NEWS & EVENTS
GreenInCities: GUARDEN’s innovation at the spearhead of the ambitious European project
URBAN AND CLIMATE CHALLENGES IN EUROPEAN CITIES
In underprivileged urban zones, residents face enduring challenges both in the urban and climate scopes. These issues, spanning from pollution to social inequalities, and outdated infrastructure, lead to low-quality living conditions and limited access to essential services and green spaces. And, to accentuate the issue, traditional urban regeneration and smart technologies involved in the improvement of major cities often favored affluent areas, further widening the urban divide.
TACKLING BOTH ISSUES AS ONE
GreenInCities is a 4-year EU-funded initiative dedicated to transforming urban spaces, focusing on disadvantaged areas, through nature-based solutions and technological applications. By identifying the needs of both humans and ecosystems, the project applies data-driven innovations with neuroscience to develop effective climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.
The initiative benefits from the active partnership of the PEMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan). The city also hosts the coordinator of the project, The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.
GUARDEN’S TOOLS AT THE HEART OF THE GREENINCITIES’s PILOT
As part of the project, a pilot initiative is underway in Sant Adrià de Besòs, near the Besòs River. This transformation focuses on establishing an air quality laboratory and a climate refuge composed of natural spaces.
To transform the area of Sant Adrià de Besòs, the initiative also plans on the creation of a wildlife observatory that will heavily rely on the use of the MINKA platform. MINKA is a platform that allows citizens to register their observations of biodiversity through georeferenced photos of marine and terrestrial organisms, share them with the community and discuss together of solutions to protect it.