CON.AMI is a partner in the AQUAGREEN project, co-funded by the European Urban Initiative (EUI), an EU programme that supports sustainable urban development by providing funding, knowledge, and capacity-building opportunities for European cities.

The programme promotes innovative solutions to address key urban challenges such as the green transition, social cohesion, and digital transformation. co-funded by the European Urban Initiative (EUI), an EU programme that supports sustainable urban development through funding, knowledge, and capacity building for European cities. The programme promotes innovative solutions to address key urban challenges such as the green transition, social cohesion, and digital transformation.

AQUAGREEN is piloting innovative solutions in the city of Faenza to enhance the resilience of urban areas to extreme weather events, which are becoming increasingly frequent and severe.

Due to its nature, location and topography, Faenza has proved to be particularly exposed to the consequences of climate change, including: devastating floods; droughts; and extreme temperatures. AQUAGREEN tests in Faenza innovative solutions to make urban areas more resilient to extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent and dangerous. 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 projects also includes the implementation of a Living Lab equipped with a digital interface for constant citizens’ involvement in creative co-designing.

The MRPLL, located in the pilot area, 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.