Provincie Gelderland SDG-Challenge '24'25
How can the Province of Gelderland encourage housing corporations (and residents) to green roofs and balconies?
This with the aim of increasing biodiversity, reducing heat stress, and contributing to a healthier living environment. Increasing greenery in urban areas strengthens biodiversity, fosters social cohesion, and improves the overall livability of cities. People tend to feel more at ease and experience less stress in green environments. Unfortunately, the amount of green space in urban areas is decreasing. With this in mind, the Province of Gelderland is exploring how housing corporations and residents can be motivated to green their roofs and balconies.
The challenge consists of both a desk study and a case study. The desk study will involve investigating how balconies can be made more green from a practical point of view, with a focus on how to do this within people’s means. Besides doing desk research, interviews with residents can also be held for this phase. Besides that, we would like the students to perform a case study with housing corporations to investigate the possibilities of vertical integration of greenery on tall buildings. A few aspects we think might be relevant: the construction of the building, which type of plants, and how are the plants getting water.
In the end, we would like to have an overview of the necessary conditions in order for vertical greenery to become more publicly available.
About Provincie Gelderland
The province of Gelderland lies in the east of the centre of the Netherlands. In terms of area (5,137 km2) it is the largest of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. Gelderland’s 51 municipalities are home to 2 million inhabitants. The region has a varied landscape with forests, large rivers and rural areas. You will also find modern urban hubs such as Arnhem, Nijmegen and Wageningen with international secondary schools and universities supporting the knowledge-based economy.