NEWS

NEWS AND EVENTS:

Green courtyard in Chorzeń

Konin becomes a green city investing in many development projects and sustainable solutions. Green courtyard in Chorzeń is a great example of a green space that has just been built for its residents .

It is a part of a project "Green city corridors - climate awakening in Konin" that has been realised by our partner: Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. The initiative has been funded through the EEA Grants, co-financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as well as the national and municipal budget.

In this project we wanted to give the space a recreational and decorative function.

You can see there an unusual rainwater storage system – the leaves are rain catchers.

There are new benches with backrest and armrests, new garbage bins, a flowerpot with Red Box function. As the vertical vegetation is currently of interest, 140 sqm of green facades have been created, planted with parthenocissus vitacea, also known as thicket creeper. Nicely layered flower beds will provide maximum visual appeal when all the plants mature.

Next year in spring season, Chorzen’s community will enjoy a pleasant outdoor place. In the meantime, please take a look at the Green courtyard project implementation!

 

On march 30, 2023, contract was signed for the supply and installation of landscaping along with planting of vegetation in the indicated elements, as part of the project entitled: "Green city corridors - climate awakening in Konin" implemented under the Program "Environment, Energy and Climate Change", financed by the EEA FM 2014-2021 and the national budget.

The contractor has five months to complete the task. Below is a link to the results of the procedure:

https://konin.logintrade.net/zapytania_email,117410,afe918e1bfefac06a70859d3a6843ec0.html

A conference entitled: "GREENING THE ROOFS OF POLISH CITIES"

On March 31, 2023, members of the team for the implementation of the project entitled "Green city corridors - climate awakening in Konin" participated in a conference entitled: "GREENING THE ROOFS OF POLISH CITIES" organized by the Polish Association "Dachy Zielone" (partner of the City of Konin in the project) and the Student Scientific Circle of Gardeners at the University of Life Sciences in Wroclaw.

The conference was moderated by Dr. Marta Weber-Siwirska, President of PSDZ. During the conference, their presentations included:

• Luigi Petito Head from secretariat of World Green Infrastructure Network/ EU Chapter, who gave a paper entitled: Innovations in EU policies supporting green infrastructure during climate transition,

• arch. country. Veronica Marcol, PSDZ, LARK, who presented the Økern Portal Green Roof as an example of pioneering design in an era of climate change, threats to biodiversity and increasing social demands.

The presentations were followed by a panel discussion, which included Magdalena Biela, Deputy Director of Urban green plant in Katowice; Marek Dera, President of the Wrocław-Południe Housing Cooperative; Grzegorz Synowiec, Deputy Director of the Climate and Energy Department, Wrocław City Hall; Kazimierz Śródka, SRDK Studio Architects Śródka and Katarzyna Wolańska, publicist for the zielonaInfrastruktura.pl portal.

Particular attention of the audience was drawn to the building presented by country arch. Veronica Marcol's 84,000-square-meter Økern Portal building.

Construction of the building was completed in 2021. Sustainability, applied biodiversity, energy efficiency are its main features. The building houses offices, restaurants, a hotel, as well as sports facilities. On its roof there is various types of greenery. It is a space open to everyone also for people with special needs. It is a meeting place in a green space full of biodiversity. School classes, business meetings can be held there, or you can simply spend your free time there. The plants that grow there are edible and used by the restaurants that are located in the building.

In turn, unused vegetables are turned into compost, which fertilizes the green roof. In addition, the building's roof drainage system has been designed so that rainwater is not discharged into the municipal network, but is used to irrigate the existing plants on the roof.

We would like to remind you that as part of the implementation of the project "Green urban corridors - climate awakening in Konin", representatives of the City of Konin in June 2022 were able to visit the roof of the building and learn about the solutions for the application of green and blue infrastructure. They then met with Ms. Veronika Marcol, who was one of the landscape architects involved in the design of Økern Portal.

Project "Green city corridors - climate awakening in Konin" is implemented under the Program "Environment, Energy and Climate Change", benefits from a grant of almost PLN 7 million received from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA funds and more than PLN 1 million received from the state budget.

Project purpose : Increasing urban resilience to the climate change. Adapting process to manage the impact of this change. Raising social awareness on climate change. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by making investments in terms of green and blue infrastructure.  

EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE IN KONIN

On 21 September 2022, an educational conference entitled: "Climatic Konin. Green and blue infrastructure in practice" organised as part of the implementation of the project "Green urban corridors - climatic awakening in Konin" in which the beneficiary is the City of KONIN and the partners are: Polish Green Roof Association, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences and the Norwegian Association for Green Infrastructure.

At the beginning, Joanna Brach from the Norwegian Fund Division spoke on behalf of Piotr Bogusz, Deputy Director of the Department of European Funds of the Ministry of Climate and Environment, and Izabela Puczyłowska from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. She said that they were very pleased that Konin, in cooperation with experienced partners, had taken on the role of educator and embarked on such an important project.

Deputy Mayor of Konin - Paweł Adamów emphasised that the project "Green Urban Corridors - Climate Awakening in Konin" - financed from the EEA funds, is the driving force behind the city of Konin's green and blue infrastructure activities. He added that Konin's strategic slogan of "Green City of Energy" (pl:  „Zielone Miasto Energii”) shows that greenery for the city is a priority. Paulina Hennig – Kloska (Member of Parliament) drew attention to the importance of creating green and blue infrastructure in cities due to climate change. Leszek Galemba (Member of Parliament), underlined the importance of green Energy and greenery in cities, their impact on improving the climate and a good future for future generations. The state of greenery depends on all of us. He congratulated the project and wished the conference fruitful deliberations.

Then Katarzyna Rejniak Deputy Head of the Development and Investment Department presented the main objectives of the project: "Green urban corridors - climate awakening in Konin".

The partners of the City of Konin in the project, viz: Norwegian Association for Green Infrastructure, Polish Green Roof Association and Wroclaw University of Life Sciences, presented interesting materials:

• David Brasfield -Nature based solutions - examples from climate change adaptation in Scandinavia,
• Ewa Walter -The importance of blue-green infrastructure in the face of ongoing climate change,
• Ewa Burszta-Adamiak - Rainwater retention in green-blue infrastructure solutions,
• Justyna Rubaszek - The role of green roofs and living walls in the process of mitigation and adaptation to climate change,
• Aleksander Lech - Latest ways of providing optimal living conditions for trees in urban areas.

 

NEWS:

In the last days of June (19.06.22 - 23.06.22), a study trip to Scandinavia was organised as part of the "Green city corridors - climate awakening in Konin" project. The trip was attended by representatives of the City of Konin and representatives of the Polish Green Roofs Association (as a project partner). The training was organised under the leadership of the Norwegian project partner Norwegian Association for Green Infrastructure and provided the visitors from Poland with knowledge, training materials and inspiration on the planning and design of blue-green infrastructure (BGI) and environmentally friendly solutions applied to the urban environment.

The theoretical part was conducted by the Scandinavian Green Roofs Association (SGRI) in Malmö, Sweden. The training was complemented by study visits to completed Scandinavian projects, where knowledge and innovations were put into practice. The sites visited during the study visits, located in Copenhagen, Malmö and Oslo, are examples of investment in innovation with ecosystem services and implementation of BGI solutions in cities.

The project entitled "Green city corridors - climate awakening in Konin" consists in the implementation of activities in the field of green infrastructure and increasing the area of green spaces, intensifying activities related to the management of rainwater in the city in its place of formation, elimination of urban heat islands and improvement of the microclimate inside the city.

The project is comprehensive and includes adaptation, mitigation and education measures that are coherent and interrelated. The project is implemented within the framework of the Operational Programme 'Environment, Energy and Climate Change', funded by the MF EEA 2014-2021 and the state budget.

NEWS:

Press conference opening the project "Green city corridors - climatic awakening in Konin" implemented under the Operational Program "Environment, Energy and Climate Change". Will be held on 20th October 2021 at 12.00 (building of the NGO Center, 3 Maja street 1/3, 62-500 Konin).

EVENTS:
PRESS CONFERENCE

On 20 October, 2021 at the Municipal Office in Konin, in the building of the Center of Non Governmental Organizations,  at May 1/3 street in Konin,  there was a press conference in the hybrid mode, opening the project "Green corridors of the city - awakening the climate in Konin", in which the beneficiary is the CITY of KONIN, and the partners:

Polish Association "Green Roofs", University of Environmental and Life Sciences and Norwegian Association Green Infrastructure.

The conference was attended by:

• Piotr Korytkowski - President of Konin
• Dr. Marta Weber-Siwirska, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Science and President Polish Green Roofs Association
• David Brasfield - President of the Norwegian Green Infrastructure Association (NFGI) (online)
• Katarzyna Wolańska - Board Member of Polish Green Roofs Association (online)
• the team for the implementation of the project entitled "Green Urban Corridors - Climatic Awakening in Konin" composed of: Roman Jankowski - Project Manager (Head of the Development and Investment Department), Joanna Olczak - Specialist for urban planning and architectural works of the project (City Architect), Mariusz Kaczmarczyk - Specialist for design and technical works of the project (Head of the Urban Planning and Architectural Department), Małgorzata Mastalierz - coordinator for investment activities of the project (Development and Investments Department), Justyna Bruch - coordinator for information and education activities of the project,  Magdalena Michnicka - Specialist for information and education activities of the project (Department of Development and Investments)
• Media representatives.

The conference was conducted in Polish and English. Translator Mr. Marek Gralewski.

During the conference, presentations were given by:

• Joanna Olczak - Specialist for urban planning and architectural works of the project – City Architect
• Dr. Marta Weber-Siwirska, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Science and President Polish Green Roofs Association
• David Brasfield - President of the Norwegian Green Infrastructure Association (NFGI).

Public consultation  From 28th to 30th September 2021, the employees of City Hall along with the representatives of Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciencesheld direct talks with the residents of Konin, mainly from housing estates where green courtyards will be built.All ideas shared by people will be included as the guidelines while creating green courtyards.

Partnership agreements

Partnership agreements for the implementation of the project "Green city corridors - climate awakening in Konin" under the program "Environment, energy and climate change" were signed on 26th August  2021 between the City of Konin and the Polish Association "Green Roofs ";on 27th  August 2021 between the City of Konin and Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences.  The purpose of the agreements is to implement the project "Green city corridors - climate awakening in Konin" as part of the "Environment, energy and climate change" program, which will be implemented in Konin from 1st September 2021 to 30th April 2024. On 17th November 2021 between the City of Konin and Norwegian Association for Green Infrastructure (NFGI)

OUR PARTNERS:
Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences

https://upwr.edu.pl/ 

Polish Association "Green Roofs"

https://www.psdz.pl/ 

Norwegian Association for Green Infrastructure (NFGI)

http://nfgi.no/