Green/blue infrastructure for sustainable, attractive cities (Green Blue Cities)

The main objective of this project was to develop knowledge and tools required to seize the opportunities arising from future challenges to manage urban storm water in a way that facilitates robust, synergistic and multi-functional green infra-structures that will address today’s and tomorrow’s climate and other changes in dynamic urban areas. This project has been conducted in an international urban living lab in Kiruna, Sweden, combined with the national urban living labs (so called city-hubs) Zwolle in The Netherlands and Innsbruck in Austria. In these, citizens, practitioners, decision makers and researchers have been brought together to jointly develop innovative solutions.

In Kiruna recommendations for an innovative green infrastructure design which is adapted to the arctic climate and an evaluation of the (storm)water system during the city re-location have been prepared. Also in Zwolle green infrastructure implementation plans have been supported; here in an expanding coastal city facing challenges due to climate change/rising sea levels. Organizational aspects tied to stormwater in the planning process have been addressed in all living labs. The outcomes will have a direct impact on the cities’ future work and support their decision making when implementing green infrastructure.