Wetlands4Cities

Introduction

The impact of climate change is very significant on medium-sized European cities such as the city of Mechelen (BE) and the city of Tilburg (NL). Both cities face the increasing challenge of preventing flooding and reducing heat stress. In turn, the adjacent natural and agricultural areas have to contend with drought and loss of biodiversity.

Project Goals

Wetlands4Cities aims to make these urban cores and their surrounding nature areas climate-proof in terms of water. By addressing this together, urban stormwater policies can contribute to the water-related restoration of the surrounding natural wetlands in the urban fringe.

In doing so, we want to be an inspiration and example for other European cities and regions. With the created and restored wetlands, it is expected to realize 380 ha of water buffer. It is aimed that, with the current climate scenarios in mind, the current measures will ensure that situations in droughts and flooding do not aggravate in the long term.

Infrastructure Development

With the construction of the wetlands and connected blue-green infrastructure, the areas of wetlands, swamps, and open water will be raised significantly. The new and restored habitats will be suitable for the re-establishment of Natura 2000 species.

Citizen Engagement

For citizen engagement, we have targeted to have 600 households committed to join the curieuzeneuzen. This citizen science project, with sensors installed in their gardens, will allow us to measure heat and drought in the gardens, providing information on the effect of the measures taken and the relative improvement in the livability of citizens.

Methodology Development

With this project, we aim to develop a methodology that improves the effectiveness of water ecosystem restoration measures. The Wetlands4Cities LIFE project does this through a collaborative approach, creating synergy between climate-adaptive water strategies of cities and their surrounding natural wetlands.