Solutions for Cities and Regions Booklet Program for City and Region representatives January 31st 2020 Paris, Grand Palais Program for City and Region representatives January 31st 2020 Paris, Grand Palais 2 Solutions for Cities and Regions Booklet Program for City and Region representatives January 31st 2020 Paris, Grand Palais Content City of L’Aquila (Italy) ......................................................................................................... 4 City of Breda (Netherlands) ............................................................................................ 6 City of Budapest, 19th district (Hungary) ................................................................. 8 City of Dakar (Senegal) .................................................................................................. 10 City of Deinze (Belgium) ................................................................................................ 12 City of Dobrich (Bulgaria) ............................................................................................... 14 City of Elche - Elx (Spain) ............................................................................................. 16 City of Helsinki (Finland) ................................................................................................ 18 City of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) ................................... 19 City of Lahti (Finland) ....................................................................................................... 21 City of Mollet del Vallès (Spain) ................................................................................. 23 City of Paterna (Spain) .................................................................................................... 25 City of Penang (Malaysia) ............................................................................................. 27 City of Pesaro (Italy) ......................................................................................................... 29 City of Prilep (North Macedonia) ................................................................................ 31 City of Rottofreno (Italy).................................................................................................. 33 City of Roubaix (France) ................................................................................................ 35 City of Rubí (Spain) .......................................................................................................... 37 City of Vincennes (France) ........................................................................................... 39 City of Zagreb (Croatia) .................................................................................................. 41 Region Västra Götaland (Sweden) ........................................................................... 43 Aral Sea Delegation (Uzbekistan) ............................................................................. 45 Assembly of European Regions (AER) .................................................................. 47 R20 Regions of Climate Action for the Mediterranean ................................... 49 Cities and Regions Program 2020 ............................................................................ 51 This booklet was created from the information sent by some of the City and Region representatives that attended ChangeNOW 2020. 3 Solutions for Cities and Regions Booklet Program for City and Region representatives January 31st 2020 Paris, Grand Palais City of L’Aquila (Italy) Urban Forestation as instrument of adaptation on climate change: L’Aquila case-study The cities have a crucial role to play in order to manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable: it is in urban areas that the challenge to climate change will be won or lost. L’Aquila stands 721 metres above sea level, in the earth of the Abruzzo Region, of which it is the administrative centre, and is near the Appennines montains. The effects of climate change are manifesting in the Apennines Fabrizio Taranta - often with devastating consequences, through floods, landslides, Environment Councilor avalanches, melting glaciers: all this is a risk for cities, infrastructure and economic activities. Building resilience will be key for urban policymakers, and will provide many co-benefits, making cities wealthier and healthier places to live and work. Nature-Based-Solutions represent a multi- purpose and multi-service approach, which includes a series of solutions inspired by nature to improve environmental quality and provide improvement in the psycho-physical health of the population in cities. Nature reintroduced into the city can act effectively, performantly and even less onerous than other solutions in reducing the impact of climate change and in meeting multiple goals simultaneously: • reduce greenhouse gases, • trap fine dust, • produce microclimatic mitigation with shadow and evapotranspiration, • reduce energy consumption for cooling buildings, • improve water cycle management by reducing runoff. Nature-Based-Solutions are not just "green areas", but a structural and functional network of natural and semi-natural systems capable of improving the resilience of habitats, ecological efficiency, full functionality of ecosystems, ecological connectivity with their "services", and, at the same time, the perceptive-aesthetic perception linked to the presence of natural systems. Furthermore, Forests and Urban Forests are an example of a carbon sink “any process, activity or mechanism to remove greenhouse gases, aerosols or a greenhouse gas precursor from the atmosphere”. The Municipality of L'Aquila has taken the first steps towards urban forestation as a tool for adaptation to climate change: • construction of new green areas, • increase in the number of trees in each existing green area, • realization of new tree-lined avenues. 4 Solutions for Cities and Regions Booklet Program for City and Region representatives January 31st 2020 Paris, Grand Palais For example: • in the 2017 130 trees are planted (1300 <KgCO2/year < 2600 absorbed in an urban context), • in the 2018 280 trees are planted (2800 <KgCO2/year < 5600 absorbed in an urban context) • in the 2019 280 trees are planted (2800 <KgCO2/year < 5600 absorbed in an urban context). The local territory thus becomes a privileged area for the construction of environmentally positive actions, both locally and globally, becoming the context in which to effectively implement the famous sustainability slogan “think globally, act locally”! 5 Solutions for Cities and Regions Booklet Program for City and Region representatives January 31st 2020 Paris, Grand Palais City of Breda (Netherlands) AirQon* - A new way in improving local air quality The city of Breda is full of events, hosting nearly 200 every year. The target of AirQon: greener events, involving an active participation of the people, with the help of new technology ready to be demonstrated and put into practice. AirQon uses Electric Vehicles as a competitive alternative for diesel generators. In the project of AirQon the Boaz Adank, Vice-Mayor municipality of Breda cooperates with nine different Vic van den Broek, Senior Advisor European partners such as event organizers, suppliers of cars, Affairs companies that support event organizations and companies that make it possible to use electricity from the car. An online platform and a mobile app allow these parties to be connected, disseminating the calendar of events and allowing participants to plan their needs and availabilities. Furthermore, AirQon is not limited to events organized by the municipality of Breda, but also events organized by third parties equally take part here in coordinating the project. This support is of vital importance, avoiding event organizers to feel threatened and let show to the public that their event is sustainable. For 2020 Breda foresees an important role for AirQon in Vuelta Espana 2020, starting in The Netherlands. For more information: www.airqon.eu - Mark de Pooter: [email protected] GreenQuays* - A green and sustainable city river Like many other cities in Europe, Breda is struggling with the choices of unsustainable urbanization from the past, deterioration of urban ecosystems and a lack of resilience to climate change. This requires innovative solutions to ensure that residents can continue to live in a liveable city in the future. The GreenQuays project aims to develop and test "green" technology, specifically designed to support the development of a vertical ecosystem and to create conditions for the growth of herbaceous plants, ferns and mosses. And improve bio-diversity in the inner city. The Green Quays project is a nature-inclusive development of the quays and surrounding (green) public space. Various 6 Solutions for Cities and Regions Booklet Program for City and Region representatives January 31st 2020 Paris, Grand Palais techniques are used to achieve this, such as tree sections in the quay walls, material choices and drainage system. The combination of these different techniques applied in an inner-city context makes this project unique. GreenQuays project’s main objective is the realization of sustainable urban re- naturation in Breda using nature inclusive regenerative solutions - green quays linked to public green spaces - as part of a bigger scheme targeting the urban restoration of the river Mark. For information, contact Mrs. Veerle Hemerik: [email protected] *Project Airqon