In the context of fisheries and aquaculture, the fish trap represents an evolution of existing harvesting methods. Unlike active fishing gear, such as seines, the fish traps require less labor and energy, which makes them very efficient in terms of catch effort. In addition, the fish traps do not physically harm the caught fish, so the fish can be taken out of the trap alive and in good health. Early experiments on partial harvests in aquaculture in Malawi date back to the 1990s, when different tools for intermittent harvest were tested. However, due to the inefficiency and labor-intensity of the methods, there has been no broad application or further developments.

Based on this knowledge, further literature research, and expert discussions, the idea was born to build and test a size-selective fish trap to regularly harvest the juveniles of the initial fish stock. This innovation is thought to control the stocking density, to optimize the use of supplementary feeds, and to not exceed the carrying capacity of the pond. Ideally, a successful application of the fish trap would result in households increasing their overall aquaculture productivity, whilst harvesting small quantities of small fish much more regularly than has been customary in aquaculture to date. The intermittently harvested fish can be consumed within the household or used to generate small amounts of regular income. Meanwhile, the initial fish stock (parent fish) will be grown to a larger size for the final harvest.

In a fish-loving country like Malawi, where fish is the main source of animal protein, but fisheries yields are in decline, great hope and effort is placed in the development of aquaculture. Better access to and regular consumption of fish, which is an important source of protein and essential micronutrients, can make an important contribution to overcoming development challenges. And food insecurity is one of the greatest in terms of public health. Women and children are particularly affected by malnutrition. The expansion and promotion of sustainable aquaculture represents an important approach to meeting a growing demand for fish.

This development requires – among many other aspects – innovations that contribute to successfully mastering challenges in the sector. With a focus on rural aquaculture, the Aquaculture Value Chain for Higher Income and Food Security Project in Malawi (AVCP), part of the Global Programme ‘Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture’ under the special initiative ‘One World – No Hunger’ of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, is providing technical training to 4,500 small-scale producers in Malawi. Fish farming helps them improve both income and food security.

One of the common and complex challenges in rural aquaculture is the use of mixed-sex Tilapia fingerlings in low-input systems. This means that farmers only have a limited selection and quantity of agricultural by-products available with which to feed a rapidly growing fish population in the pond. This leads to increasing competition for oxygen and food, which leads to poor growth rates and often an acceleration of sexual maturity. Accordingly, final harvests often consist of rather small fish, which does not meet the widespread expectations of harvesting edible – “plate filling” – fish from aquaculture.

Given the unavailability or prohibitiveness of mono-sex fingerlings, fish feed and aerators in rural aquaculture, the project was challenged to find an alternative solution to improve the productivity of rural aquaculture and its contribution to household nutrition.

Sembrando Ciudades has two major components, the technical process and the participatory process with the community, for which each of the consulting teams has expertise in one of the two areas, and combined, it was possible to maximize its scope and impact. For the more technical component, the REVIVE team carried out a series of strategies and local actions in favor of the conservation, improvement and expansion of urban trees and green infrastructure, generating a spatial and operational toolbox to promote informed decision making on urban greening needs. Colectivo Tomate led the participatory processes by promoting the construction of a community model through multiple activities of environmental awareness and integrated risk management, strengthening the inhabitants to face the current challenges and appropriate the demonstrative solution to promote climate adaptation installed in the public space.

Throughout the work with each city, there were different stages according to the type of activities carried out:

• Preliminary

First approach with local officials, population and civil society involved with each city, in order to present the vision and objective of the project, as well as to generate a communication network to support the logistics of the implementation of all the activities to be carried out.

Spatial diagnosis of the selected site in terms of urban trees, pollution indexes, heat islands, among others, as well as a face-to-face analysis of the site to determine the feasibility of implementation aligned with the objectives of the initiative.

• Awareness-raising

Meetings with the community surrounding the implementation site where the field team introduces itself and explains the project's objective. Using a socio-artistic methodology, spaces are created to meet and dialogue with the people to learn about their needs, and thus begin to build a collaborative proposal sufficient to execute a demonstrative action in the public space that meets local needs.

• Socialization and training

Capacity building for the community and local officials, through awareness raising and socialization of essential concepts to address the climate crisis.

• Implementation

Installation of demonstrative actions that favor climate adaptation and meet local needs, promoting environmental and social connectivity in the area, as well as color interventions through murals and floor painting to promote the habitability and enjoyment of the space by children and neighbors.

• Closing

Commemorative space for the delivery of the results of the project, recognizing all the key actors involved, and community participation.

Malnutrition is the most important aspect of food and nutrition insecurity and comes in many forms: undernutrition, overnutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies, often referred to as “hidden hunger”.

To be able to write a joint management plan, we need to agree on what we have to manage. A shared understanding of the key values and attributes is crucial. An important step for us was to facilitate meetings that brought  the national geological surveys in both Sweden and Finland together so they could discuss land uplift and ice age traces and consider the site in its totality. These discussions gave important insight on the geological attributes of the site. 

To get a clear overview of the key values of the property, excerpts from the SOUV for High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago were analysed and grouped together as seven key values. Attributes were listed for each key heritage value. This process gave a clear connection between the SOUV in the everyday work with WH management. It makes the abstract concept of World Heritage more tangibly associated to its management.

The program is community-driven which means the youths in schools and youth clubs as well as community members especially women in natural resource management committees are both participants in and beneficiaries of restoration efforts. The program enjoys great support from the traditional leaders. The community decides where restoration should be done, and how and when it should be done.  

The local residents who were previously excluded from the various cultural tourism activities and festivals centering on the World Heritage property started to independently host village activities and built up their capacities for delivering and managing events. 

The initial residents group started to participate in the operations of the Suwon Heritage Night Walks in 2017 as traffic control staff. As the number of festivals that were hosted to celebrate Suwon Hwaseong as World Heritage increased, such as the Hwaseong by Night, World Heritage Festival, and Media Art Shows, the number of jobs available for the residents also increased. 

The Haenggung Village Cooperative Association was established on 31 May 2021 and it consists of 46 members. The main line of work is creating content and activities for visitors. 
The association is composed of 4 sub-groups each named “jigi”, which in the Korean language means friends: 

• Haenggungjigi, who focuses on providing event support, information, sanitation and the operation of activities; 
• Donghaengjigi, a group that creates the content and stories of the village tours; 
• Surajigi that promotes and shares research and education on food; 
• Cheongnyeonjigi, the group that monitors and conducts evaluations of activities. 

Once the areas with the greatest need for urban reforestation had been identified, schools with the potential to develop school reforestation interventions were selected. Subsequently, the project was shared with the corresponding Ministry of Education to verify the viability of the chosen schools. Thus, the Alfonso Arroyo Flores elementary school, located in the municipality of Boca del Río, was selected for this activity. A visit was made to the institute to present and socialize the initiative before the school authorities, ensuring their collaboration and support in the implementation of the reforestation activities.

The next step was the preparation of a diagnostic study of the intervention area to analyze soil fertility, complemented by a drone flight to generate the design of the interventions. This design, validated by the school community, was based on the Miyawaki Method, a high diversity and density afforestation approach that accelerates the development of vegetation and other ecological processes.

The implementation of the reforestation activities was divided into two stages. The first stage focused on environmental awareness and education. An explanation was given to the student community, including children, youth and teachers, about the importance of trees in urban environments and the principles of Miyawaki forests, as well as the critical points in the reforestation process. The language used was accessible and appropriate for the age group, promoting active participation to facilitate meaningful learning. In the second stage, the knowledge acquired during the previous stage was put into practice and the school reforestation was carried out together with the children.

This experience not only allowed for the tangible improvement of the green infrastructure, but also provided the opportunity to raise awareness among the students and allow them to experience the reforestation process in a sensory way.

The objective of this phase was to generate a compendium of tools to guide informed decision making on urban reforestation needs in five Mexican coastal cities (Boca del Rio, Veracruz; Merida, Yucatan; San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca; Tepic, Nayarit; Tijuana, Baja California).

1. A compendium of landscape-scale tools was prepared with the products:

• Economic valuation of ecosystem services provided by urban trees.
• Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) map.
• Green View Index Map (GVI)
• Fixed Pollution Sources Map (FFC)
• Children's Access to Nature Equity Index Map.
• Urban Heat Islands (UHI) Map.

2. The baseline for the efficient management of urban trees was elaborated through the street-by-street detail component of a high-resolution digital inventory, representative of the axes and road islands of each city. This inventory not only recorded the existing trees and their maintenance needs, but also identified plantable spaces, identified and catalogued the available plantable spaces, specifying the appropriate characteristics of each area, as well as the type of tree that can be planted in each site. This integrated approach ensures more accurate and sustainable planning, optimizing species selection and improving the health and biodiversity of the urban tree stock.

3. In addition, educational and design tools were prepared. A practical guide for urban reforestation and two plant palettes for climate-smart reforestation were developed.

Beyond facilitating access to hard-to-reach locations, sailboats also provide useful modes of transport for deploying scientific instrumentation. The boats can carry scientific equipment, both for deployment in the ocean, but also for continual measurement by sensors that are permanently onboard. The race boats’ speed means that data from different locations can be captured across short timespans, something which is not achievable by most research vessels. Yachts can also be used to pilot and test new research technology and techniques, such as technology that allows results to be shared in real-time, and the OceanPack – a device which records essential ocean data from aboard the yachts. 

In a racing context, carrying devices that take meteorological measurements is not only beneficial for science partners, but also for the race participants themselves, as it helps to inform and improve weather forecasts that will impact their own decision-making and performances throughout the race. 

Using racing yachts for data collection paves the way for the installation and deployment of measuring devices on other vessels such as fishing or commercial boats, as well as other sailing boats.