2024 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

18th Edition

Phase 6 of 7

Publication Preparation 08/09/2024 - 15/10/2024

Process phases

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Baia Mare: from a mining and polluted city towards a green, innovative and participatory city-SPIRE

Official proposal

17/05/2024 12:46

The SPIRE project follows the triple bottom line at the nexus of environmental, societal and economic matters.

- social lens: (1) Urban health improvement due to soil remediation; (2) Awareness, knowledge and capacity building related to sustainability; (3) Citizens' environmental behaviour shifts towards an eco-friendly culture.

- environmental lens: (1) Circa 7 Ha of polluted land reclaimed for public use; (2) Urban landscape co-design and co-production through phytoremediation techniques; (3) Urban system re-naturalization and reconnection strategy.

- economic lens: (1) Underused local resources stimulation; (2) Bio-based products and business models; (3) Bio-based energy supply to reduce the overall GHG emissions in Baia Mare.

We applied phytoremediation techniques to contaminated land, generate inclusive land-use participatory management while changing behaviours by recovering the city's health and the trust in authorities, and create new local bio-based value chains developing new green business models, therefore is a revolutionary project.

The project applies a Nature-based Solution called phytoremediation to heal the urban soil from heavy-metal contamination-the willow roots can extract heavy metals from the soil if they have enough time (5 to 15 years). To try to solve this we have experimented, tested and implemented solutions based on nature by renaturing Baia Mare (in 5 pilot sites) through phytoremediation, mapped and monitored through an iGIS smart system to prove the healing results for the city and its inhabitants. Based on the results of the measurements of the soil contamination, we developed a Phytoremediation calculator to estimate when the soils reach the normal levels.

The project considers co-design participatory processes with students. Pilot site's changes after co-design and co-production. Out of the 5 sites we choose one to be transformed into a park.

The solutions are publicly monitored through an iGIS smart system to transform these actions into pragmatic environmental facts. Along with this technology, a digital token has been created as an app: the iLEU is provoking - not without difficulties - an environmental behavioural shift related to proactive transport (pedestrian walks, by bike, on skateboard…, etc.) or circular waste mindset. iLEU in place: https://spire.city/index.php/parteneri-ileu/