Public green spaces are crucial for climate resilience, yet regions and cities face major barriers in developing investable projects. This workshop, organised with NATURANCE, NetZeroCities, DesirMED and the Urban Agenda Greening Cities Partnership, brings together Bruxelles Environnement, the European Investment Bank and Bankers without Boundaries. Experts will explain how to overcome these challenges, highlight the role of public investment banks and offer practical roadmaps for bankable nature-based solutions. Participants will engage in discussions to exchange best practices and build networks for scaling up public green infrastructure and services across Europe.
- Climate and environment | Investment and Finances | Local and regional
- Code: 14WS252315
- Square Brussels, 314-316
Speakers
Moderator
Practical information
- When
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Tue 14/10/2025, 11:30 - 12:30 CET
- Where
- Square Brussels, 314-316
- Type of partnership
- Partnership
- Format
- Workshop
- Theme
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Cities building tomorrow
- Language
- English
Partners
ICLEI European Secretariat
Bruxelles Environnement
Bankers without Boundaries
European Investment Bank
Urban Agenda for the EU Greening Cities Partnership
Reporting
Session summary
This session examined how cities can make green infrastructure (GI) projects more bankable by redefining the concept of value and translating environmental and social benefits into financial language understood by investors.
Discussions centred on overcoming the barriers that prevent local governments from accessing private finance — including fragmented governance, complex procedures, and the absence of standard valuation frameworks for nature-based solutions (NBS).
Speakers from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and city representatives from Brussels and Ostrava shared insights on innovative instruments that blend public and private funding, highlighting the role of risk analysis models, partnership-based financing, and long-term maintenance schemes.
Participants agreed that the way forward is not only to attract private capital but to rethink the return on investment for cities — where improved health, resilience, and citizen well-being are recognised as part of the economic equation.
Quotes
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Urban resilience and citizens’ well-being are the ultimate return on investment.
Green infrastructure creates public value — improving health, reducing flooding, enhancing air quality — but these benefits rarely appear on a city’s balance sheet.
Despite the progress, long approval processes and low investor awareness still hinder collaboration with the private sector.
To unlock new pathways, cities must rethink revenue capture — from property value increases and health benefits to partnerships with sectors like real estate and insurance.
