Luxembourg's Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity recently launched a third call for projects aimed at making urban areas greener.
This call for projects follows those launched in 2022 and 2023 as part of the "Méi Natur an eise Stied an Dierfer" (more nature in our cities/towns and villages) campaign, which awarded twelve municipalities a total budget of €4 million to demineralise sealed surfaces in order to give more space to green infrastructure.
In light of extreme climate events such as floods and heatwaves, the third edition provides for four categories of action to support the exemplary role of municipalities:
- Demineralisation and greening of public squares
- Demineralisation and greening of school playgrounds
- Demineralisation and greening of public car parks
- Greening of public playgrounds
The ministry noted that municipalities would thus have several possibilities to implement concrete measures to adapt to the effects of climate change and better protect the population while creating greener and more pleasant urban and village centres. Using nature-based measures, as well as the demineralisation and greening of these spaces, the projects aims to increase resilience in urban areas to heatwaves, on the one hand, and to improve and increase the well-being of the population, on the other hand.
The call for projects is open to all municipalities and has the following objectives:
- to demineralise sealed spaces and create new green spaces in urban areas;
- to help adapt to the effects of climate change;
- to increase the well-being of the population;
- to promote biodiversity in urban areas;
- to contribute to awareness-raising and education for sustainable development.
By focusing on a participatory approach by the stakeholders concerned (residents, neighbourhood associations, students, teachers, etc.), the municipality is expected to ensure the success and acceptance of the project.
The call for projects is intended for municipalities that can submit a preliminary project until 30 June 2025. A jury will select the best projects, which may be co-financed up to €500,000 per project via the Climate and Energy Fund of the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity.
Further information on the call for projects is available on the website www.emwelt.lu.
