PROJECT OVERVIEW

Project Name: Wild This, Wild That: Shared V4 Visions for Re-Naturing the City (WF2V4) 

Wild This, Wild That explores how cities in Central Europe can bring more nature back into urban spaces. The project focuses on four core case study cities—Ostrava (CZ), Pécs (HU), Gdańsk (PL), and Prešov (SK)—with Uzhhorod (UA) included as an additional collaborative study city. Our aim is to look beyond technical planning and explore the social, cultural, and ecological dimensions of urban rewilding. We want to know:

• How do local communities see and value rewilding?

• What role do planners, ecologists, and city officials play?

• How can rewilding contribute to healthier, more resilient, and more liveable cities?

The project brings together universities, municipalities, NGOs, and community voices to build practical tools and share new knowledge. By comparing experiences across the V4+1 region, the project will develop guidelines, workshops, and a toolkit that help cities reconnect with nature and strengthen urban sustainability. Including Uzhhorod adds a powerful perspective: as a border city at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, it highlights the links between cities and surrounding ecosystems, and it reflects regional solidarity with Ukraine in times of urgent need.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Urban areas across Central and Eastern Europe face growing challenges—climate change, biodiversity loss, and the need for healthier, more resilient cities. One promising response is urban rewilding: the practice of restoring natural processes and green spaces within cities to improve both ecological and human well-being. The project explores how rewilding can be implemented, adapted, and experienced across different urban contexts in the Visegrad four (V4) countries—Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia—together with a collaborative study city in Ukraine (V4+1).

Our rationale is simple: rewilding is not just about nature—it’s also about people, governance, and culture. Cities across the region vary in size, history, and economic background, yet all share the need to create greener, healthier, and more inclusive urban spaces. By comparing these cities, the project aims to identify both shared strategies and local innovations that can be applied more broadly. Objectives of the project include:

• Developing a comparative evidence base on urban rewilding practices through surveys, interviews, and fieldwork in five cities.

• Creating a practical Urban Rewilding Toolkit to support municipalities, NGOs, and practitioners.

• Engaging communities and stakeholders through local workshops and dialogue.

• Producing accessible outputs—including a comparative report, toolkit, policy brief, and academic article—to maximize both scientific and public impact.

• Strengthening regional and cross-border cooperation, including solidarity with Ukraine, through collaborative research and knowledge exchange.

In short, this project seeks to understand how urban rewilding can move from inspiring ideas to concrete practices that benefit both people and the environment.

PROJECT GOALS AND IMPORTANCE

The V4+1 project is built on the belief that greener, wilder cities are not only more sustainable, but also healthier, more resilient, and more inclusive. Urban rewilding provides a way to reconnect people with nature, restore ecological functions, and address pressing challenges such as climate change, heat stress, air pollution, and biodiversity decline. Our project goals are to:

• Demonstrate the value of rewilding in practice by comparing approaches in five Central and Eastern European cities: Ostrava, Pécs, Gdańsk, Prešov, and Uzhhorod.

• Support municipalities, NGOs, and practitioners with concrete tools and knowledge for planning and implementing rewilding strategies.

• Strengthen civic participation and awareness by engaging communities in workshops and surveys, ensuring that local voices shape rewilding practices.

• Produce lasting knowledge resources—including a toolkit, comparative report, and policy brief—that can guide future urban sustainability efforts in the V4+1 region and beyond.

• Encourage regional solidarity and cooperation, with the inclusion of Uzhhorod, Ukraine, highlighting the cross-border ecological and cultural ties of the Carpathian region.

By focusing on the V4+1 region, the project places rewilding within a unique social, ecological, and political context. Cities here share common histories of industrialization and urban transformation, but also face diverse challenges linked to size, geography, and governance. Together, these differences and similarities create a powerful opportunity for mutual learning and the development of rewilding strategies that are both locally adapted and regionally relevant.

METHODOLOGY AND TIMELINE

The V4+1 project follows a collaborative, step-by-step methodology designed to combine research, community engagement, and practical outputs. Our approach balances comparative research across cities with local participation to ensure that rewilding strategies are both scientifically sound and socially relevant.

Methodology:

1. Comparative Research – Each partner city (Ostrava, Pécs, Gdańsk, Prešov, and Uzhhorod) conducts surveys, interviews, and field observations to document urban–nature relations and rewilding opportunities.

2. Local Workshops – Municipal actors, NGOs, academics, and residents take part in workshops where toolkit elements are tested and feedback is collected.

3. Knowledge Integration – Findings from each city are synthesized into shared outputs: a Comparative Report, Urban Rewilding Toolkit, and Policy Brief.

4. Dissemination – Results are shared through the project website, academic publications, and public outreach events to maximize regional and international impact.

PARTNERS

V4 Lead Institution: 

University of Gdańsk (Poland) www.ug.edu.pl

V4 Partner Institutions: 

Institute for Sustainable Development of Settlements (Czechia) www.iurs.cz

ELTE Centre For Economic and Regional Studies (Hungary) krtk.elte.hu

University of Presov (Slovakia) www.unipo.sk

V4+1 Collaborative Institution:

Uzhhorod National University (Ukraine) www.uzhnu.edu.ua

Supplemental Funder:

Polo Center of Sustainability

The collaborative V4+1 work in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, is additionally supported by the Polo Center for Sustainability (Italy) (www.polocenter.org), which provides supplemental funding for the Ukraine activities.