Current State and Future Prospects of Green Infrastructure in Slovakia Umeå

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Current State and Future Prospects of Green Infrastructure in Slovakia

Umeå Universitet

Name: Daniel Uher Supervisor: Erika Sandow

Course: Spatial Planning and Development

University: Umeå Universitet, Department of Geography Level: Magister thesis

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Abstract

Rising urbanisation, global warming and climate change are posing a threat to the environment. This work is dedicated to green infrastructure as a concept that is helping to mitigate the negative effects on the environment. Focus will be held on Slovakia and its progressiveness in the field of green infrastructure. The aim of this thesis is to find whether there are any obstructions in the process of the development of green infrastructure and also, analyze and evaluate the current and past projects and strategies to reflect how Slovakia has progressed in this field in the past 10 years. As a method, qualitative method of structured interviews has been selected. The interviews were conducted with four experts within the field of green infrastructure in Slovakia. Multiple obstacles have been found that propose negative influences on the implementation of green infrastructure. The major obstacles are the slowly adapting legislation, ownership relations, undersized funding and lack of documentation. The prioritisation of the grey infrastructure instead of green and blue is also present, as well as the insufficient awareness of the general public about the benefits of green infrastructure. Slovakia's progression in the theoretical aspect of green infrastructure could be perceived as positive over the past 10 years. Multiple adapted strategies, either from the European Union or Slovakia's own, represent the improvement as well as the terminology that is more included in the law and policies. From an empirical standpoint, it is not possible to evaluate the progression, due to the complexity of green infrastructure and a lack of documentation. Multiple issues are affecting the state of green infrastructure in Slovakia, however, it seems that Slovakia could be on the right track into the future. By addressing these issues, Slovakia could strive for a more sustainable environment and development in the future.

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List of figures

FIGURE 1: Visualisation of three pillars of sustainability ... 18

FIGURE 2: The Planner's Triangle ... 18

FIGURE 3: Green roofs with street greenery in Osaka, Japan ... 22

FIGURE 4: Public park in Hong Kong ... 22

FIGURE 5: Residental area in Edmonton, Canada ... 22

FIGURE 6: Vertical garden in Tokyo, Japan ... 22

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1 Introduction

Spatial planning implicates the ways in which people shape and govern spaces whilst taking social, economic, and environmental issues into account (Van Assche et al., 2016). Planners can also work and nurture better urban design, smart growth, sustainable developments towards the environment through low carbon developments, alternative transportation solutions or building more resilient cities (LeGates & Stout, 2016). Both urban geographers and urban planners have long shared mutual interest regarding planning, cities and land use. They also contribute to research on the design and usage of green space and green infrastructure (Benton-Short et al. 2019).

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6 According to the International Energy Agency (2011) report, cities are responsible for more than two-thirds of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. For the upcoming century, climate change scenarios predict that urban regions will be tackling extremes in rainfall, temperature, increased storm frequency and intensity, and also rising sea-levels. The current problems of urban areas, mentioned above, may already be indicating that climate change has impact and, it is likely to worsen in the future (Foster et al. 2011). Ecologically sustainable cities could be developed by understanding and applying wide-scale alterations of the physical habitat, legislature and cultural perceptions and that pose a challenge as it is an ambitious goal (Niemelä et al. 2011). By Benedict and McMahon (2002), to reach environmental, social and economic sustainability, green infrastructure will be essential with its ecological framework in achieving this natural support system. More extensive development of green infrastructure would help with the mitigation of negative effects of urbanisation and climate change. By Andreucci (2013), spatial planning is one of the most effective ways to build up green infrastructure.

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7 infrastructure is present in multiple disciplines such as geography, ecology and urban planning (Benton-Short et al. 2019).

Nowadays, more and more countries are investing heavier into green infrastructure development and maintenance, and are also part of programmes with a goal of enhancing green infrastructure in the future. The results of green infrastructure are a variety of positive effects for people and nature – they are undeniable where they are prioritized and well-executed (Kambites & Owen, 2006). Multiple countries, municipalities and cities, have established programmes to support the growth of green infrastructure in their regions. For instance, the city of Brno in the Czechia, allocated in December 2018 a little over 700 000€ to partly cover expenses of green roofs development for the year of 2019. The aim of the programme was to initiate the development of green roofs with the goal towards sustainable development alongside lowering the CO2 emissions and to enhance water retention (Statutární město Brno - Odbor životního prostředí MMB, 2018). Programmes similar to the one implemented in Brno, Czechia are more common nowadays and are likely to grow in the future. Currently, widely discussed is also the concept of blue infrastructure and its cooperation with green infrastructure. Blue infrastructure is representing landscape elements that are linked to water, for instance, rivers, ponds, pools and more (Flemish Land Agency, n.d.).

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2 Aim & Objectives

2.1 Problem identification

The current rising urbanisation in cities is among other influences putting a huge strain on the environment. Implementing green spaces as a part of green infrastructure can help with the mitigation of these negative effects. Within urbanised areas, green infrastructure can also help by adapting cities to global warming. Even though a lot of research has been undertaken and many articles have been written, this field is to this day relatively new. Therefore, awareness about its functionality and benefits could be still insufficient in many countries. This thesis is focused on Slovakia and its advancement in the field of green infrastructure.

2.2 Aim

The main aim of this thesis is to explore and analyze the past and current situation in the field of green infrastructure within Slovakia. Focus will be held on the case of Slovakia's progressing with the implementation of green infrastructure.

2.3 Objectives

1. Are there some obstacles in creating and maintaining the elements of green infrastructure in Slovakia?

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3 Disposition

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4 Methodology

The methodology part is focused on a research method that has been used during the process of gathering information about green infrastructure in Slovakia with the intention to fulfil the demands of the aim and research questions.

The method chosen is qualitative data collection in the form of conducting interviews with individuals that possess extensive knowledge in the analysed field. Four structured interviews were conducted with the green infrastructure experts based in Slovakia. These interviews were conducted using an interview guide. Therefore, each interviewee has been given a predetermined set of

questions (Kumar, 2011; Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Every person was given the same set of questions through an e-mail with the option of stating their opinions either in a written manner or via a phone call conversation. The interviewees are professionals, all engaged in the field of green infrastructure in Slovakia, two of which are mainly in the academic sphere and the other two are directly working with the green infrastructure. They are experts in their fields, active in the sphere of green

infrastructure, their credentials and their work is specified in the next paragraph, arguing that this is why their opinion is very relevant in this thesis. Besides Mr Tóth that prefered interview trough the phone call, every interview was conducted through e-mail. The answers represent their subjective expert opinion underlined with numerous years of experience within the field.

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12 The second interviewee from the academic field, Mr Ing. Attila Tóth, PhD. works at the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra as well, as an Assistant Professor of Landscape

Architecture at the Department of Landscape Architecture (KZKA).

The third interviewee is Mr Ing. Štefan Lančarič, PhD. who directly works within the field of green infrastructure for the city of Nitra. More specifically, he is the Officer for the planning of residential greenery at the Department of Urban Design and Architecture in Nitra.

Last, but not least, an interview was conducted with Mr Mgr. Robert Jurko. Mr Jurko is a business manager in the LIKO-S, a.s., international company that constructs vertical gardens, green roofs and more, and, recently finished the project LIKO-Vo, first “living” hall in the world, near Brno, Czechia.

List of the given questions to the interviewees:

1. To what extent is Slovakia progressive in the field of green infrastructure?

2. Are there any obstacles in the expansion and development of green infrastructure in Slovakia? Could you provide an example?

3. Are there any municipalities/cities that are sticking out from the rest, either positively or negatively?

4. How are the Slovak citizens aware of the purpose and benefits of green infrastructure?

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13 The presentation of results with actual identities of interviewees has been selected due to the fact that they are all immersed in the field of green infrastructure and can be considered as a few of most knowledgeable in this field within Slovakia. Anonymous interviews would not possess the same value of competence in this regard. The final step in the methodology part of this thesis was to collect and evaluate presented data as well as interview outcomes. These interviews are serving as a cornerstone in this analysis as the evaluation is based on them, as well as the answering of the research questions.

4.1 Limitations

The questions for the structured interviews have been formulated in the first parts of the writing process and therefore, they have been structured based on limited knowledge. It was

acknowledged and pointed by one of the interviewees that at least two questions are formulated very broadly and therefore it could be perceived by every interviewee differently. This thesis does not offer a review or summary of examples of actual projects of green infrastructure in Slovakia. It is due to the complexity of the concept and also, the structure of this thesis and time limitations, for which the qualitative research has been seen as a better fit for this work.

4.2 Ethical considerations

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5 Background

5.1 Effects of growing urbanisation

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15 increased density of people. Urban areas could be identified as cities, towns or conurbations – multiple different metropolitan areas, suburbs included which are interconnected although this term is not usually extended to rural settlements, for example, villages and hamlets. By Maddox et al. (2017), the cities, as we know them by their design and how we live in them, are going to be the key struggle for sustainability and therefore, our future. Cities are growing, more and more people choose them as a place to live in and therefore, the purpose of urban design and city-building is progressively more important. These could, later on, determine the effects and outcomes of long-term challenges of sustainability, resilience, justice and more.

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16 5.2 Ecology and urban planning

According to Rees (1997), there is a need for an urban ecology to converge with human ecology to achieve global ecological sustainability in our growing cities. Understanding of the connection between ecology and human society in urban areas is crucial in a sustainable

environment. By Niemelä (1999), the knowledge of human society, based on the knowledge of their structure and function would benefit ecology. And vice versa, planning and social sciences would benefit from the understanding of the ecology in urban systems.

Underlying ideas of landscape ecology are relevant to the green infrastructure with the goal of sustainable cities include multi-scale approach with a recognition of pattern and process

relationships and, the importance of physical and functional connectivity (Ahern, 2007). The fundamental aspect that contributes to ecosystem health and resilience is the preservation of biodiversity. Above mentioned is directly associated with the degree of connectivity between the areas where species live and the size of the habitats. The loss of this connectivity is nowadays caused by a long process of habitat fragmentation due to the development in transport infrastructure, urbanisation, generation of energy and more. It has negative effects on the species and ecosystem survival (Andreucci, 2013).

5.3 Sustainable development

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17 concept of 'needs', where the overriding priority should be given to the essential needs of the

world's poor. The second concept is about limitations which could be established by the state of technology and social organisations on the environment's competence to fulfil the current or future needs (WCED, 1987). As mentioned, the term sustainable development has a wide range of

meanings, where every participant such as big businesses, governments, environmental activists and social reformers would have their interpretation of the meaning of sustainable development

(Giddings et al. 2002). By Blewitt (2015), “Sustainable development is about protecting and conserving the planet's natural environment and promoting social equity and a degree of economic equality within and between” (p. 16).

As this term reaches a broader audience, more institutions recognise sustainability development as a major policy goal, there is a need to continually critically reflect on the

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18 Figure 1: Visualisation of three Figure 2: The Planner's Triangle.

pillars of sustainability. Source: Campbell, 1996. Source: Elliott, 2013.

At Figure 1, the middle of interlocked circles represents the principles of sustainable development. These circles are emphasizing the objective of sustainable development as a role of seeking to maximise the beneficial outcomes across all three spheres (Elliott, 2013). A similar representation of sustainable development comes with Campbell's (1996) representation of The Planner's Triangle that can be seen in Figure 2. Campbell presents the theory of The Planner's Triangle, which forms three main goals for planners: Overall economic growth and efficiency, environmental protection and Social justice, economic opportunity, income equality. Campbell (1996) argues that the middle of this triangle is “Green, profitable and fair” and for planners, the middle should be the ideal of sustainable development. This triangle emphasizes the strong conflicts within the spheres of economic growth, environmental protection and social justice where no point can exist alone. The underlying nature of the triangle is a mutual dependency, based the same on the opposition as on the collaboration (Campbell, 1996).

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19 satisfy representations of every sphere, but it is not impossible. Green infrastructure could be one of the leverages which could be used in achieving sustainability even if located more in the natural and environmental sphere. I argue that some rightly used parts of green infrastructure that are

interconnected between each other are “Green, profitable and fair”.

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20 5.4 General practices within green infrastructure

5.4.1 The definition of green infrastructure

The term green infrastructure has been used since the 1990s, whilst just recently it has become adapted in Europe on a large scale. Therefore there have been many green infrastructure initiatives in the past but have not been labelling themselves like that, at least not initially (Naumann et al. 2011). Benedict and McMahon (2006) have presented their definition of green infrastructure as “An interconnected network of natural areas and other open spaces that conserves natural ecosystem values and functions, sustains clean air and water, and provides a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife. Used in this context, green infrastructure is the ecological framework for environmental, social, and economic health— in short, our natural life-support system.” (p. 1). Green infrastructure is typically included within the urban greening process (Beuchamp & Adamowski, 2013).

According to Yong (2015), plants are the foundation of all life on earth and are serving as the main resource for human well-being. In the urbanised areas, the integration of greenery into previously unfavourable areas can carry out a transition into more liveable spaces. They are a backbone of a well-functioning global ecosystem due to their role of natural resource providers, environmental moderators and natural pollution filters. By Benedict and McMahon (2006), in order to be environmentally healthy, studies have presented that at least 40 percent of areas should be covered with trees. This percentage is hard to fulfil in many urbanised areas.

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semi-21 natural areas and features to people by delivering ecosystem services (Naumann, 2011).

Multi-functionality is one of the main traits of the green infrastructure. It represents the ability to perform several functions that provide multiple benefits within the same spatial area. These functions can be environmental, social and economic. Environmental aspects are for instance conserving biodiversity and adapting to climate change, social such as providing water collections and drainage and,

economic as raising the prices of properties, supplying jobs (Andreucci, 2013). Substitutability with grey infrastructure represents that green infrastructure has the ability to replace some of the

functions of grey infrastructure e.g. flood defences, water treatment and pollution control structures and recreational infrastructure (Naumann, 2011). In recent thinking, to achieve urban sustainability and resilience, the combination of green infrastructure and technologies with the traditional grey infrastructure have been found as ‘best practices’ at the local level (Foster et al. 2011). Lastly, co-ordinated interventions represent human input into green infrastructure which are aimed to protect, enhance, maintain, regenerate and more (Naumann, 2011).

Green infrastructure is a complex concept which could be represented by a wide range of

greenspace elements. By Coutts and Hahn (2015), green infrastructure can consist of national and neighbourhood parks, forests, parkways, gardens that with many more forms are part of both, private and public components of the natural landscape. One the one hand, urbanised areas

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22 Figure 3: Green roofs with street greenery in Figure 4: Public park in Hong Kong.

Osaka, Japan. Source: Author. Source: Author.

Figure 5: Residential area in Figure 6: Vertical gardens in Tokyo, Japan. Edmonton, Canada. Source: Author.

Source: Author. 5.4.2 Scale

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23 green infrastructure. The conditions should influence the planning of green areas, for instance, the consideration of different types of vegetation, and the sustainability of needed maintenance. The terms of planning could be different, not every city can plan the same types of open spaces and parks because of different geographies and environments dependent on the location (Benton-Short et al. 2019). Components of green infrastructure include a range of ecosystems, both natural and restored ecosystems and also landscape features that form a system of hubs and links. Hubs anchor networks of green infrastructure, providing starting points and destinations for the wildlife and ecological processes. Links are tying the system together and are enabling the green infrastructure to work (Benedict & McMahon, 2002). The impact of benefits is connected to the size of the scale and connectivity of green infrastructure and therefore, the larger the size and the connectivity, the greater benefits are provided (Tóth, 2018).

5.4.3 Benefits

The aim of green infrastructure is to create a multifunctional network of green spaces with a positive effect of providing various benefits as environmental, social and economic to the limited and still growing urban areas (Pauleit et al. 2017). The benefits of green infrastructure are undeniable where they are prioritized and well-executed. Results are a variety of positive effects, for both the people and nature alike (Kambites & Owen, 2006). Nature-based solutions and green infrastructures such as green roofs, rain gardens, and bioswales are reducing local flooding, discomfort and

economic losses during storm events with medium or frequent return periods (Kabisch et al, 2017). Slovakia alone had loss of a 1332 million EUR (2013 EUR value) from the climate extremes

between the period of 1980 to 2013 (EEA Report, 2017).

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24 Environmental quality, the ecological footprint, and climate change; 3.) Social cohesion; 4.) The green economy (Pauleit et al. 2017).

It is important to understand the complexity of the benefits of green infrastructure. By the Foster et al. (2011), the solutions of green technologies and infrastructure are regularly realized with a single goal, for instance, managing storm-water or reducing the urban heat island effect and therefore the costs and benefits are often evaluated on the same principles. But, only with the comprehensive understanding of multiple benefits of green infrastructure could lead to the successful development with the inclusion of all of their net-benefits. As an example, the multi-beneficial usage of trees. They filter water, slow runoff, contribute to cooling the urban heat effects and also clean air. In addition, they can serve as a mitigating factor of the greenhouse gas emissions and provide shade that reduces the demand on electricity.

One of the current and most important topics regarding urbanised areas is the importance of water management. Precipitation is the only renewable source of water. Whilst in the nature areas, 90% of stormwater remains in the landscape areas where it falls, in the urban areas, due to its effective drainage systems, on average 70% of stormwater is lost. Rightly managed greenery in urbanised areas can efficiently help with water retention and also improve water balance in the urbanised areas (Wagner et al. 2013).

Cities are struggling with the urban heat island effect, which is a climate effect caused by urbanisation. It represents the difference in surface and air temperature between urban and surrounding rural areas which can be as high as 10°C (Lawlor, 2006). Green infrastructure is

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25 the irreversible impacts of climate change (Foster et al. 2011). Green infrastructure can also have an influence on economic benefits, linked for instance, to the thermal performance.

Buildings with implemented green roofs show that less energy is spent on heating interior spaces in winter, and decreasing the need for air conditioning in summer (Ngan, 2004). Besides mentioned, benefits also include improving human health, increasing house prices, sound attenuation and more (Norton, 2014). The aesthetic side of green infrastructure is not often discussed but should also be considered as one of the benefits which could potentially lead to increased tourism.

Also, green infrastructure is providing opportunities for the urban population to interact with urban nature. It could also serve as a means to potentially encourage citizens in enhancing the environment in cities (Cole et al. 2017).

5.5 Planning of green infrastructure

5.5.1 Planning within the European Union

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26 The typology of EU's green infrastructure projects can be presented as local, regional,

national, cross-border and pan-european (Tóth, 2018). In the EU, the backbone of green

infrastructure is the Natura 2000 network which is the largest coordinated network of the protected areas in the world with the coverage of 18% of the EU's land area and almost 6% of its marine areas. This network serves as a haven to the species and habitats that are threatened (European Commission, 2020; European Commission 2020a). There are also multiple strategies of the European Union that are aimed at green infrastructure. The green infrastructure is included in the strategy Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. The strategy is

composed of 6 targets and 20 actions to stop the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU (European Commission, 2019a). The second target of this strategy is focused on “maintaining and enhancing ecosystem services and restoring of degraded ecosystems by incorporating green infrastructure in spatial planning.” (European Commission, 2011, p. 5).

The development of green infrastructure is considered a key factor towards the success of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. The Strategy on Green Infrastructure is presented in the document Green Infrastructure (GI) – Enhancing Europe's Natural Capital. This strategy aims to build, preserve and enhance healthy green infrastructure to decrease the loss of biodiversity and to support ecosystems in their purpose of providing multiple services to the people and nature (European Commission, 2019). The EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change mentions green infrastructure as an ecosystem-based approach that will be encouraged (European Commission, 2013).

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27 existing one. These necessary technological innovations will need to be financed beyond the levels of usual financed maintenance of infrastructure (Merk et al. 2012). Regarding the financing of the green infrastructure within Europe, there are multiple options how can either municipalities or the general public access co-finance of the elements of green infrastructure. The funding for green infrastructure within the European Union can be supported for member states through multiple programmes. These programmes are integrated into the development strategies of each state. Currently available programmes are Structural Funds that include European Regional Development Fund and also European Social Fund, Cohesion Fund, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, LIFE+, Research funding programmes, European Fund for Strategic Investment, Horizon 2020 and Nature based solutions program (European Commission, 2019b).

5.5.1 Green infrastructure in Slovakia

This part of the thesis presents current ongoing strategies and concepts that also present desired outlooks for the future with a focus, or at least, the involvement of green infrastructure. Most of the strategies are created for a time horizon of 10 years. Slovakia, as a member state of the European Union, is participating in all above-mentioned strategies issued by the EU regarding green infrastructure. It should be acknowledged that due to the complexity of the concept of green

infrastructure, only the key strategies and a handful of projects are mentioned in this section. Environmental matters are governed under the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic or the regional authorities. Local authorities are usually responsible for sectoral policies (Biodiversity Information System for Europe, n.d.).

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28 with the objective of maintaining or restoring ecological functions as a means to conserve biodiversity while also

providing appropriate opportunities for the sustainable use of natural resources.” (p. 6). These ecological networks are being planned on multiple levels. The NECONET addresses the national level whilst ÚSES functions on a transregional, regional and local level (FZKI SPU, 2017).

Representing to be the part of the land consolidation process, the ÚSES could be used as a tool to execute the implementation of green infrastructure, mostly outside of the urban areas. The green infrastructure needs to include greenery also in the urbanised areas and therefore the ÚSES does not oversee the foundations of green infrastructure to the full extent (Hudeková, 2018). Slovakia issued Updated National Strategy for the Protection of Biodiversity to 2020 in late 2013 that was expanded to include topics such as green infrastructure. It is directly based on the Strategic Plan for the Protection of Biodiversity 2011 - 2020 by Convention on Biological Diversity. The document stated that “SR must promote the protection and restoration of biodiversity; promote the concept of ecosystem services and green infrastructure among its top priorities” (Slovak Republic, 2014, p. 16). In this document, within Thematic area B of Preservation and enhancement of ecosystems and their services, the document is emphasizing on the integration of the concept of green infrastructure into the documents of spatial planning (Slovak Republic, 2014).

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29 To proceed, the Greener Slovakia - Strategy of the Environmental Policy of the Slovak Republic

document was issued by the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic in early 2019. This strategy should interpret the right structure for adapting future policies to enhance environment (Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic, n.d.). This strategy identifies issues that should be prioritized within the environmental policies by 2030 in Slovakia, namely, waste management, air quality and habitat and species conservation, especially in forest and wetland ecosystems. It includes the section Development of Green Infrastructure that also discuss the mandatory implementation of the analysis of usage of elements of green infrastructure in the project proposals. This strategy also contains that documentation containing proposals for land consolidation projects and urban planning should include the concept of green infrastructure and it's emphasizing on the benefits of green infrastructure beyond just the financial and aesthetic aspect (Slovak Republic, 2019).

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30 opportunities could be mentioned, such as funding of green infrastructure to enhance water

retention or funding of 38 green infrastructure projects in early 2018 (Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic, 2020; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic, 2018).

Figure 7: Map of Slovakia, with the highlighted cities of Trnava, Nitra and, Banská Bystrica Source: sk.maps.slovakia.com/slovensko-mestá-mapu

Recent parliamentary elections that took place in late February 2020 brought a change in the political parties that have been in charge for the past 8 years. The newly elected government

presented the Manifesto of the Government of the Slovak Republic to the National Council of the Slovak Republic with the request for a vote of confidence. In this Manifesto, the concept of green

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6 Results

This section consists of the analysis of all four conducted interviews and summarising of the background information regarding the planning of green infrastructure. Every interviewee was given the same set of questions.

The first question in the questionnaire is “To what extent is Slovakia progressive in the field of green infrastructure?”. According to Mr Lančarič, within the sphere of social media and

communication, Slovakia’s progress is not below the European average. He continues that “Where [Slovakia] is lagging behind is the actual implementation of new knowledge, practice and technology alongside the actual development of green infrastructure”. Also, Mr Lančarič argues that the greenery is generally taken for granted in Slovakia and, that the funding is undersized. Mr Tóth mentioned that it is rather hard to answer this question, due to the quantitative character of green infrastructure. To continue, Mr Tóth argues that there is some progress in green infrastructure in Slovakia. It is due to the wider research projects and that the terminology is establishing, namely, last year green infrastructure was added into the legislature, to the law of nature and landscape protection. According to Mr Jurko, Slovakia is not progressive in the field of green infrastructure. Mr Jurko also pointed out, how much water is Slovakia losing every year due to the lack of retention measures. Water management is currently a widely recognised problem that could be found briefly examined in the Benefits section. The implementation of green infrastructure increases water retention and therefore should be more expanded. Mrs Feriancová mentioned multiple ongoing green infrastructure projects on the national level that fall under the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and thinks that on the theoretical level is Slovakia exemplary.

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32 sees the problem in the lack of application of alternative greenery, for example, extensive green roofs. After upholding their multiple benefits she added that the owners of buildings, municipalities and investors are often ignoring these benefits due to the higher primary investments. Mr Lančarič sees the obstacles in the lack of funding and legislation which is adapting with delay to the climate change, in funding as well as the prioritisation of grey infrastructure compared to the green or blue infrastructure. Mr Jurko argues that the obstacle is in the insufficient awareness of the general public and therefore, there is no stimulus for the legislation to change. Mr Tóth analyses the problem on two levels. One being green infrastructure in the rural areas and the second, green infrastructure in the urban areas. Within the rural areas, Mr Tóth sees the problem in the empirical realisation of the concepts of green infrastructure due to the ownership relations as on average there are 12 owners on one parcel of land. Mr Tóth argues that there is more leeway for development in the urbanised areas, mostly on the land that is in the ownership of the municipality. As the last obstacle, Mr Tóth argues that the unpreparedness of municipalities is representing a problem due to dealing with the potential projects at a last-minute and therefore, they are not taking into account every structure of the project. In the end, Mr Tóth added that the funding of green infrastructure is currently available through multiple streams, either from the European Union and private foundations.

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33 Unfortunately, some cities are ignoring this documentation and therefore he would make a negative example of cities that are lacking needed materials about greenery.

Next question asked was “How are the Slovak citizens aware of the purpose and benefits of green infrastructure?”. Mrs Feriancová and Mr Jurko both have the opinion that awareness is not sufficient. Mr Tóth argues that it is a very broad question due to the diverse demography of Slovakia and differences in the education of citizens. Mr Tóth continues that Slovakia has citizens from both spectres – aware and unaware, pointing that education can play a role in the awareness of citizens. In Mr Tóths opinion, awareness is not sufficient due to the small pressure from the public regarding upgrading green infrastructure and taking it more into account.

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34 climate change. By Mr Tóth, it is important to make green and blue infrastructure the number one priority. The second input would be that there will be created interdepartmental subjects that will serve as a coordinating mechanism and connect more sectors and that would be beneficial for the green infrastructure from the management perspective.

The review of research and policy documents of the planning of green infrastructure in Slovakia and the EU revealed multiple strategies, concepts and programmes that are related to this field. There are indeed many more projects that haven't been analyzed due to the extensive

complexity of green infrastructure and therefore, only some of them have been mentioned in this analysis. The European Union presenting strategies regarding green infrastructure and it is also conducting reports about the progress after some time. These strategies are setting their

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7 Discussion and conclusion

This section aims to discuss and conclude the research findings of the presented documents and conducted interviews. The data gathered from the interviews are serving as the foundation for the discussion and conclusion.

The general result of conducted interviews is in some respects very similar between the interviewed groups of those that are working with green infrastructure in academics or the professional field. Although, it has been acknowledged that some questions are very broad and therefore the results could be affected. The assumption was to get slightly different data throughout the sectors when comparing results between the academic and professional sector. The only slight difference was found in the opinion on funding, where interviewees with the academic background do not see the funding of green infrastructure as an extensive problem compared to the interviewee from the professional field. However, the results were very similar across both sectors, as it seems that interviewees are sharing similar values and opinions on the field of green infrastructure in Slovakia.

In regards to the first research question, obstacles that have been identified from the interviews are in the undersized funding, slowly adapting legislation and the land ownership

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36 infrastructure have been found as best practices in achieving urban sustainability and resilience at the local level (Foster et al. 2011).

Green infrastructure is very important for sustainable development and therefore, it is important not to overlook its functions. The low awareness among general citizens about the importance of green infrastructure for sustainable development and their benefits could be due to the low prioritizing of the development of greenery within Slovakia in the past and, lack of knowledge in this field. According to Kambites and Owen (2006), the benefits of green

infrastructure are undeniable where they are well-executed and prioritized with the positive effects on the people, as well as nature. This lack of awareness and knowledge of the general public about the benefits and functions of green infrastructure is perhaps one of the main setbacks in its development.

Another identified obstacle was the ignorance of the benefits of green infrastructure in the development process. The precursor is the higher initial investment and also lack of knowledge on the benefits of the green infrastructure. The important obstacle in creating and maintaining green infrastructure is also in the insufficient documentation in cities and municipalities on which the development of green infrastructure can be possibly built upon. Inclusion of the green infrastructure in the planning documentation is crucial as it was mentioned in both, conducted interviews and documents such as strategies and policies regarding green infrastructure. The scientific problem is presented in the above-mentioned obstacles of implementation of green infrastructure in Slovakia. These obstacles are together forming a complex problem with inputs from the European Union, political and economic situations in Slovakia that are influencing the actual development of green infrastructure.

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37 interviews revealed that Slovakia is progressing in achieving more frequent development of green infrastructure. In theory, green infrastructure as a concept is slowly getting more and more attention and recognition in Slovakia. Green infrastructure is contained in multiple strategies, both European and Slovak, recently mentioned in the law, and, has its own category in a competition which is helping to raise awareness about it. Even though, the actual documentation of elements of green infrastructure is not sufficient at this time, although, multiple strategies are emphasizing on the inclusion of green infrastructure in the future. This was mentioned in the interviews as well as found in the multiple strategies containing the concept of green infrastructure. All of the mentioned findings can be also perceived retrospectively – of how has the implementation of green

infrastructure changed over the last 10 years. This is also affecting the future progress due to the outlay of the strategies and policies which are often proposed for the upcoming ten years. Political input and economic situation are also very important in the development of green infrastructure. Therefore, the recent parliamentary elections could make a difference. The same goes for the current economic situation that has been changing rapidly recently.

In Slovakia, there are bigger cities as Trnava, Nitra and Banská Bystrica that are more progressive and are leading by example in the field of green infrastructure. This finding is indicating that bigger cities have gone further in the implementation of green infrastructure in Slovakia. Due to the insufficient data and different focus of this thesis, more research could be done on the possible spatial differences between cities and regions in the progressiveness of green infrastructure in Slovakia.

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38 part as strategies, legislature and policies as well as the outcomes of the interviews. Those do not represent the actual implementation of green infrastructure which is difficult to statistically map over the last 10 years. As mentioned previously, Slovakia is currently participating in multiple ongoing strategies that are mentioning the concept of green infrastructure. From the European Union, key strategies are Natura 2000, EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and The Strategy on Green Infrastructure. To mention few of the Slovak strategies and activities there is Updated National Strategy for the Protection of Biodiversity to 2020, Greener Slovakia – Strategy of the Environmental Policy of the Slovak Republic and the recently acquired Manifesto of the Government of the Slovak Republic. The ENVIROMESTO competition is helping to raise awareness in the general public about the field of green infrastructure and its benefits alongside other projects and development of elements of green infrastructure.

To conclude, it could be generalised that Slovakia, at least in theory, is on the right track regarding the implementation of green infrastructure but, there is a lot of downsides and obstacles that should be addressed in the future. Multiple issues are affecting the actual implementation of green infrastructure in Slovakia. Addressing these issues could lead to a more sustainable

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