Acquiring Urban Resilience Against Floods and Droughts: a novel citizen-powered integrated Green and Blue System.

The innovation of AQUAGREEN is to test in Faenza innovative solutions to make urban areas more resilient to extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent and dangerous. It is a response to the devasting floods of May 2023 in Faenza, which only highlighted the reality of climate change at local level and its impact in making territories and populations more vulnerable.

The central solution of the project is a blue-green Multifunctional Resilience Park Living Lab (MRPLL) built in a public area (around 3.5 ha) in a district particularly devasted by the floods: Borgo Durbecco. Different solutions, usually carried out individually, are being integrated through the MRPLL, in an innovative, digital, and high-performing combination. This includes elements such as permeable pavement to favour water infiltration, rain gardens, tanks to collect rainwater for use in periods of water scarcity and green roofs. A photovoltaic plant is another part of the solution to ensure electricity power for drainage pumps during blackouts. The Living Lab uses a digital interface for constant citizens’ involvement in creative co-designing.

The MRPLL is complemented by two connected tools, operating at a wider territorial level: a spatial decision support system that considers data in real-time, fed by newly installed sensors, and an innovative early warning system to better enable public authorities to alert the whole population on time.

The integration of these diverse solutions in a unique system replicable at a wider scale in the EU is the leading innovation and originality of the project.