Animal-aided design
Animal-Aided Design (AAD) is a planning approach that integrates the needs of city-dwelling animals into urban , landscape and open space planning right from the start . AAD is a concept that aims to permanently resettle wild animals in urban open spaces. For this purpose, a special design method was developed that prepares the habitat requirements of wild animal species over the entire life cycle in a practical manner and embeds them in the planning. The animal-assisted design is intended to create valuable niches for birds, reptiles or mammals in urban areas and improve the quality of life in the city through new forms of nature experience for people in their immediate living environment.
background
Urban biodiversity
The urban nature is at risk. Urban areas in Central Europe are now more species-rich than their surrounding areas. For example, over 20,000 animal and plant species live in the federal capital Berlin . This corresponds to around a third of the national biodiversity. Cities are made up of a mosaic of different biotopes . In addition to gardens and water areas, walls and roof trusses, there are dry and wet areas in a very small space. The diversity of habitat types is significantly greater in the city than in intensively used agricultural landscapes and forest areas with monocultures . Many animals therefore use the cities as their habitat. Urban secondary locations have already become more attractive to some endangered species than locations outside the city. For example, peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) or pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus) are more common in urban areas than in their original habitats.
Urban growth
Many European cities are in a growth phase. The population is increasing and the industry is in a process of transformation due to digital change . New residential and commercial areas are needed. In the course of this development, green areas or fallow land are increasingly being built on and the habitat for animals is gradually disappearing.
science
The planning approach was developed by an interdisciplinary research team. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation has been funding the project since 2016 as part of ecological urban renewal . The project management lay with the scientists Thomas E. Hauck from the field of open space planning at the University of Kassel and Wolfgang W. Weisser from the chair for terrestrial ecology at the Technical University of Munich .
target
Animals should be understood as part of the city. The native fauna should be systematically and early on in the planning of buildings, gardens and parks as well as in urban and landscape planning.
method
At the beginning of the design planning, the target species such as hedgehogs , songbirds , bats and butterflies are defined. The requirements of the desired species are then incorporated into the design of the open space and the building architecture as well as the necessary maintenance concepts. The habitat of the respective animal species is characterized by critical location factors. These biotic and abiotic factors are derived from the life cycle of the species and they can differ depending on the phase of life. In order to achieve planning that is adapted to the species of animal, a description of the critical location factors for the respective planning area as detailed as possible is necessary.
Planning can be broken down into four steps:
- Analysis and concept phase,
- Design and detailed planning phase,
- Execution and construction phase as well
- Monitoring .
Analysis and concept phase
In the first step, the habitat potential of the planning area for the colonization of different animal species is determined. At the same time, the stakeholders' usage requirements are clarified and the values and fears of future user groups and decision-makers are identified. Based on these analysis results, the target species are selected and a spatial concept is developed. The habitat requirements of the respective species are taken into account when designing the urban open spaces and developing the building architecture.
Draft and detailed planning phase
As part of the design and detailed planning, the needs and demands of the target species on their habitat are to be met through a species-appropriate design of the site.
Execution and construction phase
The implementation planning and construction phase ensures that the planned measures are implemented exactly. In addition to ecological construction supervision, targeted training of the employees of the construction company can help. In the implementation phase, existing animal populations are also taken into account. Avoidance and mitigation measures contribute to the careful implementation of the measures during the construction phase.
Monitoring
In order to check the success of the planning, a monitoring of ecological, social and economic aspects is carried out after the implementation. The success control can lead to adjustments and optimization of the measures and maintenance. The evaluation encompasses several questions: On the one hand, it must be clarified whether the measures taken were actually accepted by the target species, and on the other hand, the users of the open spaces are asked how they feel about the measures. The expenses and the success of the maintenance work are assessed separately and the results are discussed with the stakeholders in order to make adjustments and optimizations if necessary.
Fields of application and measures
Fields of application
The fields of application of animal-aided design are broad. Planning in urban areas is particularly useful for AAD. In addition to climatic building renovation , small-scale redesigns of inner courtyards are conceivable, but the method is also suitable for planning extensive parks with extensively used areas. Classic applications are the conception of ecological compensation measures within the framework of the nature conservation law intervention regulation and for species protection measures. By using AAD, nature conservation objectives can be effectively integrated into urban planning.
activities
The interdisciplinary planning approach of Animal-Aided Design aims to develop concrete measures for the protection and development of biological diversity in the urban living environment that are ecologically sensible and have an aesthetically pleasing shape.
These can be, for example, nesting aids for swifts and other building breeders in the facades of buildings or flowering and nectar-rich plantings for butterflies and protective trees and shrubs for sparrows and other bird species. The green infrastructure of the city is this artbezogenen planning approach biodiverse .
literature
- Thomas E. Hauck and Wolfgang W. Weisser: Animal-Aided Design. Freising 2015, ISBN 978-3-00-047519-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Markus Wanzeck: Lack of living space: creates space for the sparrow. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. Frankfurter Rundschau GmbH, July 5, 2019, accessed on December 1, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Thomas E. Hauck and Wolfgang W. Weisser: Animal-Aided Design . Ed .: Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection. Freising 2015, ISBN 978-3-00-047519-1 , pp. 4 .
- ↑ Inclusion of animal needs in the planning and design of open spaces - Animal-Aided. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, December 12, 2019, accessed on March 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Stefanie Hennecke: Animal-Aided Design. University of Kassel, open space planning, accessed on March 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Animal-Aided Design: A method for including animal needs in the planning and design of urban open spaces. GALKe.V., German Garden Authority Conference, accessed on November 29, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Animal-Aided Design. University of Kassel, open space planning, accessed on November 29, 2019 .
- ↑ "Animal-Aided Design": Make buildings and living spaces attractive for people and animals. In: Nature and Landscape. W. Kohlhammer GmbH, March 2018, accessed on November 29, 2019 .