Socio-environmental justice - diversity in access to and benefits from green infrastructure and urban forests in Europe
Green Infrastructure (GI) and Urban Forests (UF) provide important ecosystem services for urban and peri-urban populations. However, particular sections of society such as the income deprived, the disabled and ethnic minority groups may not have the same opportunities and access to GI and UF that more affluent sections of society enjoy. They may also face exposure to more environmental risks and benefits less of the ecosystem services provided by UF and GI. To understand why, researchers have turned to the perspective of socio-environmental justice combining social justice (every individual is entitled to fair and equal treatment and equal access to rights and benefits) and environmental justice (the right to a clean environment, equally shared benefits from ecosystems and fairly distributed negative impacts of nature). The presentation will focus on socio-environmental justice related to cultural ecosystem services (CES). We will outline which sections of society (in a range of different European countries) have access to and benefit from accessing urban GI and wider GI and, more importantly, which sections of society do not have this opportunity. We will elaborate on barriers for accessing and using urban green space for less privileged groups, with a special attention to how cultural norms and traditions are related to use of GI and UF. Experiences from several European countries show how newly developed urban green spaces are less used than expected by social groups for which high needs for green spaces were defined. This demonstrates how studies towards distributional socio-environmental justice, that comprise the majority of studies related to use and access of urban green space, are probably not tapping into the major issue: traditional urban green space is not in line with the expectations of the targeted users. Finally, we will discuss the issue of eco-gentrification, or how introducing more accessible green areas into the urban tissue for underserved communities can lead to thriving those communities out of their neighbourhoods. The study has been conducted within the framework of the COST-action GreenInUrbs (FP1204).
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Socio-environmental justice - diversity in access to and benefits from green infrastructure and urban forests in Europe
- 1. Socio-‐environmental jus2ce diversity in access to and benefits from green infrastructure and urban forests in Europe Rik De Vreese, Liz O’Brien, Thomas Panagopoulos, Erdogan Atmis, Anton Stahl Olafsson, Tuija Sievänen, Michael Brennan, Tessa Hegetschweiler, Sjerp de Vries, Maren Kern & much more 19th European Forum on Urban Forestry, Ljubljana 03/06/2016
- 2. Socio-‐Environmental JusOce Social jus2ce Every individual is enOtled to a fair and equal treatment All people have equal access to rights -‐ in all aspects of life Environmental jus2ce Distribu2ve jus2ce: distribuOon of (dis)benefits Procedural jus2ce: fair access to decision-‐making processes (power) Interac2onal jus2ce: recognising & respecOng differences (~ cultural & demographic differences)
- 3. Barriers to accessing & using GI (1) Distribu2on of GI & rights to access Informal use of GI (private land, temporary, semi-‐public) Physical barriers to access (roads, fencing) Lack of (adequate) recrea2onal infrastructure/equipment greenways, benches, play equipment infrastructure adapted to disabled, older & younger too abundant infrastructure Low quality of the greenspace vandalism & misuse management safety
- 4. Barriers to accessing & using GI (2) Informa2on & knowledge Rights of access What is allowed? Which GI is accessible? What shoes do I need? Cultural norms VisiOng the (urban) forest ... ... is dangerous ... is boring ... is loosing Ome Mismatch between (potenOal) visitors wishes & actual supply Equipment AcOviOes Design
- 5. SecOons of society not visiOng GI Based on sample of surveys in different European countries, selected by parOcipants to COST FP1204
- 6. Tempelhof Berlin -‐ Green JusOce or Just Green?
- 7. Tempelhof Berlin -‐ Green JusOce or Just Green? 1. seaOng accommodaOon for relaxing & meeOng? 2. Large trees? 3. Smaller, enclosed areas for recreaOon?
- 8. Tempelhof Berlin -‐ Green JusOce or Just Green?
- 9. Tempelhof Berlin -‐ Green JusOce or Just Green? BBQ&picknick, talking, playing with kids (secluded) 27%9%Immigrants Picknick, seating, playgrounds 11%6%> 65 years Sport, sunbathing, playingNative Germans Preferred activity% district% visitors -‐> Eco-‐gentrificaOon?
- 10. Conclusions Inequal access to UF & GI (distribuOonal jusOce) Also in countries with everymen’s right Similar paderns around Europe -‐ older people & lower SES Informal access, informal use, temporary use, private GI Not only about “physical accessibility”, but also about “mental accessibility” (interacOonal jusOce) Tailor UF & GI to wishes & requirements from the future visitors Providing access to GI&UF is not enough Role for public par2cipa2on (procedural jusOce) Avoid eco-‐gentrifica2on (social jusOce)