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A Chinese consortium has officially launched its activities as CLEVER Cities’ Chinese research team, with the aim of improving environmental quality, social inclusiveness, and sustainable economic development. Consortium lead Xi'an Jiaotong University hosted the kick-off meeting of the project “value-added and socially-inclusive nature-based solutions for regeneration of cities,” on 5 June 2019in the historical city of Xi’an. The team presented its vision of a healthy, green, and sustainable city and its plans to take a sustainable, inclusive, and environmental approach to regeneration of Chinese cities with nature-based solutions.

“China has lots of experience in the regeneration of cities and has made great progress in urban construction; we are glad to share this with the EU. In the meantime, we hope to learn from each other, to make our cities better”, said Professor Feng from Peking University.

The conference served as the official kick-off for the research teams, enabling them to exchange experiences and contribute their respective knowledge and expertise to the project.

Professor Du Jinfeng, who will lead the project in China at Xi’an Jiaotong University, shared its implementation plan and highlighted its research objectives and contents, such as the performance evaluation index system and the way in which the project’s working groups are interlinked. Project partners from Peking University, Tongji University, China Center for Urban Development, and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability also presented their objectives for the pilot neighborhoods they will be working with. This includes: a framework for theoretical and applied analysis of nature-based solutions for urban regeneration; a coupling mechanism for nature-based solutions and urban regeneration planning; a monitoring and evaluation scheme for nature-based solutions that regenerate cities; a business, finance, and governance model on nature-based solutions; and a roadmap to disseminate these solutions and actively cooperate between China and the EU. Common themes covered in all objectives included the establishment of active community participation and an emphasis on ecology and environment.

In order to ensure project feasibility and scientific soundness, the Chinese consortium also invited a panel of experts, who discussed the viability of the project, the opportunities and barriers to implementation, and gave constructive suggestions.

“This project is truly innovative, fulfilling the Ministry of Science and Technology’s new emphasis on exploring the use of science in support of policy”, shared Professor Han from Beijing Jiaotong University.