FosteRing green infrAstruCTure in the ALps

FRACTAL is a roll-out project coming from LUIGI (Linking Urban and Inner-Alpine Green Infrastructure - Multifunctional Ecosystem Services for more liveable territories), with the aim of deepening the engagement of alpine communities in the local implementation of Green Infrastructure (GI). FRACTAL will strengthen the mainstreaming of GI in the educational and governance sectors.

The Alpine Space is characterized by a mosaic of natural, agricultural, and small urban areas, where the connectivity between natural and semi-natural ecosystems is not always ensured. A fragmented ecosystem is more sensitive to climate change, being unable to supply human population with fundamental ecosystem services (ES), such as local climate regulation. One of the most effective ways to support ES is implementing GI at local scale. Unfortunately, the practical implementation of GI in alpine rural and peri-urban areas is still scattered, mirroring the insufficient level of knowledge on GI.

Through a collaborative transnational effort involving three alpine countries, FRACTAL will operationalize the governance and education-related outputs of LUIGI, by i) standardizing the requirements to plan GI at municipality level, thus producing a “GI Pact” that will be signed and adopted by several municipalities throughout the Alps; and by ii) developing and testing an innovative educational toolkit addressed to different education levels, from primary school till high school, that will help reach a widely accepted vision regarding GI and its benefits in the Alpine Space.

These outputs and a set of outreach activities will improve the knowledge level and change the mindset of three target groups:

1. young and adult citizens;

2. farmers, future farmers, and beekeepers, and ,

3. public administrations. The bottom-up participatory approach will ensure a change not only in the well-established network of stakeholders guaranteed by the transnational consortium, but also beyond the project region.Promote, sustain, and disseminate a mindset change about GI in small urban and rural alpine areas of the three countries involved, through the concrete and direct engagement of municipalities and citizens, beekeepers and farmers, and schools.