Grant agreement ID: 821242
DOI
Project closed
EC signature date3 May 2019
Start date1 September 2019
End date29 February 2024
Project Context & Objectives
CLEARING HOUSE addresses the growing need for resilient cities by treating urban trees and forests not just as “landscaping,” but as essential infrastructure.
- Defining UF-NBS: Includes everything from peri-urban forests and forested parks to individual street trees in public and private spaces.
- The Living Laboratory: By comparing cities in China and Europe, the project analyzed how different governance, economic, and institutional contexts affect the success of tree-based restoration.
- Core Goal: To enhance urban resilience, improve human well-being, and restore degraded environments through the strategic planning and management of tree-rich landscapes.
Key Results & Achievements
The project moved from theoretical research to the creation of practical, cross-continental planning tools and a new global standard for forest typology.
| Category | Achievement |
| Typology | Developed a new, holistic UF-NBS typology combining form, function, and institutional perspectives. |
| Public Sentiment | Surveyed citizens across EU/China; found >90% appreciation for urban forests. |
| Scientific Output | Contributed 80+ scientific articles and books to the field. |
| Digital Tools | Launched 3 major platforms (MyDynamicForest, SIAC, SIK-Hub) for planners. |
| Education | Reached teenagers (10–14) with an educational package implemented in schools. |
| Outreach | 30,000+ website visitors and a successful #HugATree awareness campaign. |
Main Deliverables & Tools
The project developed a suite of instruments designed for urban planners, landscape architects, and local authorities:
1. Digital Planning Platforms
- MyDynamicForest: A participatory platform that collects localized citizen perspectives and links them to specific green space characteristics.
- SIAC (Spatial Impact Classification & Assessment): A Q-GIS plugin that allows cities to assess tree-cover benefits and align them with IUCN Urban Nature Indexes.
- SIK-Hub (Spatial Information & Knowledge Hub): A benchmarking tool used to compare urban forest performance across different global settings.
2. Strategic Guidelines
The project published four comprehensive guidelines covering:
- Planning: How to integrate forests into dense urban fabrics.
- Management: Sustainable maintenance of urban tree health.
- Public Engagement: Methods to increase civic involvement in funding and implementation.
- Institutional Aspects: Navigating policy “silos” and administrative timelines.
Socio-Economic & Global Impact
CLEARING HOUSE has created a lasting legacy for Sino-European environmental cooperation:
- Policy Influence: The project’s findings provide a scientific basis for cities to draft and implement Urban Nature Plans, ensuring they meet actual citizen needs.
- Cross-Continental Learning: By comparing Chinese and European case studies, the project identified shared challenges like land development pressure and infrastructure fragmentation, while sharing best practices for large-scale urban greening.
- Social Benefits: Proved that urban forests are a “common good” with massive public support, debunking myths that “disservices” (like falling leaves) are a major deterrent to urban residents.
- Long-term Sustainability: The project’s legacy is secured through the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF), established as a legal entity in 2023 to continue this research and advocacy.
