Promoting urban integration of GReen INfrastructure to improve climate governance in cities

Creating, managing and maintaining adequate urban green areas (UGAs), while engaging all stakeholders, is one of the biggest challenges that many modern cities are facing in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation. UGAs are especially important for improving cities' air quality and microclimate, enhancing and protecting building insulation, and increasing energy efficiency of buildings. UGAs also form a natural ecosystem for urban flora and fauna by creating green corridors, while in densely populatedurban areas, they can also improve management of flash floods. In Greece there are no appropriate climate governance mechanisms to incorporate strategic planning and management of UGAs into national and local adaptation and mitigation strategies. In addition, the lack of dissemination of environmental information and limited public consultation processes have resulted in conflicts over land use of open spaces, in public mistrust and in the misuse of green spaces. It has also led to a lack of public engagement. The LIFE GrIn project's objectives are to: Establish an integrated policy framework for the management, monitoring and evaluation of UGAs based on cooperative planning and best practices in urban forestry, satisfying public values and promoting urban adaptation to climate change; Quantify and multiply the impact of UGAs on urban climate problems, such as heat waves and the heat island effect, increased runoff during heavy rainfalls and increased energy consumption for heating and cooling buildings; Integrate and promote European climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, as well as sustainable urban planning and design; Promote the incorporation of sustainable urban forest management for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Covenant of Mayors and other EU policies; Improve quality of life through the mitigation of the effects of climate change and the multifunctional planning of UGAs; Raise awareness among decision-makers regarding the necessity and benefits of taking climate action municipal level and of the public in order to promote their participation; and Conserve nature and biodiversity and improve habitats for fauna and flora species in cities. Expected results: Assessment of the current climate-related risks and threats in two municipalities and the evaluation of the existing green infrastructure in relation to its contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as its ecological quality; Capacity-building at municipal level for the creation, management and monitoring of integrated networks of green infrastructures, especially UGAs (two municipalities, with a population of 245 000); Estimation of the current CO2 sequestration by UGAs in the two partner cities and its increase by the end of the project; Reduction of GHG emissions through better planning reducing maintenance needs; Establishment ofguidelines and indicators to incorporate climate into the management of UGAs and monitor their performance; Implementation of climate inclusive management framework for the establishment of new or reformation of existing UGAs covering an area of at least 15 ha, either by improving their structure or their connectivity, in order to form green networks in the two partner municipalities; 10 municipalities (two project partners and eight other municipalities) committed to drawing up and applying integrated management plans following the strategic planning principles set by the ministry of environment and energy, covering more than a million citizens (around 10% of the national population) before the end of the project; Improved quality of UGAs through better tree health, species composition and increased green coverage, reflected in the overall evaluation of the WWF Greenspaces methodology at national level; Establishment of a cooperation platform incorporating quantified data on green infrastructure and its contribution to climate change adaptation and mitigation and also best practices and guidelines to support replication; Regulation to incorporate climate change into the management framework of UGAs in Greece; The commitment of Heraklion to the New Covenant of Mayors to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030 and to adopt an integrated approach to mitigation and adaptation to climate change (Mayors Adapt); and Incorporation of green infrastructure data for the two participating Greek cities in the European Environment Agency platform – Interactive map based on green infrastructure indicators.-