Last week, from October 2 to 4, Madrid hosted the first general assembly of the URBREATH consortium, a European project that seeks to regenerate public spaces, increase resilience and achieve climate neutrality through the use of nature-based solutions (SbN), artificial intelligence, digital twins and citizen participation.
The URBREATH project, aligned with the objectives of the European Climate Neutral Cities Mission, focuses on nine European cities: Madrid, Leuven, Tallinn, Cluj-Napoca, Athens, Parma, Aarhus, Kajaani and Pilsen. Each of these cities is adapting the SbN to its specific needs and challenges, promoting an inclusive approach that involves municipal actors, organizations and citizens.
The Madrid City Council and the Villaverde District Council are leading this transformation process in Madrid, integrating diverse municipal perspectives to address the challenges of climate change and urban regeneration in a coordinated manner. They are doing so in collaboration with entities such as itdUPM, Basurama, Dark Matter Labs and Traza.
This multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder collaboration seeks to develop strategies that maximize the impact of interventions in Villaverde, a district that will become a benchmark for urban climate adaptation.
The itdUPM plays a key role in orchestrating the multi-stakeholder collaboration, systematizing and deploying the evolutionary assessment and communication of the project in Madrid. URBREATH is part of itdUPM’s portfolio of projects which contribute to an urban transformation and just transition in the city of Madrid.
The assembly was a key moment for the European project partners. The meeting was attended by the 37 partner organizations and allowed to deepen the main lines of work and to advance in the coordination between the cities.
For Madrid, this meeting was an important milestone in the implementation process of its URBREATH pilot: after conducting a series of interviews with various general directorates of the City Council, the meeting sought to achieve a shared vision on the actions to be developed in the district of Villaverde. This joint vision will help identify synergies and opportunities to maximize the impact of the project’s interventions.
“URBREATH’s multi-stakeholder approach is proving to be key to its success. Collaboration between local governments, organizations and citizens is essential to bring about an urban transformation that will have a real and lasting impact” said Juan Azcárate, Deputy Director General for Energy and Climate Change Area of Urbanism, Environment and Mobility of the Madrid City Council.
The assembly took place over three days, one of which was dedicated to the Madrid pilot in Villaverde.
In addition, there was space to deepen the technical elements of the European project, guided visits to Madrid Rio and the CEIP Navas de Tolosa, which was renaturalized through the LIFE PACT project.
Finally, the Villaverde market was the space for sharing experiences between the organizations of the consortium and the residents of Villaverde.
After a first day dedicated to the European consortium meetings, the second day focused on Madrid’s municipal interdepartmental collaboration process, a key element for the transformation of the Villaverde district.
During the meeting, representatives of the Villaverde Municipal Board, together with six General Sub-Directorates of the Madrid City Council, the Plan Office and the Gender and Industrial Spaces Working Group, presented their studies and projects aimed at improving the sustainability and resilience of the district. The objective of URBREATH is that these initiatives are framed in a coordinated approach that seeks to break with isolated responses and bet on a joint work that maximizes the impact of interventions in Villaverde.
The General Director of Sustainability and Environmental Control, José Amador Fernández Viejo, remarked the commitment of the city of Madrid in the field of climate action through the Madrid 360 Environmental Sustainability Strategy, and in particular through the “Roadmap towards climate neutrality of the city of Madrid”, a commitment that has been recognized by the European Commission with the EU Mission Seal for smart and climate neutral cities, an endorsement of the successful development of the Madrid Climate Agreement (Climate City Contract, CCC).
During the afternoon, more than 30 people, including municipal technicians, experts and representatives of the URBREATH project, met in a collaborative workshop to advance in the co-creation of solutions that harness the potential of nature and technology in a systemic way. In this workspace, participants pooled their expertise in areas such as green infrastructure, mobility, energy, communication, health, wellness and economics, with the aim of developing urban itineraries that respond to local priorities and maximize regeneration opportunities.
With the URBREATH project, Villaverde is becoming a pilot of municipal innovation, a benchmark for climate regeneration in Madrid, serving as a model for other cities facing similar challenges.
Last week, from October 2 to 4, Madrid hosted the first general assembly of the URBREATH consortium, a European project that seeks to regenerate public spaces, increase resilience and achieve climate neutrality through the use of nature-based solutions (SbN), artificial intelligence, digital twins and citizen participation.
The URBREATH project, aligned with the objectives of the European Climate Neutral Cities Mission, focuses on nine European cities: Madrid, Leuven, Tallinn, Cluj-Napoca, Athens, Parma, Aarhus, Kajaani and Pilsen. Each of these cities is adapting the SbN to its specific needs and challenges, promoting an inclusive approach that involves municipal actors, organizations and citizens.
The Madrid City Council and the Villaverde District Council are leading this transformation process in Madrid, integrating diverse municipal perspectives to address the challenges of climate change and urban regeneration in a coordinated manner. They are doing so in collaboration with entities such as itdUPM, Basurama, Dark Matter Labs and Traza.
This multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder collaboration seeks to develop strategies that maximize the impact of interventions in Villaverde, a district that will become a benchmark for urban climate adaptation.
The itdUPM plays a key role in orchestrating the multi-stakeholder collaboration, systematizing and deploying the evolutionary assessment and communication of the project in Madrid. URBREATH is part of itdUPM’s portfolio of projects which contribute to an urban transformation and just transition in the city of Madrid.
The assembly was a key moment for the European project partners. The meeting was attended by the 37 partner organizations and allowed to deepen the main lines of work and to advance in the coordination between the cities.
For Madrid, this meeting was an important milestone in the implementation process of its URBREATH pilot: after conducting a series of interviews with various general directorates of the City Council, the meeting sought to achieve a shared vision on the actions to be developed in the district of Villaverde. This joint vision will help identify synergies and opportunities to maximize the impact of the project’s interventions.
“URBREATH’s multi-stakeholder approach is proving to be key to its success. Collaboration between local governments, organizations and citizens is essential to bring about an urban transformation that will have a real and lasting impact” said Juan Azcárate, Deputy Director General for Energy and Climate Change Area of Urbanism, Environment and Mobility of the Madrid City Council.
The assembly took place over three days, one of which was dedicated to the Madrid pilot in Villaverde.
In addition, there was space to deepen the technical elements of the European project, guided visits to Madrid Rio and the CEIP Navas de Tolosa, which was renaturalized through the LIFE PACT project.
Finally, the Villaverde market was the space for sharing experiences between the organizations of the consortium and the residents of Villaverde.
After a first day dedicated to the European consortium meetings, the second day focused on Madrid’s municipal interdepartmental collaboration process, a key element for the transformation of the Villaverde district.
During the meeting, representatives of the Villaverde Municipal Board, together with six General Sub-Directorates of the Madrid City Council, the Plan Office and the Gender and Industrial Spaces Working Group, presented their studies and projects aimed at improving the sustainability and resilience of the district. The objective of URBREATH is that these initiatives are framed in a coordinated approach that seeks to break with isolated responses and bet on a joint work that maximizes the impact of interventions in Villaverde.
The General Director of Sustainability and Environmental Control, José Amador Fernández Viejo, remarked the commitment of the city of Madrid in the field of climate action through the Madrid 360 Environmental Sustainability Strategy, and in particular through the “Roadmap towards climate neutrality of the city of Madrid”, a commitment that has been recognized by the European Commission with the EU Mission Seal for smart and climate neutral cities, an endorsement of the successful development of the Madrid Climate Agreement (Climate City Contract, CCC).
During the afternoon, more than 30 people, including municipal technicians, experts and representatives of the URBREATH project, met in a collaborative workshop to advance in the co-creation of solutions that harness the potential of nature and technology in a systemic way. In this workspace, participants pooled their expertise in areas such as green infrastructure, mobility, energy, communication, health, wellness and economics, with the aim of developing urban itineraries that respond to local priorities and maximize regeneration opportunities.
With the URBREATH project, Villaverde is becoming a pilot of municipal innovation, a benchmark for climate regeneration in Madrid, serving as a model for other cities facing similar challenges.
+34 910 67 13 97 | itd@upm.es
Av.Complutense s/n. Ciudad
Universitaria, 28040 Madrid (España)
© itdUPM 2024 | Centro de Innovación en Tecnología para el Desarrollo Humano. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. | by Marmarru Studio
+34 910 67 13 97 | itd@upm.es
Av.Complutense s/n. Ciudad
Universitaria, 28040 Madrid (España)
© itdUPM 2024 | Centro de Innovación en Tecnología para el Desarrollo Humano. | by Marmarru Studio
