Living Systems Care: Adaptive Maintenance for Urban Green-Blue Spaces

Urban green and blue spaces are living systems, but their maintenance is often based on fixed tasks, visual appearance and short-term contracts. This can reduce biodiversity, stormwater performance and long-term landscape quality.

KINO Landscape Architects in Estonia is developing a CUE Topic 2 project concept together with research expertise from the University of Tartu. Our aim is to develop and test an adaptive maintenance framework for biodiverse urban green-blue spaces.

The project could study:

• Maintenance needs of different green-blue spaces

• Current gaps in knowledge, equipment, responsibilities and financing

• Rain gardens, bioswales, infiltration areas and other stormwater systems

• Indicators for biodiversity, vegetation, drainage and water quality

• Municipal, contractor-led and community-supported maintenance models

• International case studies and pilot sites

Expected outputs could include:

• A practical maintenance guide

• A simple monitoring checklist

• Training materials for maintenance teams and communities

• A community-involved maintenance model

We are looking for research organisations, municipalities, maintenance organisations and landscape practices. We are open to building or joining a consortium and discussing possible coordination roles.