climate fit

Online guide for the participatory design of climate-friendly public spaces

Public spaces are critical to the quality of life for residents of a village, town, or city. However, making these public spaces climate-resilient is often a major challenge for local authorities. In the context of usually scarce resources and tight time budgets at the municipal level, the sheer volume and complexity of (re)designing public spaces is a major barrier to practical implementation. New ideas and a high level of acceptance for climate-friendly public spaces can be achieved by involving citizens in the planning of various climate adaptation measures. As citizen participation processes are also a complex topic, municipalities need support in a simple and user-friendly form to help them find their way through the design and participatory process.

To fill this gap, the "MitBestimmt Klimafit" project is developing an interactive online guide that will take municipalities step-by-step through the preparation, planning, and implementation of climate-resilience measures to (re)design public spaces. The main part of the online guide is dedicated to involving citizens into this process. The main aim of the online guide is to offer municipalities practical advice on implementing climate adaptation projects. Moreover, the online guide wants to provide the necessary knowledge to successfully implement citizen participation into making public spaces climate resilient. The online guide provides recommendations for action and practical examples so that municipalities can benefit from the experiences of others and incorporate them into their projects.