Anaël Mayeur: Plants were long considered to be a mere technical resource to serve humans, then as an aesthetic element that boosted the acceptability of planning projects. Now, they could be a way to integrate constructions into their environment more fully, provided that we consider their characteristics in greater detail. This is the subject of my doctoral research project, which focuses on the composition and study of the herbaceous seed combinations that promote biodiversity while continuing to meet the conventional technical challenges of revegetation.

The aim is to obtain seed mixes with a greater diversity of species than those commonly sold and used in large-scale developments, with a view to attracting small animals and pollinators in particular, but also to establishing competition against invasive exotic species. Some mixes are made up of seeds from the Végétal Local brand, the idea being to have sufficient genetic diversity for these species to enjoy enhanced resilience in the face of climate change, and a reduction in the use of inputs for their healthy growth.

Nicolas Durvaux: During the construction phases for new sections, we rolled out large-scale revegetation plans for the surrounding areas, with more than 17 million trees planted, as well as major sowing operations. We are currently working on maintaining this and incorporating new challenges such as abolishing the use of agrochemicals and applying reasoned mowing. We hope to promote and increase the potential for renaturation of the available green areas.

In addition, we have also observed that our need for mineralised operational surfaces has dropped by around 30% (around the operations centre, coating platforms, etc.) alongside technical and organisational developments. The opportunity arose to propose a renaturation of these spaces by demineralising unnecessary surfaces.

Renaturation raises questions regarding the creation of functional natural environments. Which levers do you use to achieve this?

Nicolas Durvaux: As the projects are smaller in size than those during the construction phases, each site needs to be engineered individually. Following the soil analysis phase, our partnership with the French Office National des Forêts enables us to conduct a study of several technical renaturation approaches for each plot. These approaches combine conservation measures of the existing sites such as meadows and hedgerows, the planting of local tree species that can adapt to climate change, and the creation of wetlands. For each project, these different approaches optimise the creation of natural areas and are approved by our in-house experts with a view to assessing the impact of feasibility, ecological interest and repercussions on maintenance.

Anaël Mayeur: To follow on from what Nicolas was saying, the composition and selection of seed mixes to be sown are part of the engineering work to be rolled out on every type of site. As part of my project, mixes with different functions are tested. Some are designed to be competitive against invasive exotic species, with others are intended to cover the plots quickly after being sown or to attract pollinators.

Let’s remember that the creation and upkeep of a site’s functions also depend on environmental factors that are not always under our control. It is therefore a good idea to preserve pre-existing natural elements where possible.

When a sowing operation is required, the use of wild and local seed mixes means that we can rely on species’ natural resilience to adapt to the changes in their environment. In this way, we give the better adapted plants a greater chance of survival in the event of disruptions. This leads to a sustainable population of plant species. We are in a long-term approach aimed at maintaining the newly created plant communities, and therefore their functions.

Both of your projects incorporate short supply chain development objectives in different ways. Which opportunities and obstacles have you come across?

Anaël Mayeur: Having a stock of wild and local seeds requires a sector with a wide range of skills and stakeholders. The technical pathway from collection to planting is complex and calls for local stakeholders with sound knowledge of the local area. We predict opportunities for the creation or specialisation of companies within this market, in addition to partnership opportunities for developers and stakeholders in this budding sector. Such partnerships would improve project acceptability and would also give rise to high-quality products and advice, in tune with the local conditions which planning projects must face.

Although the study of the social and economic factors is still in its infancy, two major obstacles to the widespread adoption of this approach are becoming apparent. The first concerns the cost of seed purchases, which may be prohibitive in comparison to mass-produced seeds. However, the removal of inputs and the reduction in seed quantities may offset these excess costs, for equivalent results (this remains to be demonstrated). The second obstacle concerns the supply of wild and local seeds. As the sector is still in its early development, not all regions are covered when you need to find a producer able to fulfil large orders, for example in the event of motorway construction and the creation of related compensatory areas.

Nicolas Durvaux: Short supply chains are primarily used in the deconstruction of mineralised sites. For the first project, we contacted local associations who were looking for materials. For the second project, we want to work with Granulat+® to optimise material recycling. Their presence across France means that chains can be shortened and recycling reduces the footprint of resources.

Our second ambition for short supply chains is to work on renaturation projects with local companies and building sites that bring the unemployed into the workforce. In addition to the pride of managing these projects in their local areas and seeing them grow, there is also the ambition of training new stakeholders in these approaches.

Lastly, the third challenge concerns the need to support local seedling creation sectors by conducting these projects with local plant species. This means planning future developments with a vision spanning several years.

Which stakeholders must be brought in to roll out your approach as widely as possible?

Nicolas Durvaux: The primary stakeholders are naturally project managers. We have to prove to them the benefits for biodiversity and convince them to agree to long-term projects.

These projects are rooted in local areas. Sometimes, local elected representatives wish to get involved by sharing the ambition or drive to support local employment, for the project’s completion or the arboriculture sector.

As some projects may need to extend their scope to include potentially workable land for certain types of agriculture, we must also foster dialogue upstream with chambers of agriculture and local farmers, to work with them to design projects that can meet the twofold environmental and sustainable production objective.

Anaël Mayeur: To second what Nicolas has said, it is necessary that project managers are involved as early as possible in the design phases so that plant requirements are planned ahead, to discuss the challenges they represent and to define the share of the budget that will be allocated to this. This can facilitate access to material by leaving stakeholders in the production sector the time to obtain a sufficient quantity to meet demand.

More generally, it is important to raise awareness among all stakeholders who use seed mixes, whether as part of the management of the sites operated, the construction of new developments or environmental restoration sites, so that the functions and importance given to plants on these sites can be reconsidered. Taking an interest in the origin of plants and the composition of commonly used seed mixes could play a part in improving the integration of projects in the current environmental challenges that local areas face.

For further information, you can watch the replay of the the Research & Solutions webinar on “The revegetation of road infrastructure” with Anaël Mayeur and Nicolas Durvaux (in French).

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Despite a “no net loss of biodiversity” target being enshrined in the French Environment Code in 2016, this objective has not yet been achieved. The mitigation hierarchy, the central pillar of environmental assessment, is among the key measures implemented to meet this challenge. However, despite being intended to remedy damage to the environment, compensatory measures (the last stage of the mitigation hierarchy) bear the brunt of all responsibility: authorisation to destroy biodiversity, “commodification” of nature, etc.

In order to put environmental issues back at the heart of land planning operations, this project – conducted by Hélène Barbé, under the supervision of Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste – aims to consider the value and representation of biodiversity within the mitigation hierarchy and its legal framework. It strives to make sense of the controversies in the field of environmental compensation, with the ultimate goal of proposing alternatives to the current ways in which ecological challenges are addressed.

After the major challenges have been identified, the idea is to work with stakeholders in the field to build forward-looking scenarios, before extending these proposals to a broader sample and to hold participative workshops for situation and conflict simulations.

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Peri-urban farms with short food supply chains are currently enjoying strong growth and represent the leading type of urban agriculture for the supply of fresh produce in towns and cities. This type of farm includes horticultural areas and many new small-scale projects based on alternative systems such as bio-intensive market gardening and permaculture (CC by 2.0 - Sustainable sanitation).Urban community gardens and urban mini-farms are two other forms of urban agriculture that are currently being developed. Community gardens combine social, educational and food-related goals and are projects that attract a participation from the greatest number of urban dwellers (Les Vignoles gymnasium, Fanny Provent).Urban micro-farms can be multi-purpose or focus primarily on production (Hotel Pullman Eiffel Tower, Paris).Less common in French towns, greenhouses, indoor agriculture and low-tech and high-tech systems entail greater investment costs (Agripolis farm, Paola Mugnier).These production systems are not very attractive for urban dwellers and, as regards greenhouses, raise issues related to the landscape (an integrated greenhouse on one of the buildings of the former Anderlecht abattoirs, Paola Mugnier).

Paola Mugnier and Fanny Provent also describe multifaceted and multi-purpose production systems. Their practical guide « Urban agriculture: how to implement it on rooftops and terraces? » (from which photos #2 to #5 are taken), as well as the Exp’au urban agriculture consulting company and agriculturalization indicators, feature among the approaches rolled out, based on researcher knowledge, to assist and equip developers when selecting project content, in addition to project implementation and management. Another important aspect for developers is the issue of urban contaminations. The REFUGE methodology has been designed to conduct an assessment of health risks based on a historical survey of the site and ground investigations. This type of assessment reveals a lack of risk or identifies when a site is in a grey area, as is often the case, which may be used by rolling out a health control plan or through farming methods that do not use the ground soil.

The prospects for the development of urban agriculture are set to be extensive and varied. Many flat roofs represent untapped high-potential land resources. A number of new requirements are emerging in relation to the analysis of soil bearing capacity, an improved integration of greenhouses in buildings, optimised management of flows and uses and lastly the incorporation of urban agriculture in circular economy scenarios.

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• The floor will be opened to practitioners : The Paris municipality with a review of the Parisculteur programme by Leon Garaix (responsible for the urban agriculture mission), Pascal Hardy, founder of the start-up AgriPolis, VINCI Construction France through project experience feedback by Pascal Michaud.
• The first publication of lab recherche environnement, the practical guide « Agriculture urbaine en toiture-terrasse » will be presented by both of its authors: Fanny Provent (AgroParisTech) and Paola Mugnier (Urbalia).
• The latest research projects carried out by AgroParisTech in the framework of lab recherche environnement programme will be presented by Christine Aubry, specialist in urban agriculture and Erica Dorr, doctoral student in the environmental assessment of urban farms through feedback from Paris and California.
• A talk by Rob Hopkins, funder of the Transition Movement, will close the conference.

This event is organised by lab recherche environnement as part of Leonard’s Building Beyond festival.

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Winner of the C40 Women4Climate award for her commitment to nature in the city, Paola Mugnier participates in the ecological and climatic transition of cities and regions. She is also sensitive to social and societal issues. She currently supports city stakeholders, from developers to local authorities, in order to foster biodiversity and urban agriculture.

Agricultural engineer specialising in urban agriculture, Fanny Provent is now coordinator of the Urban Agriculture, Ecosystem Services and Food for Cities Chair of AgroParisTech. Agile and active in this field, she promotes and facilitates the return of nature to the city, in all its forms. She’s convinced of the importance of the environmental challenges now facing us.

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Patrick Stella, Senior Lecturer at Agro ParisTech, will explain the urban heat island phenomenon and ways to mitigate it. Various approaches will be presented such as the use of new materials, urban reorganisation and revegetation.

This talk is organised by Leonard in partnership with the environmental research lab as part of the “30 minutes pour demain” talks.

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The PhD thesis also aimed to assess the ecosystem services provided by a productive rooftop of this type. The goal was to provide the tools and knowledge necessary for their implementation as part of the sustainable development of buildings in an urban environment.

Thomas Haden, Research Engineer, was recruited in 2018 at AgroParisTech for a one-year fixed-term contract during which a new phase of experiments was launched with new urban organic waste products. 15 tonnes of old substrates had to be evacuated while around ten tonnes of new substrates and material were delivered. In total, about fifty boxes were reconditioned in order to conduct various experiments until 2021.

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Let the urban and the rural, the mineral and the vegetal, interact

Our wish is that the making of the city in the city makes it possible to preserve the existing agricultural and natural areas, that nature flourishes in the city, on the ground as on buildings, and that roofs become reservoirs of biodiversity, rainwater storages, urban heat island mitigation zones, social link catalysts, fruit and vegetable production areas.

Roof terraces are an under-exploited area in the city and yet of key importance: they can represent up to 32% of the horizontal surface of a city. Urban agriculture on rooftops is therefore an opportunity for local authorities to optimise built-up areas to integrate nature in the city, to participate in the climate resilience of cities, to recreate places where residents can meet and share while creating local jobs by offering functional and easily usable sites. Planners, developers and builders will see it as an asset for urban developments with high environmental and social added value, in line with the growing need of city dwellers to reconnect with nature.

Why a practical guide for those involved in the making of the city?

Developing urban agriculture on rooftops is not just greening the building, it is integrating a project, led by specific stakeholders, with its own operating model, its flows to manage, its needs to be anticipated. It is about understanding the challenges and diversity of urban agriculture, consolidating various skills to carry out the project, mastering different regulations, forging partnerships.

It is therefore to bring these different elements together within a single operational tool that we have written this guide, in the framework of the lab recherche environnement programme.We hope that our book will help local authorities, planners, developers, landlords, builders and managers of property assets to further develop urban agriculture on rooftops, in all its diversity, whether in the form of a shared garden, urban micro-farm, restaurant’s vegetable garden or productive urban farm.

 Order the book in paper or digital format

Structure of the practical guide

To this end, the book provides a review of current knowledge and practices, as well as a forward-looking vision of the building of tomorrow.

Then, all the criteria related to the layout of the rooftop for urban agriculture, whether technical, regulatory, related to flow management, project management, etc. are presented in a precise manner and accompanied by practical tips.

Finally, we offer methodological support to deploy these projects as well as summary sheets for each form of urban agriculture projects and for each production system. Twelve fact sheets presenting practices and feedbacks from rooftops in Paris, Lyon, Brussels and Besançon make it possible to adopt best practices.

Methodology – A guide designed with the players in the making of the city

To create this guide, we have:

• Analysed regulatory documents specific to rooftops or urban agriculture;
• Listed 170 agricultural rooftop projects around the world and analysed 70 French projects;
• Audited twelve sites in Paris, Lyon, Brussels and Besançon to better understand the constraints and present the details that make the difference in a project;
• Met many experts such as personnel from the technical departments of local authorities, construction and development stakeholders, project leaders and researchers;
• Led collaborative workshops on technical subjects;
• Benefited from the feedback of many contributors;
• Monitored urban agriculture projects during the construction phase.

Table of contents

Urban agriculture settles on the rooftops

1. Urban forms of agriculture
2. The advantages of making rooftops fertile
3. The peculiar ecosystem of the fifth facade
4. A shift towards “circular buildings”

Implementation guidelines

1. Getting to know the project area and defining it
2. Identifying the main elements of the roof structure
3. Identifying the necessary flows for a rooftop farm
4. What equipment for more functionality?
5. Anticipating the project management

Project methodology and fact sheets

1. The main project stages for a new or an existing building
2. Regulation and reference documents
3. Fact sheets presenting different forms of urban agriculture
4. Fact sheets presenting practices and feedbacks from rooftop agriculture projects
5. Bibliography

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