Earlier this year our founder David Maddox taught at the Master in Urban Resilience at UIC Barcelona. Student Ella Matsdotter just published her reflections — on cities as living systems, creativity as resilience, and justice as non-negotiable in NbS work. So glad she shared it. 🌿 📖 buff.ly/pBPL3aI

🐟 New #TNOCessay They named her Bubbles. An ancient fish — swam alongside dinosaurs, now at 1% of her abundance — raised for nine months by middle schoolers, then released into the Detroit River. By John Hartig 🌿 buff.ly/1V9EZd5

You've heard of Dandora. But not like this A hidden waterfall, a community-led park, and a neighbourhood quietly shaping Nairobi's climate future. We walk through it on June 27 Register: buff.ly/gACufa7 Can't join in person? A virtual fieldtrip drops after — follow #TheNatureOfNairobi. #WalkingTNOC

🌿 New #TNOCessay The World is a Garden of Edges by Loan Diep — NYC A São Paulo favela presses against a luxury tower with private pools curling from its balconies. Loan asks us to look again. "Margins contain. Edges connect." 🌿 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/06...

🌿 #TNOCMostRead — last 30 days Why does a wildflower meadow look "messy" while a mowed lawn looks "cared for"? Not ecology. #Culture. A 2018 essay still pulling readers — Cues to Care by Mark Hostetler, building on Joan Nassauer's foundational work. 🌱 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2018/08...

1/ 🌿 New #TNOCessay Sharing Space: People and Wildlife in Bengaluru's Home Gardens by Varsha Bhaskaran Bengaluru has lost ~90% of its green cover. But behind compound walls and on rooftops, something quiet and remarkable is happening — and the cobra story is unforgettable. 🧵

🌍 New #TNOCRoundtable Whose voices shape — and don't shape — Nature-based Solutions? What could real inclusion look like in practice? 📖 Join the conversation: www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/05... #NatureBasedSolutions #NbS #UrbanNature #EnvironmentalJustice #CoCreation #Biodiversity

1/ New #TNOCessay 🌿 Students and Stewardship: Connecting with Nature in a Peri-urban University Campus by Aswathy Arun, Seema Mundoli & Harini Nagendra — Bengaluru 🇮🇳 The first rule of their campus BioBlitz? Put your phone away. 🧵↓

#TNOCGazette lands in inboxes around the world — bringing essays, roundtables, and stories from the frontier where disciplines meet to re-imagine our cities. Join thousands of readers, thinkers, and doers across the globe. 📩 Subscribe — thenatureofcities.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe/?u...

🌿 BOTANICAL TURN — call open! Int'l competition reimagining botanical gardens as active urban infrastructures. 📍Lisbon · Cagliari · Lima 🏆3 winners · 🖼️exhibition · 📖booklet ✅Free · deadline Sept 18 Brief 👇 www.non-a.com/botanical-tu... #BotanicalTurn #Naturescapes

Sacred groves outlast bulldozers. Funeral trees host migratory birds. Temple ficus reroute highways. Hussain Ebrahim's #TNOCEssay Plant Journal makes the case that ritual and reverence are some of the most resilient urban conservation tools we have. www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/05... 🌳

Who really gets to feel at home in "green space for all"? A new TNOC essay on queer intimacy, biodiversity, and the quiet politics of pruning. 🌿 Read it. Join the conversation. 🔗 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/05... #TNOCessay #QueerEcology #UrbanNature

🌱 Got an idea, project, or vision for a future where people and nature thrive together? The open call "Futures with Nature" is live for #NetworkNature Week at the Nature-based Solutions Congress 2026 in Paris. Join us. Deadline: 30.06. 2026 iucnbrussels.typeform.com/NetworkNature

#TNOCRountableRevisit Science is under siege. So is the ground we stand on. 25+ voices, one question: what now, when autocracy is strangling sustainability science? Join the conversation 🔗 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/03...

Have you been reading #TNOCMagazine? No single discipline holds the answers to what cities can become. So TNOC invites them all in. thenatureofcities.com TNOC is independent and freely shared with the world. If our work resonates, consider supporting it 💚 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/support...

#TNOCEssay What if The Cherry Orchard sparked debate on land use? Or An Enemy of the People became a lesson in environmental whistleblowing? Classic plays are living labs for ecology, power, and civic dialogue. 🔗 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/04... #EnvironmentalCommunication

🌿 What if the way forward is also a way back— to sensing, to listening, to remembering, we are part of the living world? 🔗 Read this 3-part #TNOCessay www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/categor... #NatureOfCities #Ryuiki #RegenerativeFutures

#TNOCEssayRevisit What if the “messy edges” of your city are actually its most alive spaces? Back in 2018, Jay Valgora explored how forgotten urban corners became hubs for making, living, and community. 7 years later: Still happening? What does a truly mixed city feel like to you? bit.ly/4sBmtE1

#TNOCessay Mini-Forests: Rewilding the contemporary schoolyard Ana Pinheira & Daniel Ferreira — Guimarães What if a child’s first forest grew in their schoolyard? 🌿 Read more: www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/04... #NatureBasedSolutions #UrbanNature #Rewilding #EnvironmentalEducation

At #UrbanFuture, participants co-created ideas to make soil visible through comics, theatre, food & play. At The Nature of Cities, we shared storytelling & #NBSComics for NetworkNature People connect through experience, not info alone 👉 networknature.eu/networknatur... #NbS #Storytelling #TNOC

#TNOCessay Faith and the Sea by Vivek G, Bengaluru A place where faith, fishing, and identity are inseparable—now facing the pressures of tourism, development, and environmental change. 👉 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/04... #NatureBasedSolutions #ClimateJustice #CoastalCommunities

Data restricted. Scientists sidelined. Truth reshaped to fit power. A new #TNOCRoundtable brings together global voices to ask what sustainability work looks like when the conditions for it are under attack. Read the reflections: 🔗 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/03... #Science #Democracy

#TNOCessay Framing the Future: Voices and Visions of Youth in Puerto Rico 17 students in San Juan didn’t just document their city— they reimagined it. 📘 Digital book + 🖼️ community exhibit 🌱 Youth shaping urban futures Read here🔗 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/03... #YouthVoices

JOIN US in Ljubljana for the #UF26 session "Why Is This Working!". Get ready for quick thinking, strange ideas, and real inspiration on how art can help cities "talk" about climate when words fall short. Room GRAZ, Ljubljana ⏰ March 26, 2026 | 16.00 – 17.30 🎟️ REGISTER urban-future.org

Grateful to be part of this important conversation in Barcelona. Looking forward to learning and exchanging with this inspiring group. 💚 #TNOC #DigitalEcologies #UrbanNature #MoreThanHumanCities

#TNOCEssay Street Tree Tarot is a Tool for Storytelling, Connection, and Reflection. By Matthew López-Jensen and Lindsay Campbell And once you start noticing… the city starts asking something back. Read here: www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/03... #UrbanNature #StreetTrees

📢 BIG-5 is evolving! We are thrilled to announce the launch of SE3DS Lab 🌿💻. Join the conversation at our kickoff event: 📍 Ateneu Barcelonès 📅 April 16th, 2026 🚀 Register now: forms.office.com/e/ZZZJT9EBwM Stay tuned for more updates! #SE3DSLab #Research #Barcelona

We’re happy to join GoingGreenGlobal 2026 in Ljubljana — a rich international program exploring how design can help shape more sustainable and inclusive futures. Join us in this inspiring week-long program: en.fd.si/goingreenglo... #TNOC #GoingGreenGlobal #UrbanNature #MoreThanHumanCities

#TNOCessay When Cities Fragment Care: Homeless youth, mental health, substance use, and the spaces between systems by Manasi Kumar and Deborah Padgett Read and join the conversation: bit.ly/3NdBNIg #Cities #UrbanJustice

Last day! Don't miss out!

#TNOCessay Learning Climate Lessons from My 5-Year-Old — Lindsay Campbell (New York City) What can a five-year-old teach us about climate change? Sometimes the most meaningful climate lessons begin with a child’s question. Read the essay: www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/03...

#TNOCessay Urban Mini-forests Can Reinvent How Cities Grow, Learn, and Respond to Climate Stress Rafael Ribeiro & Sheila Ceccon — São Paulo What if climate resilience started with tiny forests in schoolyards and vacant lots? www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/02... #UrbanNature #MiniForests #NbS

#TNOCEssay From living in nature → to living as nature. A call to step outside, learn with First Nations, and create new urban rituals of care for the more-than-human city. 🌱 Read: www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/02... #UrbanBiodiversity #MoreThanHumanCities

From alleyway games to play among ruins, this powerful essay reflects on childhood, memory, and the right to safe public space in a city rebuilding itself. When children can play freely again, a city begins to heal. Read more: bit.ly/4aN5S98 #TNOCessay #ChildFriendlyCities #PublicSpace #Damascus

🌿 We’re running a short global survey listening to how civil society organisations work with nature in their communities. 4–12 min • anonymous • multilingual Part of the EU project #NetworkNature. Please take part & share 💚 @biodiversa.eu @iclei.org 👉 thenatureofcities.typeform.com/to/iM8zPyV7

🐝✨ A #NBSComic has just landed! At Sweet-Spot, flower strips are blooming and pollinators buzzing. Reports say the ecosystem is thriving… but is it really? To Bee or Not to Bee explores the promise — and pitfalls — of NbS like flower strips. 📖 nbscomics.com/2026/02/17/t... #NetworkNature

You can still participate in this survey! Interesting questions about how we connect with nature and the challenges we face.

🌍 Reminder: Global Survey on Citizen Action for Nature The last major survey on nature-based solutions was in 2015 — and only in Europe. This new global survey updates the picture with today’s realities and community voices worldwide. 🗺️ Add your voice by Jan 15 👉 buff.ly/NLzQTxG

🌿🐾 What if wildlife were stakeholders in urban planning? A new #TNOCroundtable explores cities as shared habitats — and what changes when we design with, not just around, nature. Join the conversation: 🔗 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/02... #UrbanNature #MoreThanHumanCities #Biodiversity

#TNOCessay What if cemeteries could also support biodiversity and community wellbeing? May East explores how burial grounds are being reimagined as living urban commons. 👉 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/02... Have you visited a place like this?

🚲 Sparking #ActiveMobility in the Philippines! In Quezon City and Pasig City, the IKI-funded #SPARKproject shows how short-term street pilots can boost walking and cycling, cut emissions, and build strong community ownership. @iki-germany.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaeh...

If you care about nature in urban areas, you'll want to read this new roundtable at @tnoc.bsky.social on how we can "give wildlife a place as stakeholders in decisions about urban planning", which has essays from 22 contributors (incl me) from 18 cities around the world! Come join the conversation.

🌱 Open Call | We support & invite you to share your story At TNOC, we support and invite initiatives caring for parks, community gardens, riverbanks & green corridors to join the What’s That Green? Governance Lab. 🗓️ Deadline: 14 Feb 👉 whatisthatgreen.com/open-call-wh...

Nature lover? Community builder? Educator, activist, neighbour, volunteer? Curious how nature can help solve real problems? ✨ This survey is for you. Your voice helps shape a Citizen Action Roadmap for Nature 👉 thenatureofcities.typeform.com/to/iM8zPyV7 Tag someone who should join @iclei.org

🌍 We’re heading to #UrbanFuture 2026 in Ljubljana! Bold ideas, real action, better cities. Check out the programme 👉 urban-future.org/event/uf26-l... We’ll be there — join us! 🚀 #UF26 #CityChangers #BetterCities

New #TNOCessay Laura Shillington asks: what happens when students trust AI more than their own senses? A sharp, honest reflection on education, GenAI, curiosity & being human in a techno-social-natural world. 🌱📱 www.thenatureofcities.com/TNOC/2026/01...

How Artists Help to Transform Natural Resources Management: Building a Theory of Change A coral essay by 7 voices across Glasgow, New York & Amsterdam. Not about linear solutions — but trust, time, imagination, and working with complexity. Read on The Nature of Cities buff.ly/Ja6QYKo #TNOCessay

Over the past weeks, people from many different countries, regions, and community contexts worldwide have already shared their experiences, challenges, and ideas for working with nature. 👉 Add your voice and help strengthen a truly global roadmap: buff.ly/dwQLfcv

The Nature of Cities is part of the programme at Urban Future 2026, joining a global community of CityChangers to inspire, challenge & connect. 📍 Ljubljana | 24–27 March 2026 👉 Join the movement & register: buff.ly/7gfLLSl #PeopleMakeCities #UrbanFuture #UF26 #TheNatureOfCities #CityChangers

#TNOCEssay Carly Ziter reflects on returning to her hometown of Windsor and discovering how cities, even those shaped by industrial mythologies, can begin to repair, resist, and re-imagine their relationship with nature. 👉 Read the full essay and join the conversation: buff.ly/zaExP5D