Cities workshop and board meetings to prepare the final phase of the international initiative “ProGIreg” in Piraeus
From 29 to 31 March 2023, the last annual cities workshop and board meetings of the so-called “ProGIreg” project took place in the Municipal Theatre of the Greek port city of Piraeus. All project partners from municipalities, non-governmental organizations, research institutions and companies from eight different countries participated in the three conference days to share their gained knowledge and experiences with the implemented nature-based solutions (NBS).
The aim of the event was to present the current progress of the different locally implemented nature-based solution projects and to discuss the development of the NBS business model catalogue together with all local project partners. The focus of the cities workshop this time was on the follower cities and their ongoing activities to develop city plans for NBS implementation.
After the opening of the event by the representatives of the City of Piraeus the local urban regeneration areas and NBS as well as the so-called long walls zone of Piraeus with its potentials were introduced.
To illustrate the implementation progess of the NBS, our partners in Piraeus gave an on-site presentation of the planned and partly ongoing urban regeneration at Mari Kuri Road school and a neighboring school.
After that all Follower Cities presented their progress in integrating nature-based solutions into their planning processes and shared their experiences with the Front-Runner Cities and their Living Labs. Then there were presented the sustainable business models developed for the NBS, including how the follower cities can integrate them into their final city plans. The last important agenda point of the conference were meetings of the City Board and the Executive Committee as well as related ad-hoc work meeting which were held to be informed about the project progress, issues and next steps to plan the final phase of the project and to meet the formal requirements for the Board meetings until the end of the ProGireg project in November 2023.
Beyond the mandatory social programme, an optional guided tour of the ancient long walls of Piraeus by archaeologists from the Archaeological Department of the Ministry of Culture and a boat trip to Eagina Island were offered to learn more about the port of Piraeus and the future importance of blue infrastructure in Piraeus.
About the ProGireg project
The idea of the long-term transdisciplinary project “ProGIreg”, funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme, is to co-create and use nature for urban regeneration with and for citizens. Thus, the project includes partner organisations such as cities, NGOs, research institutions and companies from eight different countries. The name ProGIreg stands for “productive Green Infrastructure for post-industrial urban regeneration”: nature for renewal.
While the four so-called “front-runner cities” Dortmund (Germany), Turin (Italy), Zagreb (Croatia) and Ningbo (China) host living labs in post-industrial urban neighbourhoods where nature-based solutions have been developed, tested and implemented, the cities of Cascais (Portugal), Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Piraeus (Greece) and Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina), as so-called “follower cities”, closely follow the progress in the Living Labs and engage in inter-city exchanges to replicate the nature-based solutions. In total, ProGIreg is implementing eight types of nature-based solutions, including: Recreational activities and clean energy on former landfills (1), new regenerated soils (2), community-based urban farms and gardens (3), aquaponics (4), green walls and roofs (5), accessible green corridors (6), local environmental balancing processes (7) and pollinator diversity (8).
In order to achieve a sustainable long-term effect of the implemented projects, ProGIreg develops self-sustaining business models for the implemented nature-based solutions based on a scientific assessment of the multiple benefits for local social, environmental and economic regeneration.
To learn more about the implemented nature-based solutions in the pioneer and successor cities, visit the ProGIreg website.