ReGreenX – A complex approach to behaviour change

ReGreenX provides a new and innovative model for city-level participation in climate-resilient greening, helping citizens to recognise and understand the growing threats of desertification and empower more people to adapt.

The main elements of the project are:

• Testing new climate-resilient, low-maintenance plant species
• Creating model gardens to showcase options for citizens
• Fostering citizen involvement, knowledge sharing and community building around climate-resilient greenery
• Developing IT applications to promote a new gardening culture in Szeged.

What prompted the launch of this project?

We can all picture the public dissatisfaction when a local authority removes a tree or reduces green space—even when the reasons are justified, such as tree illness or sewer system upgrades. The usual image in front of our inner eyes is that the local or a central government tries to demolish a green public space in the city while the residents start protests and petitions.

Nevertheless, the real surprise comes when we find out that according to satellite images of many cities from recent years, most of the valuable green areas have disappeared not from the municipality owned public spaces but from the yards of suburban residential areas. What does that mean? A number of people paves more and more parts of their garden due to lower maintenance costs or substitutes biodiverse combination of plants with mowed lawn. These practices don’t provide real ecosytem services and also contribute to the enhancement of urban heat island effect. The result: cities that are less resilient to climate change.

Yet, when someone chooses to reduce biodiversity and worsen the backyard microclimate, there is no backlash—no neighbourhood demonstrations.

The municipality of Szeged recognized this core problem and that is one of the main motivation behind the ReGreenX project.

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Nevertheless, Szeged also pays attention to a fact which too many urban policy makers forget: the green areas in industrial areas. In a city with investment growth such as Szeged, these areas – usually located on the outskirts of cities- can sum up to huge amounts of green territories with potential for microclimate influence. Depending on the local regulations, the green area can reach 20-40 % of the sites in industrial/economic areas. It makes a difference whether these areas can provide real ecosystem services and whether they are maintainable at a reasonable cost. That’s why it’s a good initiative that Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Csongrád-Csanád (the county) is also a delivery partner in the project.

As an urbanist, I find it It is also a smart move to involve local floral and gardening shops, as they significantly influence residents’ choices.

Szeged has left only the first six months of the project behind but there are already some lessons learned, that can be interesting to other settlements, especially if they would like to be involved in international projects.

First of all, as in case of any large-scale project with transnational consortium and donors, it’s a challenge that a lot of time can pass from the planning of the project till the actual start and kick-off. Therefore it is inevitable that some elements and schedules need to be reconsidered at the beginning of the journey when the grant agreement is signed. It’s a good practice that EUI recognises the innovative nature of these projects and and instead of insisting on 15-month-old plans, allows flexibility for modifications and experimentation. This is a useful thing in the ReGreenX project too, as some important elements – such as creating model gardens – depend on the seasons to a great extent (In most cases plants can be planted in spring or fall.) Of course, due to the time passed, there may by a need to change the planned locations of the model gardens because it turns out that the location is either not the best option or just some other project’s plan interferes with some ReGreenX locations.

1-1,5 year is a long time, especially in light of the world’s changing pace. Sometimes it happens that some of the original project partners are not in the position to participate the way they thought at the application period or a deeper partnership is needed in a professional field for success. This challenge has arisen in Szeged, but due to the flexible means of EUI, the city is allowed to change partner to a certain, limited extent. This is why the city is in the process of bringing in a new partner organization with IT development skills, in order to ensure that an important element of the project will be delivered without the minimal risk.

Personally as an EUI Innovation Action expert, I find it inspiring to witness evolving cooperation between Szeged and its Transfer Partners. These settlements, Alhama de Murcia - Spain, St. Pölten – Austria, and Timisoara – Romania are all completely different yet there is something for all of them to learn and take home from Szeged in the coming years. Some of them will be interested in biodiverse, climate resilient plant combination or will be happy to try the garden planner application of the project. Another one may be interested in methods of community building and involvement of citizens in order to be able to change the mindset. Whatever the Transfer Partners choose, they’re sure to find something in the project which would be worth to replicate in their own community.

In summary, ReGreenX is shaping up to be a promising journey in urbanism and community resilience. Stay tuned and follow our progress on Portico!

We thank Agnes Gulyas PhD, generous tutor of the University of Szeged for the photos.

Author: David Szebeni, EUI Innovation Action Expert