Nature Based Solutions: The Contribution of Environmental Psychology in Addressing Strategies of Urban Transformation

Ricardo Garcia Mira (University of A Coruña)

This paper tries to address the methodologies that environmental psychology is able to provide in order to help cities in assuming the challenge of sustainability, reducing the impact of climate change with nature based solutions. Our work proposes methodologies consisting of the introduction of a system of indicators for evaluating the performance of environmental programs and would make it easier to evaluate the contribution of any policy. In a series of European cities these are being used to test policies at the National or European level. Some local governments are more active than others in assuming evaluation as part of the management system. Our work will discuss some variables that act as constraints or drivers to promote the adoption of more responsibility in using indicators for both identifying those cities which are "front runners" and those which can be "fast followers", and measuring the involvement and the willingness for assuming new and more transparent challenges. The conclusions are connected with our work within the framework of the CONNECTING project (2017-2020). This project also enables us to note the ways the science and policies are viewed and developed in the different international geographic, physical, and cultural contexts, both similarities and variations, as examination of these might help make both the science and the policies more sensitive, appropriate, and relevant.