Indoor courtyard, IAS Central European University, Budapest
Institute for Advanced Study Central European University
Fourth CAT-stay at IAS CEU: learning from Budapest’s municipalities and field visits in the city
The fourth CAT-stay of our group from June 19-23, 2023 was hosted by the Institute for Advanced Study Budapest, an institute affiliated to the Central European University (CEU) that enhances the exchange of knowledge from the differentiated disciplines of social sciences, humanities and law.
DAY 2 – Meeting with the Municipality of Budapest for field visits
Our second day included site visits with experts from the Nature Conservation and Green Infrastructure Development offices of the Municipality of the City of Budapest. György P. Gadó Péter Gábor and Sándor Barabás guided us through different nature conservation areas and new projects that the city developed aligned to the Budapest Green Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Action Plan (2021) (Radó DezsÅ‘ Terv) and the Budapest Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (2021). The visit started at Blaha Lujza Square, one of the most important city nodes, renovated in 2022.
The plaza - that used to allocate parking lots and was a deprived urban zone - now aims to create a new liveable public area, recreating the spiritual and cultural heritage of the square as well eeas comprising more pedestrian and recreation areas. For it, green spaces were designed that incorporate new trees that follow the Stockholm Tree Pit technique. The experts also shared with us the Budapest Tree Cadaster (BP Fatár), created by the Municipality of Budapest to locate, parks, protected areas, the different family of trees, history and the biological functions that characterizes these trees. This Cadaster also locates the green areas of the city, such as those aimed for recreational activities like playgrounds and sport facilities.
Renovation of Blaha Lujza Square, Budapest.
We then headed towards the North of the Danube, where the conflicts between nature conservation and flood protection remain as an issue. With a very strong historical character related to rowing clubs and water sports, the area is ongoing through several urban developments. These new developments – mainly new private housing and hotels - incorporate dense built flood barriers as a defense towards the Danube.
Following with our tour, we passed through the Békásmegyeri gát, which encompasses an embankment for flood protection and an enforced embankment.
PünkösdfürdÅ‘i Park, Budapest.
We wrapped up the day by meeting Nadia Al-Bagdadi, the director of the IAS. During dinner we got to know each other and she explained her expertise in the historian of modern Islamic history and the work of the IAS.
We continued walking through the new linear park (PünkösdfürdÅ‘i Park), conceived by FÅ‘kert, the gardening division from the Municipality of Budapest that is responsible for the maintenance of public green spaces. This park combines nature through rain gardens and the plantation of new trees and flowers with recreational areas such as sports yards, kids' playgrounds, and hiking trails. PünkösdfürdÅ‘i Park also allocates several meadows –some of them irrigated while some others not -, as part of the Wildflower meadows project (2021) (Vadvirágos Budapest) that enhances urban biodiversity. Communication and education of nature through posters explained the general socioecological aim of the project.
DAY 3 – Meeting with the green office of Hegyvidéki, Budapest
Ferenc Szigeti-Böröcz (Senior Project Manager of HBH Stratégia és Fejlesztés) was pleased to bring us in contact with Hegyvidéki Zölde iroda - the green office of the municipality of Hegyvidék, Budapest - a proactive and ambitious department regarding green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. We were warmly welcomed by Emese Décsi (Urban Strategist), Attila Varga (Project Manager) as well as Ferenc Szigeti-Böröcz and had a pleasant exchange as well as a very interesting introduction in to their most exciting projects followed by site visits.
Hegyvidéki Csemete- és Suháng Program, Budapest.
First we were shown a tree planting program (Hegyvidéki Csemete- és Suháng Program). Residents in a street with a small green verge were complaining about people parking on it. The green office decided to plant small trees along the green verge. This initiative managed to avoid parking on the green verge resulting in high acceptance from the residents. The residents' sense of belonging was fostered by this program where they could include name tags on each tree and strengthen their feeling of ownership towards a public space. Flowers and shrubs were placed by the residents to protect the green verge from parking above it.
Hegyvidék residents' engagement was also evident in another municipal project.
A community garden project was created by the municipality as a compensation measure to the citizens affected by the demolition of an old office building. The demand rate for the garden was so high that it could not be fulfilled by the parcels provided by the project. Even though in a survey conducted beforehand there was none to little interest in community gardens. Gardening workshops have been offered for the people participating in the community garden.
Besides these rather big projects, the municipality also focused on smaller initiatives as the agreements on lawn mowing with various actors to implement a wildflower meadow.
Community garden, Hegyvidék.
It was noticeable that the Green office was particularly passionate about their projects on educational activities and creating awareness campaigns on ecological sustainability, as well as gaining experience on implementing them. In one project for example, the green office applied methods to increase biodiversity to reestablish pollinators - especially domestic bees which where traditionally kept - by adapting seed compositions to local climate conditions (gaining experience), convincing retired bee keepers and informing citizens (raising awareness).
We were very grateful for the extremely friendly exchange and sharing of experiences which gave us insights in the technical (biodiversity, monitoring, NbS), policy (educational interventions), value, and perception dimensions (social cohesion and sense of belonging and care).
In the afternoon we were invited to join the farewell barbecue party of the research fellow at the guest house in a peaceful atmosphere, where we gratefully joined and also got a broader picture of the IAS.
DAY 4 – Presentation to IAS research fellows
On Thursday we presented our experience and impressions from the days before to the research fellows in the Quantum Room of the CEU while relating it to our research and having an interesting discussion with them.
In the evening we decided with these insides and impressions as well as the other ones from the first half of the CAT project that it is the right time to come up with ideas on what to aim for on the second half of our program.
Presentation at IAS CEU.
DAY 5 – Wrapping up the week
In the morning we worked in our office in the CEU, exploring the possibilities for our next steps.
For lunch, we took a walk around the Erzsébet tér Square, the largest green area in downtown Pest.
In the afternoon we met Réka Báthoryné Nagy Ildikó from the Department of Urban Architecture and Green Infrastructure of the Institute of Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning and Horticulture, Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Réka explained the close collaboration between the university and the governmental institutions dealing with urban greening and how green infrastructure became an important concept with a national green infrastructure policy. She explained the “ZIFFA” guideline and that is mandatory for Hungarian cities to create “Green Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Action Plans“. Further information on the Hungarian green infrastructure policy and its implementation can be found in the scientific article "Design experiences on the Budapest green space development plan".
We explored some ideas for cooperation in research and teaching, while being aware of the challenges Hungarian academic institutions are facing due to the conflicts between the government and EU institutions.
DAY 1 – A very warm welcome from the IAS CEU
On the first day, we got settled in the premises of the IAS CEU, located at an award-winning building designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey architects. While the CEU has moved its campus to Vienna, the IAS stands on the campus where five World Heritage buildings were connected to each other and two more built in 2016.
Connected through an indoor courtyard, the buildings include the main library, offices and learning classrooms as well as a multi-purpose auditorium, conference facilities and a green rooftop.
Once we were settled in our office for the rest of the week, we worked on the talk we had to present on the 22nd June to the IAS and organized ourselves for the following days.We finished the day at the Raoul Wallenberg Guesthouse, located at the Castle district that the IAS provides for its research fellows.