A cross-continental exchange on urban nature, biodiversity, and community-driven green innovation
Last week, Birmingham welcomed a senior delegation from Tsukuba City, Japan, led by Mayor Tatsuo Igarashi, for a knowledge-exchange visit dedicated to nature-positive urban planning, biodiversity, and community engagement. The visit further strengthened Birmingham’s international reputation as the UK’s first accredited Nature City and a leader in green, fair, and resilient urban development.
The Tsukuba delegation—including representatives from the Mayor’s Secretariat, Executive Department and International Affairs Division—travelled to the city on 6th February 2026 to learn more about Birmingham’s pioneering City of Nature Plan, which they identified as a model of fairness, inclusivity, and strong community partnerships.
Learning from each other’s approaches
The programme began with the Lord Mayor’s welcome to the visitors before hearing Mayor Igarashi’s presentation on Tsukuba—Japan’s renowned “Science City”. The presentation emphasises Tsukuba’s rapid growth, unique scene-based urban character, and its newly established Biodiversity Strategy (2025), which sets out the city’s ambition to strengthen nature protection and establish a new biodiversity centre.
Tsukuba’s presentation highlighted hey nature initiatives, including:
Birmingham’s contribution introduced the delegation to the city’s City of Nature Plan, covering biodiversity net gain, community involvement, the Ranger Service, the Green Champions programme, and cross-departmental approaches to embedding nature across public services.
Celebrating Birmingham’s green identity
The exchange provided an opportunity to showcase the scale and importance oof Birmingham’s green spaces—from parks and nature reserves to canals, woodlands, and urban wildlife corridors. As the first UK Nature City, Birmingham continues to expand ecologically rich spaces, improve access to nature, and support nature-based solutions that boost health, wellbeing, and climate resilience.
The delegation’s interest aligned closely with Birmingham’s commitments to:
Exploring opportunities for collaboration
Following the morning’s sessions, the delegation visited the Library of Birmingham to meet with Tom Epps before heading to the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust for a discussion on practical conservation initiatives and environmental education.
Throughout the day, both cities identified promising areas for future collaboration, including shared work on community nature programmes, skills development, biodiversity data and mapping, and innovative approaches to nature-positive urban planning.
About Tsukuba
Located 50km northeast of Tokyo, Tsukuba is a rapidly expanding city of approximately 260,000 residents and a global hub for scientific research and technological innovation. Its newly adopted Tsukuba Biodiversity Strategy (2025) aligns closely with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and emphasises collaboration with communities, academia and the private sector.
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