AQUAGREEN launches its Transfer Phase with European Partners visiting Faenza

On 28–29 October, the city of Faenza (Italy) hosted the Opening Site Visit of AQUAGREEN, marking the official start of the project’s Transfer Phase.

Representatives from Verviers (Belgium), Michalovce (Slovakia), and Slavonski Brod (Croatia) — the three Transfer Partners of AQUAGREEN — visited Faenza for the first time to learn from the project’s pilot experiences and discuss how these innovative solutions could be adapted and replicated in their own cities to tackle the growing challenges of climate change.

“AQUAGREEN’s goal is to study and test how to build more resilient cities” said Andrea Fabbri, Deputy Mayor of Faenza, opening the event. “The dramatic experience of the 2023 flood compels us to look for new solutions and share knowledge with our European partners to respond effectively to the changing climate.”

The two-day event, hosted in Faenza’s City Council Hall, included presentations by experts from the University of Bologna and IUAV University of Venice, who outlined the project’s pilot actions in the Parco Gatti — at the heart of AQUAGREEN’s experimentation.

These actions combine green and blue infrastructure, including three rain gardens, permeable parking areas, green roofs with solar panels, and a rainwater storage basin designed to collect and reuse excess water. Experts from the European Urban Initiative (EUI) also provided an overview of the project’s Transfer mechanism, explaining how knowledge and lessons from Faenza will be shared and adapted across partner cities.

In the afternoon, the delegation visited Parco Gatti, where they explored the area targeted by the interventions and discussed testing and monitoring strategies with the University of Bologna’s technical team. The site will become an open-air laboratory, allowing real-time monitoring of the effectiveness of green and blue measures throughout the seasons.