Urban Nature Plans: Strategic Tool for Integrated Biodiversity and Climate Planning in German Cities

As cities grapple with climate risks and biodiversity decline, international policy frameworks increasingly position urban nature as a critical ally in building resilient and sustainable urban areas. The European Union's Biodiversity Strategy 2030, for example, calls on European cities to develop and implement ambitious 'Urban Nature Plans' (formerly 'Urban Greening Plans'). In this paper, we introduce Urban Nature Plans as a strategic planning tool and discuss potential pathways to their implementation, using Germany as an example. With more than 650 cities of diff erent sizes and with diff erent administrative capacities – many of which already have planning instruments sharing features with Urban Nature Plans – Germany provides a useful case to discuss the implications of introducing this new strategic approach. To contribute to the international discourse on Urban Nature Plans and wider discussions around integrated biodiversity and climate planning, we summarize findings from a German research and development project. The project included, among other aspects, a dialogue process with government organizations, professional associations, non-governmental environmental organizations, municipal representatives and other actors. During this process, it became evident that Urban Nature Plans should be understood as ambitious, integrated, and flexible strategies which are adaptable to local needs and capacities. A clear commitment from local politicians is seen to play a critical role in increasing the amount and quality of urban nature, promoting the participation of diff erent stakeholder groups and accelerating the implementation of related measures. While existing planning instruments such as open space plans and landscape plans can ful fil many of the Urban Nature Plan requirements, a new and targeted strategy could address gaps and shortcomings of existing approaches, such as a lack of integrated working methods, co-design approaches or monitoring mechanisms. However, the findings also highlight that cities have diff erent capacities for strategic planning and the implementation of measures, and that Urban Nature Plans need to correspond to these diff erences if they are to be more than a tool for larger cities and existing champions in sustainability across Europe.