Led by the Swedish Lulea University of Technology, Green/Blue Cities aims to seize opportunities arising from future challenges to effectively manage urban storm water. This project uses an Urban Living Lab approach, bringing together citizens, practitioners, decision makers, and researchers, to jointly develop innovative solutions. The Swedish city of Kiruna will feature as a main Urban Living Lab, as Co-applicant Arjan van Timmeren, Professor of Environmental Technology & Design Faculty of Architecture at Technical University Delft (Netherlands), explains: “Kiruna offers an unique opportunity to set up the same city in a different, more ‘blue-green’ way without changing the existing structure.”
The main objective of this project is to develop knowledge and tools required to seize the opportunities arising from future challenges to manage urban storm water in a way that facilitates Zobust, synergistic and multi-functional green infrastructure that will address today’s and tomorrow’s climate and other changes in dynamic urban areas.“We develop knowledge and tools for cities and metropolitan areas to drain rainwater in an alternative way. In the near future peak rainfall is expected to occur more frequently and these must be processed more easily. And in such a way that the everyday processing of rainwater and retention of water as a complete system is more durable and robust. We are using terms like ‘synergy’ and ‘multifunctional’, also because of the connection with existing or developing new green infrastructure in cities,” says Van Timmeren.Green/Blue Cities is a collaboration between Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands and will also include urban living labs in Austria and the Netherlands (IJssel-Vecht delta, more specifically Zwolle). According to Van Timmeren: “The process of co-creation of knowledge by scientists from different countries with different backgrounds and stakeholders within the city itself offers great value for everyone involved.”