Background Green space is an integral and vital element of the urban environment. Such spaces (including parks, playgrounds, cemeteries, school and sports grounds, individual gardens, private land, amenity open space, river banks etc) are subject to ever-increasing development pressure and complex use requirements by different stakeholders, and as such are often the attention of potentially competing urban planning policy focus. There is therefore a very obvious need to integrate the environmental management needs of these green spaces with other urban policy requirements. Furthermore, there has, over the last 20 years, been increasing recognition of the local nature conservation value of such sites in urban development plans, often with particular areas of urban green space being designated as a site of nature conservation interest even though they do not contain species or habitats of note in respect of the Habitat Directive or Natura 2000. Such sites are often highly valued as city wild space by local communities, and therefore the management of such spaces also needs to reflect the wildlife dimension. A participatory approach to the policy planning process and practical implementation can help stakeholders to facilitate the further integration of urban biodiversity with other urban planning and development needs. Objectives The project aimed to demonstrate how urban municipalities can develop effective stakeholder participation tools to plan and undertake urban improvement for the enhanced environmental value of urban green space. Specifically, the project hoped to develop and test innovative tools for biodiversity action planning that allow municipalities to undertake urban planning more effectively. This would support policy objectives in the EU's 6th Environment Action Programme, specifically approaches to improved ‘land use planning and management decisions’ and the involvement of ‘individual citizens’ in environmental decision-making and action. The overall goal of the project was to produce and implement a series of local biodiversity action plans in urban settings around London and Rome. Results The beneficiary was the London Borough of Sutton and the partners were four other London Boroughs, an NGO and a local authority partner in Rome. At the outset of the project, a series of criteria were established for the partners to suggest suitable projects related to habitat and species management of relevance to their specific location. This resulted in a list of some 60 eligible projects of diverse nature covering conservation issues that could well be represented and applicable in other urban settings. The list was further refined down to 40 implementable projects which could be managed within the human and financial resources available to the partners. Each project partner implemented at least four projects (with the exception of the Italian partner, who undertook three). These projects were divided into five categories: - Project Category 1. Volunteer/stakeholder (both individual and group) management of urban green-space designated within local development plan as a wildlife site. - Project Category 2. Individual species projects involving land owners, householders and individuals (such as garden bird box or bat box schemes). - Project Category 3. General habitat enhancement schemes involving green corridors or public open space (such as river cleaning schemes or invasive plant abatement) - Project Category 4. Access and interpretation projects (such as pram/wheelchair access improvements). - Project Category 5. School or sports club projects to enhance the biodiversity value of school or sports grounds Major successes were the production of 4 new Biodiversity Action Plans and 2 revitalised existing Biodiversity Action Plans through extensive consultation: the refugee garden project, which helped refugees learn English and integrate with the local community; and the Sand Martin bank to encourage Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) nesting in one of the partner areas. The main strength of the project was the innovative approach to conservation at the local level by engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including many disadvantaged groups such as the disabled, refugees, young offenders and minority ethnic groups as well as children's groups and local businesses. The local communities and organisations throughout the boroughs have come together to manage the green-space in a way that benefits both the needs of wildlife and the community. SUN increased local stakeholder involvement by introducing a range of new stakeholder groups to the management process. The most successful approaches were those that used specific events related to a nature conservation issue, such as wildlife gardening, or as a stand/display at an existing large-scale general countryside event. The project focussed on demonstrating innovative approaches to developing and testing stakeholder engagement tools for urban green space management. These tools can be transferable to stakeholder engagement in other urban planning and development programmes and also help to integrate biodiversity strategy with other urban planning priorities. The local communities are continuing with the projects and some of the biodiversity action plans.