguish net-positive from regenerative outcomes. Positive Development (PD) theory provides a comprehensive alternative to conventional sustainability frameworks, planning analyses, decision-making structures, design paradigms, and assessment tools. This paper provides criteria for evaluating the potential of conventional and alternative methods for achieving nature-positive outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Positive Design and Development)
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Other

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11 pages, 2994 KiB  
Case Report
The MOVING GROUND Project: A Nature-Positive Case Study
by Nicholas Anastasopoulos, Penelope Iliaskou and Mariela Nestora
Urban Sci. 2023, 7(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7010019 - 6 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2300
Abstract
This paper is a report on the year-long MOVING GROUND project (MG), initiated by the Isadora and Raymond Duncan Dance Research Center (DDRC). The Duncan Dance Research Center sets out to address climate change issues interweaving the social, physical, and artistic spheres by [...] Read more.
This paper is a report on the year-long MOVING GROUND project (MG), initiated by the Isadora and Raymond Duncan Dance Research Center (DDRC). The Duncan Dance Research Center sets out to address climate change issues interweaving the social, physical, and artistic spheres by introducing the concept of a garden both literally and metaphorically to inspire the artistic community and shift mindsets of the local community. By a gradual transformation of its grounds, infrastructure, and social fabric, the long-term goal of the DDRC is to function as a tangible model that can be experienced and replicated as a whole or in parts in the city or elsewhere. The paper discusses the goals, methodologies and strategies introduced during the project aiming towards the regenerative transformation of the institution that drew inspiration from permaculture principles, nature-based solutions and a net-positive design perspective. The paper also discusses the novel experimentation of applying permaculture principles to artistic creation and practices. The paper concludes with a reflection of the outcomes and an assessment of the goals it set out to achieve. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Positive Design and Development)
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