One Health in cities: what we’ve learned (and what comes next)

Written by Sofia Aivalioti for URBACT One Health is not new, but its implementation in planning and designing cities is both innovative and necessary. Most cities promote health through some often-disconnected angles: by mitigating adverse impacts of climate change, tackling biodiversity loss, or designing public space for active and healthy mobility. However, coordinated actions that […]

Green axes: where urban greenery meets active mobility

Written by Dennis Martínez In the face of climate change and urbanisation pressures, cities worldwide are rethinking their relationship with nature and wellbeing. However, this is no easy path, as they must tackle the complex challenge of redistributing limited public space to prioritise nature and healthy lifestyles. One urban planning instrument gaining traction is the […]

Turning Ambition into Action: Key Lessons from the EU Carbon Farming Summit

Originally published by Smart Carbon Farming “Authored by Gerard Don, Max Meijer, Caitlin Ball” Europe’s farmland holds immense potential – not just to store carbon, but to build healthier soils, more resilient farms, and a sustainable future for agriculture.  At this year’s EU Carbon Farming Summit – hosted by the CREDIBLE Project – policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, and farmers came […]

The case for healthier cities: How urban design shapes wellbeing

Written by Amy McCready for the Progress Playbook With more than two-thirds of the global population projected to live in cities by 2050, the design of urban environments is increasingly recognised as a critical factor influencing public health. From the placement of parks to the layout of neighbourhoods, urban planning decisions have far-reaching implications for […]

Advancing Regenerative Agriculture: Insights from the EIT Food Workshop in Parma

Regenerative agriculture is more than a farming method—it’s a path toward restoring ecosystems, enhancing soil health, and building resilient food systems. As climate challenges intensify, adopting regenerative practices has become crucial for ensuring sustainable agriculture and thriving rural communities. Against this backdrop, stakeholders across Italy convened at a transformative workshop in Parma to chart a […]

Beneath our feet: why soil deserves the spotlight

Soil is more than dirt—it’s the lifeblood of ecosystems, agriculture, and climate resilience. On this World Soil Day, we explore why protecting this vital resource is essential for a sustainable future. “Soil is home to more than one-quarter of our planet’s biodiversity. Yet, we know only 1% of this universe,” (FAO). Beneath our feet lies […]

Restoration for Resilience: Advancing Europe’s Ecosystem Recovery by 2050

Written by Jamie Coles Europe faces a critical environmental crisis: over 80% of its natural habitats are degraded, threatening wildlife, human well-being, economic stability, and the future of generations to come. Our societies and economies fundamentally rely on healthy ecosystems for services like clean air, water, food production, and climate regulation. The degradation of these […]

Urban Health: How cities influence chronic disease risk

We’re identifying and measuring the association between urban environment features and Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the HORUS project. How does the urban environment influence our health? Many factors related to our urban surroundings have an impact on our lifestyle choices, and therefore on our health. Studies show that up to 89% of our health is […]

Bax positions itself at the forefront of challenge-driven urban innovation with DUT partnership

Bax recently confirmed its commitment to progressing Europe’s sustainable urban future with the launch of a four-year collaboration with the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership. The DUT Partnership is an intergovernmental research and innovation programme supporting much-needed urban transformation processes across Europe. It aims to strengthen capacities and tools to make urban change happen and […]

Revitalising Barcelona’s industrial Besòs district through healthy urban planning

Barcelona City Council has awarded Bax the opportunity to create an urban redevelopment strategy for one of the city’s biggest industrial districts. The neighbourhood surrounding the industrial zone is one of Barcelona’s most deprived areas, with a life expectancy 12 years below more affluent parts of the city. Our strategy imagines an Innovation District that […]

Human-centric urban design and active mobility create liveable cities

Written by Jamie Coles Imagine a city. What do you see? Tower blocks, perhaps, cutting through the sky. Perhaps a grid of tarmac—streets choked with the droning of car traffic. But consider the spaces between these blocks—the parks that soak up rainwater to prevent floods, shaded paths that cool the air, mitigating urban heat islands. […]

Supporting the Netherlands to look after its most important resource

In collaboration with Arcadis and 10 other Dutch partners, Bax is supporting the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to advise on policy and implement projects on topics ranging from water accessibility to resource efficiency. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is responsible for much more than safe and accessible water. Its […]

Healthy Cities team win research award at international Healthy City Design Congress

Bax’s Healthy Cities team were invited to present at the Healthy City Design International Congress, showcasing their work on healthy city planning for more than 500 urban practitioners. The team’s work on the Healthy Cities Generator was awarded Best Research Paper of the Congress. Celebrating human-centred urban design The 2023 Healthy City Design International Congress […]

Reclaiming the Public Space for People and Nature

Originally published in ‘Mark and Focus: Building a Smart, Resilient, Nature-Based Future’, by Bax & Company’s Sofia Aivalioti. Cities are fascinating. They are the places where most of us live, work and grow. If cities are not designed for their people, then we are doing something wrong. What makes a city thrive? What makes a city […]

Making cities healthier, faster

The COVID-19 pandemic that has sent the world into lockdown has also affected, but not derailed, progress towards building healthier cities. In fact, it’s only under confinement that many people truly took stock of their living environment – their homes, streets and neighbourhoods – and appreciated the value of accessible green spaces. It was also […]

4 recommendations for successful blue and green infrastructure in cities

Our climate action project BEGIN (Blue Green Infrastructures through Social Innovation) just published its policy brief, which sets out four recommendations for local governments that aim to construct Blue and Green Infrastructure (BGI) in their cities. Co-authored by Dr. Jannes Willems (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Prof. Richard Ashley (IHE-Delft), Dr. William Veerbeek (IHE-Delft), Ellen Kelder (City of Dordrecht), and our […]

Create Blue-Green Cities through Social Innovation and International Collaboration

Blue and Green Infrastructures (BGI) comprises an approach to climate resilience for cities that mimics nature’s potential to deal with flooding. BGI supports existing grey infrastructure to cope with extreme weather events (reducing flood risk by 30%) and improves urban liveability. Research (TEEB, 2015) shows that BGI benefits outweigh costs by a factor of 2 […]

Creating a Global Center of Excellence on Adaptation; preparing COP22 and Climate summit

As requested by UNEP and on behalf of the Dutch government, Bax is supporting the creation of a Global Center of Excellence on Adaptation. State of the Art knowledge is to be deployed effectively to help the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through Creation Action (upstream) and Managing Direction (downstream), developing and financing climate […]