Reconnecting with nature

Regeneration of beach dune systems, Barcelona

New European Bauhaus Prize Winner 2022, Regeneration of beach dune systems project, looked at ways to protect and rehabilitate coastal ecosystems under threat in and around Barcelona.

The aim of this project was to restore coastline and beach dunes, fauna and flora together with citizens, and improve biodiversity and adaptation to climate change whilst raising awareness on environmental impacts through participation.

The Barcelona Metropolitan Area integrates the responsibility of restoring and managing the dune areas as natural areas on the metropolitan beaches with their use and enjoyment as areas for recreation and leisure activities. They also organise actions that foster public participation, promoting knowledge, awareness and intervention in these spaces.

Citizen science projects

Observing and monitoring the biodiversity of the dune areas: projects for empowering people, providing them with links to the scientific community to carry out studies and plan new actions, while valuing data collection.

One of the mechanisms it used to deploy this process was to foster public participation, promoting knowledge and awareness in those spaces. Using citizen science projects, the regeneration of beach dune systems team developed a digital platform to provide links to local citizens that allowed them to work with the scientific community to carry out studies, collect data and plan new restorative interventions on the dunes.

The Rivers of Sofia, Bulgaria

The Rivers of Sofia project united citizens, experts, and the private sector in reviving rundown riverbanks that had been inaccessible since the 1940s.

Architectural interventions, festivals, and a collaborative working group transformed the rivers into gathering space for diverse groups. It restored the rivers’ connection to the city and reclaimed a place for urban nature in Sofia. It also opened up civic and institutional dialogue about the waterways’ future and catalysed long-term change.

The Rivers of Sofia Project, Copyright European Union

This example demonstrates a collaborative effort across community, experts, arts and the private sector to restore the rivers’ connection to the city and reclaim a place for urban nature in Sofia. It additionally opened up a civic and institutional discourse on the waterways’ future and catalysed long-term change.

The Rivers of Sofia Project, Copyright European Union