ATHENS – Reducing the Urban Heat Island Effect
The City of Athens is looking for climate solutions which will reduce the urban temperature and mitigate urban heat island effect within the city. To achieve this, Athens would like to utilize existing municipal buildings e.g. schools and abandoned building lots, to transform them into green spaces to improve the city’s microclimate.
Ultimately the solution should be fully integrated, incorporating multiple aspects such as lowering energy consumption and increasing climate resilience. This project is in line with the objectives of Athens’ Climate Action Plan and Resilience Strategy, which both aim to improve the municipality’s capacity to respond to climate change risk and create more liveable neighbourhoods.
Athens wants to:
- Exploit the most optimal, climate resilient and sustainable solution (green spaces, green roofs, open water features, nature-based solutions, use of suitable materials and bioclimatic design) for municipal owned areas
- Reduce the overall energy consumption (in cooling and heating needs by greening most of the free space)
- Improve the city’s overall microclimate and reduce the impact of rising temperatures and alleviate the urban heat island effect.
C40 Cities hosted a 2 day co-creation workshop in Athens as part of the C40 City Solutions Platform on the 25th – 26th September 2018. There were 12 participants from the Nordics who helped drive the initial ideas for solutions to the city’s challenges. The next steps and concrete project opportunities based on the outcomes form the workshop will be announced asap.
If you have a solution for Athens or would like more information on how to join this opportunity please contact Scott Allison at: sca@cleancluster.dk
Co-financed by:
This project is financed as part of the Nordic prime ministers’ initiative Nordic Sustainable Cities, which is coordinated by the Nordic Council of Ministers with the aim of strengthening the Nordic brand, add value to existing trade promotion efforts through Nordic cooperation and to expand the market potential for Nordic businesses.