Urban Nature(s): Conceptualization and Interculturality.

Global ecological crises place significant strain on cities at a time of accelerating urbanization. 55% of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. These areas continue to experience rapid development and confront ecological challenges including climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. As a result, an increasing number of urban policymakers have turned to sustainability initiatives, and environmental movements have called for greater involvement in decision-making processes at the local and political levels. However, strategies to reduce the ecological footprint of cities and establish ‘green’ development practices remain vigorously debated among policymakers, city dwellers, and researchers. Given the need to implement socially inclusive and environmentally just frameworks of collective action in the built environment, strategies centered on citizen engagement are essential. However, understandings of ‘nature’ and ‘sustainability’ can vary significantly across social and cultural boundaries, so citizen engagement cannot be viewed monolithically. How can effective communication around urgent socio-ecological issues occur within the domain of urban policy making? Here we examine how intercultural communication impacts the perception of socially inclusive and ecologically sustainable urban environments. We offer two distinct disciplinary approaches to examine the complexity of urban environmental identity and point to the dynamic interaction between personal and collective relationships to urban ecologies. The dialogue outlines how socio-cultural perspectives can improve our understanding of the connections between city dwellers and urban nature(s). It emphasizes the need for further research on intercultural engagement in urban policymaking and argues that the complexity of urban environmental identity must be taken into consideration to promote effective, cross-cultural communication. Focusing on the cross-cultural dialogue of the 2022 Autumn School for the Young VDW, the paper provides two perspectives on the issues of interdisciplinarity and interculturality in urban policy making and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]