Academic Director Areti Markopoulou and IAAC’s Department of EU projects attended the first kick-off meeting of H2020 European project URBiNAT last June in Coimbra, Portugal. 

The EU research initiative URBiNAT focuses on the regeneration and integration of deprived social housing urban developments through an innovative and inclusive catalogue of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), ensuring sustainability and mobilising driving forces for social cohesion. During the first session with all consortium members, participants gathered in several working groups in order to establish upcoming interventions on the public space in order to co-create with citizens new urban, social and nature-based relations between different neighbourhoods.

The kick-off meeting taking place in Coimbra was a great opportunity for the 28 consortium partners to meet each other and have a first contact with the project’s coordination committee, which outlined the main working pillars to further develop the implementation of healthy corridor solutions emerging from community-driven design processes. URBiNAT consists of a worldwide consortium of academic and business partners around 7 European cities (Porto, Nantes, Sofia, Siena, Nova Gorica, Brussels and Høje-Taastrup), which will act as living laboratories to implement healthy corridor solutions.

The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, together with associations, local partners and other Europe-wide research centers and universities, participates in this innovative project to contribute with its experience in nature-based solutions for urban spaces by means of a thorough knowledge and methodologies in the field of sustainability and digital innovation.