Adapting to urban heat and flooding with blue-green infrastructure in Wroclaw, Poland

Key Learnings

• Combining green and blue infrastructure addresses flood and heat risks: A range of measures, such as planting different types of greenery, creating rain gardens and swales, and installing (semi-) permeable surfaces as footpaths, help to reduce flood and heat risks at the same time.
• Building acceptance through community engagement: Involving citizens in the design process helps build ownership and long-term care for blue-green infrastructure. Collaborating with the local councils is key to gaining resident support, highlighting the benefits of greening courtyards, and finding compromises, such as reducing parking spaces.
• Monitoring and impact evaluation: Monitoring before and after the installation of the interventions, combined with a questionnaire survey, demonstrates the environmental and social impact that greening the city can have on biodiversity, rainwater retention and resident well-being.

Summary

The seven blue-green courtyards, connected by a green street, show how combining various Nature-based Solutions can deliver social benefits for residents while strengthening water and heat resilience. Integrating green and blue infrastructure increases biodiversity, improves rainwater retention, and creates shaded spaces for community interaction. Involving citizens from the early planning stages is essential for building trust in the changes and helps ensure the long-term care and use of the green spaces. Funded by the GrowGreen project, these seven pocket parks and the green street now serve as a model and inspiration for future Nature-based Solutions in Wroclaw.

Contact

Name: Małgorzata Bartyna-Zielińska
Organisation: City of Wroclaw
E-Mail: malgorzata [dot] bartyna-zielinskaum [dot] wroc [dot] pl (malgorzata[dot]bartyna-zielinska[at]um[dot]wroc[dot]pl)
Invest4Nature project: Andreas Turk, Joanneum Research, andreas [dot] turkjoanneum [dot] at (andreas[dot]turk[at]joanneum[dot]at)