GreenDense

As cities across North West Europe face mounting challenges from climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, the GreenDense project is bringing green infrastructure (GI) back into densely populated urban environments. 

These dense urban areas are often very grey and heavily trafficked, with limited space for large green projects due to competing land uses, such as parking, and resistance from businesses and citizens. GreenDense offers a solution through its innovative "mosaic" approach, which instals small-scale GI to make the most of available space, increasing green connectivity and fostering co-creation with local communities. 

The project, supported by expert organisations in urban ecology and placemaking, will pilot green spaces tailored to the unique cultural and environmental needs of each city. These small but significant green interventions will also serve broader policy agendas, such as public health, active mobility, and youth engagement, ensuring a wide range of benefits for local populations.

GreenDense’s transnational collaboration will provide a framework for replicating success, sharing the tools and strategies developed in the pilot cities with an additional 35 urban areas across North West Europe. Beyond the lifetime of the project, this work is set to influence policy at the national level, helping cities across the region become more resilient and sustainable.

With pilots in six cities across five countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, and France), the project is enhancing climate resilience, improving air quality, and fostering healthier communities by growing green spaces in areas where they are needed most.