Nature-based solutions (NBS) may be viewed as processes of eco-social niche
construction, wherein humans and non-human species jointly shape dynamic
environments, through cultural, ecological and evolutionary interactions and
interlinked cognitive and affective engagements. Urban landscapes, understood
as evolving multispecies niches, illustrate the human role as active niche
constructors, both limiting certain species while creating new possibilities for
others (Downey, 2016; Niesner et al., 2021). This activity influences
evolutionary pathways for both humans and non-humans, alongside natural
selection (Odling-Smee et al., 2003; Laland et al., 2016). By combining the
notion of affordances with the biosemiotic concept of umwelt, we understand
urban landscapes as multispecies habitats formed through reciprocal
perception-action systems that are cognitive and affective in nature.
Affordances, which represent the potential actions an environment provides an
organism (Gibson, 2014), differ based on the species' own capacities and
intentions, supporting a relational approach to perception (Heras-Escribano,
2020). Humans engage with and design environments via culturally shaped
affordances (Norman, 1999), while non-human species interpret the same
spaces through their own species-specific umwelten, grounded in unique
perceptual and behavioural frameworks (Gibson, 2014). These processes,
though distinct, are mutually reliant and together create adaptive, shifting niches
that enable both human well-being and non-human thriving, contributing to ecosocial
recovery amid environmental pressures (Kaaronen & Strelkovskii, 2020;
Nagatsu et al., 2023). This research draws on empirical evidence from the
Pansio-Perno Living Lab in Turku, Finland, employing affordance mapping,
umwelt assessment, behavioural observation, and citizen storytelling to reveal
how affordance-rich settings sustain social practices and non-human
inhabitation. Rather than fixed interventions, this view treats NBS as ongoing
niche-making processes, where design and perception co-direct outcomes
(Matthews et al., 2014). By recognising urban environments as perceptually
active and shared systems (Gibson, 2014; Council of Europe, 2000; Downey,
2016), we emphasise co-liveability, agency, and multispecies justice across
species.