Ein Steg führt durch Natur und Sträucher im Kienbergpark in Berlin

Parks

Ecosystem services of urban parks

As part of the GartenLeistungen project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Grün Berlin is recording and evaluating the ecosystem services of parks and generating knowledge for sustainable urban land use.

Parks, green spaces and urban gardens are important for the urban climate, biodiversity and quality of life in cities. The many functions of urban green spaces are summarised under the term ecosystem benefits. These include:

supporting services (soil formation, nutrient cycling)
providing services (provision of food, wood, biomass, drinking water)
regulating services (climate regulation, water retention, air pollution control)
cultural services (health, well-being, aesthetics)

About the project

Despite their great contribution towards an inhabitable city, parks and urban gardens often compete in practice with other land uses. The BMBF-funded project GartenLeistungen (2019-2022) is therefore investigating how the many ecosystem services provided by urban parks and gardens can be systematically recorded and incorporated into policy decisions. In the project, eleven partners from science, practice and administration are conducting research in the model cities of Berlin and Stuttgart.

Within the framework of the project, Grün Berlin is conducting two real laboratories in Park am Gleisdreieck and in Kienberg Park and is supporting the transfer of the research results to politics and administration.

Labs

Real-world laboratories are a new format for citizen participation that focuses on concrete participation in practice. They are specially created experimental spaces and offer a place to try out and develop ideas for dealing with key challenges in parks, such as increasing utilisation pressure or climatic changes.

Der Blick auf die U-Bahn Brücke, welche durch den Gleisdreieckpark führt.

Gleisdreieck lab - a place for people and animals to linger

The Park am Gleisdreieck faces the challenge of maintaining the park's ecosystem services in the long term despite intensive use. The area is constantly exposed to damage from vandalism and littering, the recurring removal of which involves a great deal of effort. In addition, the effects of climate change with prolonged drought and heat stress are causing problems for the vegetation and visitors.

Schafe unter einem Baum auf einer Wiese.

Kienbergpark lab - Live and let live in the forest and meadow

In Kienbergpark, the focus was on nature conservation and nature observation. Many users are already active in the park who are dedicated to these topics and gardening is carried out together with local residents in the participatory garden of the Environmental Education Centre (UBZ).

Transfer of the research results and conclusion

At the final event of the GartenLeistungen project at the visitor centre in the Gärten der Welt on 13 May 2022, the results of the research project were presented to interested representatives from the green space maintenance sector. Street and green space authorities in particular hope that the use of the key figures will increase the importance of green spaces in the urban fabric.

The GartenLeistungen project identifies key potential for the sustainable development of green spaces in the city. Especially in the wake of climate change and in times of crisis, citizens are increasingly dependent on the services provided by parks and gardens in the city. The project participants identify a good supply of green spaces with sufficient resources as essential for individual well-being.

More information on the project at www.gartenleistungen.de

Funding

Federal Ministry of Education & Research

FONA Social-ecological research

RES-Z

Funding period: April 2019 - June 2022 (funding reference 033W107H)