Urban GreenUp

Making cities more sustainable and less harmful for the environment is one of humanity’s top priorities. Different approaches in this direction can be adopted. So far, renaturing urban plans by making use of nature-based solutions are among the most effective ones.

URBAN GreenUP

URBAN GreenUP is a project funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. Its objective is the development, application and replication of Renaturing Urban Plans in a number of European and non-European cities to mitigate the effects of climate change, improve air quality and water management, as well as increase the sustainability of our cities through innovative nature-based solutions.

Horizon 2020 are providing funding to cities to act as NBS demonstrator projects across the continent. These are expected to provide best-practice examples that can be replicated globally.

Frontrunner cities

Three runner cities – Valladolid (Spain), Liverpool (UK) and Izmir (Turkey) are targeting the implementation of singular NBS interventions located in multiple sites across their cities, as well as networked green and blue spaces.

Examples of the planned initiatives include:

• green bike and pedestrian routes
• the installation of parks and urban farming facilities
• the usage of smart soils and bio pollutant filters
• the implementation of sustainable drainage systems, for irrigation purposes and to reduce the impact of floods.

Due to the issue of limited urban space, projects have predominantly taken a small-scale approach to NbS interventions, taking a ‘localised approach’, focusing on creating ‘small demonstrator’ interventions such as floating gardens, green walls and green roofs in designated zones across the city.

These NbS interventions are expected to regenerate areas and attract other business, whilst also tackling big issues around mental health and well-being.

Your Task

Pick one of the cities participating in Urban GreenUp and investigate their interventions and their co-benefits.

In the comments, briefly describe an intervention and its benefits and share why you chose it.