GreenInCities

GreenInCities is an EU-funded Horizon Europe project focused on implementing regreening and re-naturalisation interventions in European cities, enabling all forms of life, both human and non-human, to coexist and thrive. The project begins by recognising the interdependence between people, flora, and fauna, and seeks caring, innovative solutions that support the well-being of urban ecosystems as a whole.

Aligned with the European vision for climate-neutral cities by 2030, and grounded in the principles of the New European Bauhaus (sustainability, aesthetics, inclusion) and the European Green Deal, GreenInCities aims to reimagine urban green spaces across 11 European cities.

Through a co-creation methodology applied across all project phases, and drawing on a broad pool of participatory, citizen-science, digital tools and data-driven models developed by 30 partner organisations, the project collaborates with citizens and technicians to co-create urban green spaces that are inclusive, climate-resilient, and multifunctional. This process engages local communities directly, particularly those most affected by the consequences of climate change (e.g., children, older people, women, people with a migrant background, etc.), empowering them in decision-making and ensuring long-lasting impact.

The project also raises awareness of climate-related urban vulnerabilities, integrating inclusivity, gender equality, and socio-environmental sustainability into regreening interventions.

The 11 participating cities include 5 Leader Cities: Athens (Greece), Barcelona (Spain), Helsinki (Finland), Prato (Italy), Nova Gorica (Slovenia), and 6 Follower Cities: Birštonas (Lithuania), Cork (Ireland), Hersonissos (Greece), Matosinhos (Portugal), Pécs (Hungary), and Reykjavik (Iceland).

As part of GreenInCities’s methodology the following activities take place across both Leader and Follower Cities:

• Co-Analysis activities, through quantitative and qualitative assessments of public space use, non-humans (flora and fauna), environment and resilience,
• Co-design activities to co-create innovative Nature-based Solutions (NbS) that answer to the needs of different local communities, 
• Research on gendered impacts of the environmental crisis and environmental ethics,
• Regreening and re-naturilisation interventions to enhance biodiversity, vitality, social cohesiveness and quality of life in the selected urban green areas, and
• Co-monitoring activities (ex-ante and ex-post) to measure social and environmental impact of the regreening interventions.

URBANA contributes to the project in three key ways. First, as Ethics Overseer, the team ensures that ethical considerations inform all project activities, supported by the development of the GreenInCities Values and Ethics Handbook, which aligns partners around shared European societal values. Second, URBANA developed the project’s Inclusion Plan, providing tools, guidelines, and methodologies to ensure inclusivity and gender perspectives across all co-creation phases. To strengthen this effort, the team conducted training and knowledge-sharing sessions with all cities and technical partners to embed inclusive and gender-sensitive approaches in urban planning and regreening strategies.

URBANA has also led the co-creation process for the pilot case in Athens at Profitis Ilias Park in Rizoupoli (5th Municipal District). Through co-creation workshops with neighbourhood residents, including older adults, local associations, students from nearby schools along with their caregivers, and municipal representatives, the process ensured that the most relevant stakeholders, especially those often excluded from urban planning, shaped the park’s redesign.

Utilising participatory tools such as Experiential Mapping using Urban Walks and Urban Quality Indicators and Co-design Public Space Workshops focusing on liveability and social cohesiveness, participants expressed a shared desire to transform the park from a transitory space into a vital, safe, and accessible place, one where older adults can socialize, children of all ages can play, caregivers can rest and take care of their children comfortably, and local biodiversity, including the park’s stray cats, can thrive.

At the end of the co-creation process, URBANA synthesised participants’ design proposals and co-prioritised them using GreenInCities decision-making tools, resulting in the 1st draft of the park’s Intervention Plan. The Plan aims to enhance the park’s vitality, biodiversity, and community use, transforming it into a greener and welcoming space where everyone feels comfortable spending time and engaging in everyday activities.

Parks belong to girls too!

As part of GreenInCities, URBANA organised a series of participatory workshops with teenage girls, a group often overlooked in the design and use of urban parks. The aim was to co-design and co-build an intervention with and for them at Profitis Ilias Park in Rizoupoli.

Through creative and hands-on workshops, participants reflected on their experiences of public space, explored and documented the park through photography, texture mapping and cognitive maps, and transformed their ideas into sketches, models and collages. Working with full-scale prototypes made from reclaimed materials allowed them to test, refine and validate their proposals before moving to construction.

In the first week of May, these ideas were brought to life through co-construction workshops involving woodworking, the creation of cushions, shading, and painting. In this context, a multifunctional trolley and seating elements were made in collaboration with the students.

The workshops concluded with a community celebration at Profitis Ilias Park, where the new interventions became a shared space for creative activities involving the students and local residents.

A booklet documenting the workshops, photographs, reflections and lessons learned will be published soon, offering a closer look at the co-design and co-construction journey. Stay tuned!

Co-caring design strategies

Alongside the pilot interventions, URBANA launched a state-of-the-art desk research exploring design strategies that can simultaneously enhance women's sense of safety in medium-sized urban green spaces while supporting the well-being of non-human life. The aim is to identify innovative, inclusive co-caring approaches that strengthen both social and ecological well-being.

Building on this research, URBANA organised a series of online meetings with representatives from the project's cities to exchange experiences, discuss emerging design themes and explore approaches that address both women's safety and non-human well being in urban green spaces.

Drawing on the findings of both the research and these exchanges, URBANA is currently preparing a report on co-caring design strategies for urban green areas, bringing together existing practices, emerging challenges and innovative approaches for more inclusive and ecologically resilient urban design.

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