URBESS - Nature based assessment tool for smart and sustainable urban planning

The focus of the URBESS Pathfinder Project is to investigate the feasibility of a service based on the integration of a suite of existing software tools that simulate the adoption of nature based solutions - specifically green infrastructure - in urban areas and estimate the multiple impacts and multidisciplinary interactions, with the aim at setting priorities for a more effective urban planning. The innovative aspect is the contemporaneous application of the three software packages to be integrated for a systemic approach with the aim at supporting and strengthening the confidence of urban planners and construction enterprises in making new sustainable interventions in the urban texture. The main goals of the project were: 1) to conduct a market scan to study and analyze in detail, opportunities, barriers, risks, competitors that the proposed approach/product can face on the market. Desk research, 1-to-1 meeting and a survey will be arranged in order to engage potential clients and stakeholders (i.e., city decision makers, urban planners, architects, water engineers) and collect feedback and directions to take into account in the development of the service according to the market needs. The study will be focused on Italy but also European city decision makers and urban planners will be engaged exploiting the Climate-KIC connections of the Urban Transition Theme network; 2) to make a strategic analysis by adopting the PEST&SWOT tool for understanding and reviewing the perceptions and crucial aspects obtained as outputs from all the aforementioned activities and by, finally, drawing a preliminary business model prior to making further decisions about the development and implementation of the service.