Sustainability-from-below: People, nature and diversity in London National Park City

As we enter the Decade of Action for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, there is growing
recognition that cities are key frontiers in the fight to achieve sustainability (see SDG-11; World Cities
Report 2020; UN-Habitat III 2016). They present significant socio-environmental challenges on both the
local and global level - whether contributing to, or suffering from, environmental degradation, habitat loss,
natural and human-induced disasters (such as COVID-19), or climate change and its associated risks -
e.g. flooding, heat stress, drought and pollution of air and water (Global Biodiversity Outlook 2020).
Moreover, as the human narrative continues to unfold, our future looks increasingly urban, and by 2050,
cities will be home to 68% of the global population (World Cities Report 2020). In light of this trajectory,
the need for sustainable urbanisation has become a global priority (World Cities Report 2020). The New
Urban Agenda (NUA) imagines cities that: "protect, conserve, restore and promote their ecosystems,
water, natural habitats and biodiversity, minimize their environmental impact and change to sustainable
consumption and production patterns" (UN-Habitat III 2016). Finding innovative ways to implement this
vision is a key struggle for the upcoming decade (World Cities Report 2020). This project seeks to join the
conversation regarding sustainable urbanisation, and make a valuable contribution to global discourse
through conducting an ethnographic exploration of the highly innovative, and rapidly developing
movement aiming to transform London into the world's first National Park City (LNPC).