We’re mapping real-life examples of governmental and non-governmental organizations working with civil society to sustain and care for urban green spaces beyond construction. Join the global call for shared stewardship!
Think about it: after the ribbon is cut and a green space or tree-lined street is celebrated as complete – who keeps it alive? What makes the space vibrant, preventing neglect and vandalism?
It all depends on who uses the space, how it’s appreciated, and who cares for it over time. Here, the role of civil society is vital, as they are often the ones who give these spaces life through daily use, stewardship and commitment. Yet their contributions are often unseen, under-recognised or under-funded.
We are launching a global open call to highlight and disseminate good practice for co-governed urban green spaces – projects where the responsibility for stewardship is shared. We are not looking for governance models where green spaces are solely managed by public or private actors, nor where citizens are acting entirely on their own.
If you’ve been part of such collaboration – we are interested in a broad spectrum of representatives from a city officer, NGO representative, community member, or private sector partner and beyond – where civil society played a crucial role, we invite you to share your experience.
Civil society refers to individuals or groups of people who are not formally organized as an institution, but who participate voluntarily in caring for or using the green space.
We welcome examples that include, but are not limited to:
Your story can help others learn and reimagine how urban nature can be co-cared for with civil society – as a new model for shared stewardship.
* Only projects that meet the Open Call criteria and provide complete information will be published on the map.
** Your contribution will be considered for integration into an exhibition on Nature-based Solutions that The Nature of Cities (TNOC) is currently preparing under the Horizon Europe project NetworkNaturePLUS. The final selection will be made by TNOC.
*** Selected projects will be invited to participate.
**** Topics and schedule will be announced later on.
We follow ethical standards to ensure respectful engagement, accurate representation, and protection of participants and stakeholders, while safeguarding data privacy and security throughout this initiative.
By submitting your project and associated media (including photographs, images, videos, or other visual material) as part of the What’s That Green? Open Call, you confirm that:
Participation is voluntary. We will collect only the minimum personal data necessary to administer the project (name and contact details). Your personal data will be stored securely, will not be shared, sold, or transferred to any third parties outside the project team without your explicit consent. It will be stored securely, used solely for the administration of the Open Call, and will be retained only for the duration of the Open Call and related follow-up activities.
The text and media you provide will be publicly displayed on the Stewardship digital map. They may also be used for communication, dissemination, research, analysis, and future project outputs such as handbooks, toolkits, or reports. All publicly available content will be presented in English. This licence does not permit third parties outside the project to use it for commercial purposes.
If images contain identifiable individuals, you are responsible for ensuring you have obtained explicit consent (image release) compliant with GDPR and relevant national laws. This ensures lawful use, respects privacy, and protects personal data rights.
You may request the deletion of your personal data as well as project or image(s) from the digital map at any time by contacting: governancelab@whatisthatgreen.com. Removal applies to future use and cannot affect materials already published before the request.
Team: Elizaveta Fakirova, Beatrice Annalisa Egidi, Carla De Agostini, Aleksandra Igumnova, Hemant Rakh, Bettina Wilk.
We thank the members and friends of the What’s That Green? Community for their support in preparing this open call: Julia Micklewright, Jennifer Dunn, Anna Yukelson, Ludo Pitte, Luis Romahn.
Partners:
