Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GreenInCities (GreenInCities)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30
GreenInCities: Demonstrating Holistic Data-driven Co-Creative Approaches in Nature-Based Solutions towards climate Adaptation and Mitigation
In recent decades, new planning paradigms have reshaped cities. Urban regeneration has renovated public spaces, redeveloped city centres, and established innovation districts. Smart cities have implemented technological systems, such as transport management, water and contamination monitoring, and energy-efficient buildings. A new sustainable approach, including recycling, renaturalization, and recovery, has emerged in response to the demand for environmental sensitivity in urban planning. These strategies have mainly been applied to wealthy areas to attract tourism and companies, repositioning cities in the global economic framework. However, applying these regeneration strategies, smart systems, and renaturalization processes to deprived areas is crucial. These areas tend to face multiple urban problems, such as pollution, social and cultural issues, lack of services and low-quality built environments, and public spaces, leading to issues related to liveability, functionality, quality of life, social cohesiveness, and physical and mental health. Moreover, there is a growing need for climate change adaptation strategies, which has led to the implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS). However, a new pattern is emerging, which considers nature as a stakeholder in itself, beyond the ecosystem services it provides. Innovative technologies such as AI, machine learning, and immersive realities are also emerging, which can enhance the accuracy of information delivery and people engagement.
GreenInCities aims to develop methodologies and tools for collaborative climate mitigation and adaptation urban planning approaches, specifically for deprived areas, addressing three main challenges: improving societal readiness level and awareness of vulnerable groups, going beyond classical greening and renaturing interventions, and leveraging cutting edge technologies to enhance co-creation and maximise urban regeneration impacts.
Through the implementation of 5 Leader City pilot projects - Barcelona, Prato, Nova Gorica, Helsinki and Athens - GreenInCities seeks to demonstrate the importance of holistic nature-based solutions that prioritises the non-human dimension just as much as the human dimension. Learning from the co-creation process of the Leader Cities, 6 Follower Cities - Pecs, Cork, Matosinhos, Reykjavik, Hersonissos, and Birstonas - will replicate the co-creation process, concluding with small-scale nature-based solutions in each city.
In recent decades, new planning paradigms have reshaped cities. Urban regeneration has renovated public spaces, redeveloped city centres, and established innovation districts. Smart cities have implemented technological systems, such as transport management, water and contamination monitoring, and energy-efficient buildings. A new sustainable approach, including recycling, renaturalization, and recovery, has emerged in response to the demand for environmental sensitivity in urban planning. These strategies have mainly been applied to wealthy areas to attract tourism and companies, repositioning cities in the global economic framework. However, applying these regeneration strategies, smart systems, and renaturalization processes to deprived areas is crucial. These areas tend to face multiple urban problems, such as pollution, social and cultural issues, lack of services and low-quality built environments, and public spaces, leading to issues related to liveability, functionality, quality of life, social cohesiveness, and physical and mental health. Moreover, there is a growing need for climate change adaptation strategies, which has led to the implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS). However, a new pattern is emerging, which considers nature as a stakeholder in itself, beyond the ecosystem services it provides. Innovative technologies such as AI, machine learning, and immersive realities are also emerging, which can enhance the accuracy of information delivery and people engagement.
GreenInCities aims to develop methodologies and tools for collaborative climate mitigation and adaptation urban planning approaches, specifically for deprived areas, addressing three main challenges: improving societal readiness level and awareness of vulnerable groups, going beyond classical greening and renaturing interventions, and leveraging cutting edge technologies to enhance co-creation and maximise urban regeneration impacts.
Through the implementation of 5 Leader City pilot projects - Barcelona, Prato, Nova Gorica, Helsinki and Athens - GreenInCities seeks to demonstrate the importance of holistic nature-based solutions that prioritises the non-human dimension just as much as the human dimension. Learning from the co-creation process of the Leader Cities, 6 Follower Cities - Pecs, Cork, Matosinhos, Reykjavik, Hersonissos, and Birstonas - will replicate the co-creation process, concluding with small-scale nature-based solutions in each city.
During the first 18 months of the GreenInCities project, catalogues of tools and solutions have been defined, methodologies elaborated and the Living Labs of the Leader Cities have begun, just to name a few of the main achievements.
Methodologies & Tools
GreenInCities methodologies have been elaborated, including the participatory processes and twinning mechanism between the Leader and Follower Cities. Tools for co-analysis, co-design and co-monitoring have been further developed and outlined in deliverables and tool cards, in order to provide users with the relevant information to be able to use them during the co-creation process. Digital twins have been developed for the cities of Barcelona, Helsinki and Birstonas, as well as initial physics-based simulations were run for Barcelona, Helsinki and Prato. A Neurourbanism Assessment has been developed and already deployed in Nova Gorica and will take place in Helsinki also.
Solutions
The initial catalogue of solutions has been developed and are categorized in the following groups: new space functions integrating green, urban green elements, green practices and horizontal governance support systems. A user-friendly Solutions catalogue is published on the GreenInCities website which also analyses the solutions in relation to the New European Bauhaus Principles. Further innovative solutions have been developed by the Leader Cities and ideated by the Follower Cities, that will be included in the revision of the Solutions Catalogue.
Living Labs
The Leader Cities kicked off their co-creation process with the co-analysis and co-design phases. Utilising the tools and solutions to carry out quantitative assessments with the help of technicians and participatory activities with the range of stakeholders defined by each city. The implementation plans have gone through rounds of co-design and co-validation and are in their final stages of development. Follower Cities have been shadowing the Leader Cities during in person consortium meetings to follow along the co-creation process and understand which cities they could learn from. In the last months the Follower Cities Living Labs commenced with the cities working towards the replication strategy.
Methodologies & Tools
GreenInCities methodologies have been elaborated, including the participatory processes and twinning mechanism between the Leader and Follower Cities. Tools for co-analysis, co-design and co-monitoring have been further developed and outlined in deliverables and tool cards, in order to provide users with the relevant information to be able to use them during the co-creation process. Digital twins have been developed for the cities of Barcelona, Helsinki and Birstonas, as well as initial physics-based simulations were run for Barcelona, Helsinki and Prato. A Neurourbanism Assessment has been developed and already deployed in Nova Gorica and will take place in Helsinki also.
Solutions
The initial catalogue of solutions has been developed and are categorized in the following groups: new space functions integrating green, urban green elements, green practices and horizontal governance support systems. A user-friendly Solutions catalogue is published on the GreenInCities website which also analyses the solutions in relation to the New European Bauhaus Principles. Further innovative solutions have been developed by the Leader Cities and ideated by the Follower Cities, that will be included in the revision of the Solutions Catalogue.
Living Labs
The Leader Cities kicked off their co-creation process with the co-analysis and co-design phases. Utilising the tools and solutions to carry out quantitative assessments with the help of technicians and participatory activities with the range of stakeholders defined by each city. The implementation plans have gone through rounds of co-design and co-validation and are in their final stages of development. Follower Cities have been shadowing the Leader Cities during in person consortium meetings to follow along the co-creation process and understand which cities they could learn from. In the last months the Follower Cities Living Labs commenced with the cities working towards the replication strategy.
At this stage in the project, the GreenInCities Consortium has developed an initial list of potential project results that go beyond the current state of the art. These results will be monitored over the course of the project. The initial list includes potential new innovative solutions to be piloted, tools and methodologies for co-analysis, co-design and inclusivity, as well as digital tools. Within each of these categories are specific results developed by project partners.
These results have the potential to be used beyond GreenInCities such as being used in further research and projects, and to be deployed and used by municipalities/public bodies/SMEs in further redevelopment projects or initiatives. The results will be clearly documented and the new solutions will be added to the Solutions Catalogue to provide external persons information regarding the solution.
These results have the potential to be used beyond GreenInCities such as being used in further research and projects, and to be deployed and used by municipalities/public bodies/SMEs in further redevelopment projects or initiatives. The results will be clearly documented and the new solutions will be added to the Solutions Catalogue to provide external persons information regarding the solution.