Overview

Over three quarters of Europeans live in urban areas, where paved surfaces, roads and buildings amplify the effects of climate change. A proven solution to counter these effects exists. Green and blue infrastructure, such as trees, rain-gardens, green roofs and other vegetation, helps cool cities on hot summer days, captures water from heavy rain showers and improves air quality. However, local authorities often regard urban green space as expensive or difficult to implement. The Interreg 2 Seas Nature Smart Cities project aims to enlarge the amount of green space in all cities and towns involved the project. 8 City partners and 3 Academic partners in the UK, Belgium, The Netherlands and France join forces to bring this goal closer. The city partners implement 7 different green infrastructure pilot projects in their neighbourhoods. The academic partners use this experience to test and validate the theory on how to finance green infrastructure in local communities. Together, the partners develop a business model, a step-by-step methodology and a capacity building programme for local authorities to finance green infrastructure.