The ENABLE  project wins the BiodivERsA Prize for Excellence and Impact  

ENABLE project -Enabling Green and Blue Infrastructure Potential in Complex Social-Ecological Regions: A System Approach for Assessing Local Solutions Context Green and blue infrastructure (GBI) was funded under the 2015-2016 COFUND Call on “Understanding and managing biodiversity dynamics to improve ecosystem functioning and delivery of ecosystem services in a global change context: the cases of soils and sediments, and land- river and sea-scapes (habitat connectivity, green and blue infrastructures, and naturing cities)". This prize acknowledges the excellent, pioneering research performed in BiodivERsA-funded projects and showcases the achievements of projects that have produced excellent science with concrete impacts for policy and/or society. 

Green and blue infrastructure (GBI) has the potential to tackle numerous environmental and social challenges. However, the successful design and implementation of GBI requires careful consideration of a number of critical enabling factors beyond the biophysical infrastructure itself (e.g. user rights, accessibility, and ecological linkages). What exactly these factors are, how they interact with one another and when/how they influence the performance of a green or blue ‘solution’ are questions that require thorough investigation, in particular in complex socioecological systems such as cities. 

The ENABLE project investigated the factors that influence the realisation of green and blue infrastructure potential for a better living environment in cities. Focusing on the role of infrastructures, institutions, and perceptions, ENABLE used social and environmental justice together with resilience to assess the generation and distribution of ecosystem service benefits. The framework, developed by the researchers in consultation and collaboration with local stakeholders, was tested and applied in multiple European cities and offer a new baseline for understanding and unlocking green and blue infrastructure potential in urban areas. 

The Prize, awarded on a yearly basis since 2018, gives the opportunity to the winners to present their work in an animated video as part of the BiodivERsA Prize for Excellence and Impact.  

To this date, 4 projects had already won the prize: the URBES project (1st edition), the BUFFER project (2nd edition), the INVAXEN project (3rd edition), and the TALE project (4th edition). All videos can be watched on the BiodivERsA YouTube channel.