Cities today are on the frontline of global crises. Heatwaves, floods, biodiversity loss and growing social inequalities all converge in urban areas, where more than half of the world’s population already lives. By 2050, nearly 67% of people will be urban residents, intensifying the pressure on infrastructure, ecosystems, and communities. When crises strike cities, they impact millions at once – making urban resilience an urgent priority.

This World Habitat Day, UrbanByNature highlights how urban nature can provide essential solutions. Green and blue spaces cool our neighbourhoods, regulate water, store carbon, restore biodiversity, and improve the well-being of residents. But to make these benefits a reality, cities need more than awareness: they need capacity, tools, and governance frameworks to act.

Supporting cities with Urban Nature Plans

Through the UNP+ project, UrbanByNature is advancing a Capacity Building Programme (CBP) that supports cities across Europe in developing their own Urban Nature Plans (UNPs). These plans aim to halt biodiversity loss and enhance urban ecosystems, fostering healthier, more resilient communities.

UNPs also respond directly to policy drivers:

• The EU Biodiversity Strategy calls on all cities with over 20,000 inhabitants to prepare Urban Nature Plans.
• The Nature Restoration Regulation and related national strategies require cities to contribute actively to ecosystem restoration.
• Berlin Urban Nature Pact: Outlining 28 measurable targets to guide cities in reversing biodiversity loss and fostering nature-positive environments by 2030.

The CBP will guide cities step by step in this process, offering knowledge resources, peer exchange, and practical methods for embedding nature-based solutions into urban planning. Developed as a living programme, the CBP will evolve between 2025 and 2026 in direct response to the needs of participating cities.

Making urban nature the norm

UrbanByNature’s mission is to make nature the norm, not the exception, in cities. By equipping local governments and practitioners with the skills and confidence to act, the programme ensures that cities can move from vision to implementation.

This World Habitat Day, UrbanByNature invites cities and stakeholders to take part in this journey. Together, we can mainstream urban nature as a foundation for climate resilience, biodiversity recovery, and healthier, more liveable communities.

Explore the UrbanByNature UNP+ Capacity building programme.