On November 29, 2023, in Cracow, the Association of Municipalities Polish Network "Energie Cités" in cooperation with the Marshal's Office of the Malopolska Region organized again a workshop on adapting cities and municipalities to climate change. This time the event was attended by Małopolska climate and environmental advisors.

In the theoretical part, the first to speak was Izabela Kuśnierz from the Association of Municipalities Polish Network "Energie Cités", who introduced the participants to the topic of green roof development at the local level. She also presented the pilot strategies developed as part of the GRAD project, as well as a model development strategy to support the establishment of extensive and intensive green roofs in urban spaces. The workshop participants were then joined online by Ms. Katarzyna Fornal-Urbańczyk from the City of Zamość, who introduced them to the city's good practices in blue-green infrastructure. The next presentation was on the water footprint, which can be a tool to support water conservation initiatives. This presentation was given by Anna Fijas from the Association of Municipalities Polish Network "Energie Cités", who also presented a guide for municipalities (PL) on rationalizing the use of water resources in urban areas and a calculator (PL) for calculating the water footprint for any city, region or building. The theoretical part ended with a lecture by Ewa Burszty-Adamiak, Ph.D., from Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, who presented Polish and foreign examples of the use of nature-based solutions (NBS) in cities, including rain gardens, extensive or intensive green roofs, and many other inspiring examples.

After the theoretical introduction, it was time for workshop exercises in small groups. The task prepared by Ms. Ewa Burszta-Adamiak was to design an extensive green roof for a given building in the city. While working in groups, the participants also became familiar with available guides, catalogs and hydraulic calculators that can be used in the process of designing NBS.

The workshop was a great dose of inspiration, thus making participants aware that blue-green infrastructure is one of the key tools for adapting to the negative effects of climate change in cities. It is important to remember that local authorities play an important role in initiating, among other things, green roofs and living walls on municipal buildings and facilities, and encouraging residents and local stakeholders to green their own buildings and grounds.

Thank you all for your attendance, involvement, and especially active participation in the workshop part!

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Presentations

Presentations are available on polish version of this article.

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The project GRAD: Green roofs as a tool for climate adaptation in urban areas – German inspiration for Poland is part of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK).