Urwan Project
Urban regeneration and sustainable water management through
Nature-based solutions
The project URWAN - Urban Regenerative Water Avant-garde(N) is a European initiative co-financed by the Interreg EuroMED, coordinated by ANCI Lazio, which promotes innovative solutions based on nature (Nature-Based Solutions, NbS) for sustainable water management and urban regeneration. URWAN aims to strengthen the resilience of Mediterranean cities to water scarcity and climate change by involving local communities and territorial stakeholders in the co-design of concrete and replicable solutions. In Latium, the pilot area of the Istituto Comprensivo Matteo Ricci in Rome represents an urban laboratory in which to experiment sustainable water management strategies, enhance green spaces and promote the active participation of citizens, fostering more resilient, sustainable and liveable cities. The project involves 9 partners from 7 Mediterranean countries, working closely together to influence decision-making processes and increase the effectiveness of public investments.
Project Objectives
- Improving sustainable urban water management and reducing the impact of extreme weather phenomena.
- Experimenting with Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to regenerate multifunctional and resilient urban spaces.
- Involve local communities, schools and citizens in co-design processes.
- Transferring experiences between European partners to foster replicability of innovative interventions.
- Promoting the inclusion of NBS in local and regional urban planning policies.
Duration and financing
Duration
January 2024 - September 2026
Transfer Phase
July 2026 - December 2027
Programme
Interreg Euro-MED 2021-2027
Lead partner
ANCI Lazio
Partnership composition
Active partners throughout the duration of the project: ANCI Lazio (Italy, lead agency), IRIDRA (Italy), SVIMED (Italy), MedCities (Spain).
New territories receiving the Transfer Phase: RCDC – Regional Council of Durrës (Albania), MUSOL Foundation – Alzira (Spain), University of Patras – Western Greece, ENA – Sesimbra, Palmela and Setúbal (Portugal).
Active partners during the pilot phase (2024-2026): Make it Better (Portugal), ZRS Bistra Ptuj (Slovenia), Energy & Water Agency (Malta), Città di Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Total budget
€2,836,118 (of which €2,268,894 co-financed by Interreg)
The pilot areas of Rome (IT) and Cuba (PT)
One of the distinctive features of the project is the pilot area of Rome, at the Istituto Comprensivo Matteo Ricci. In this context, innovative interventions of sustainable water management and urban regeneration are experimented, directly involving students, teachers and families, transforming the school into a real living laboratory of sustainability.
Specifically, a raingarden will be created to collect rainwater from the roof and paved surfaces; two bioretention areas will also be created and the asphalt surface paving will be replaced with drainage paving, equipped with a water storage tank to serve a school garden.
This experience in Rome not only concretely demonstrates the impact of Nature-based Solutions, but also becomes replicable model for other Italian and Mediterranean cities.
Intervention in the pilot area in Cuba (Portugal) envisages the regeneration of a public space and the surrounding area with the incorporation of a Raingarden solution (rainwater harvesting on the roof of a car park, creation of an artificial wetland for black water treatment with a storage tank for water reuse and an extensive green roof with pergola.
Transfer Phase
URWAN enters the Transfer Phase
From July 2026, the URWAN project entered its transfer phase: the nature-based solutions (Nature-based Solutions) tested in the pilot sites in Rome and Cuba are now being transferred and adapted to four new Mediterranean territories: Durrës (Albania), Alzira (Spain), Patras/Western Greece and the Sesimbra-Palmela-Setúbal area (Portugal), thanks to the technical support of ANCI Lazio, IRIDRA, SVIMED and MedCities. The goal is to replicate the pilot experience, adapting the interventions for sustainable urban water management to the specific contexts of each receiving territory.
Products and expected results
- Nature-based Solutions Catalogue - URWAN, a practical tool for administrations and technicians (Link).
- Roadmaps and NbS implementation plans developed and tested in the pilot cities of Rome (IT) and Cuba (PT).
- The project developed the URWAN Enabler Pack
A set of practical tools for the planning and implementation of nature-based solutions and green-blue infrastructures in Mediterranean cities, available on the project's official website: urwan.interreg-euro-med.eu/the-urwan-enabler-pack. The pack includes:
The URWAN Training Programme, a training course aimed at medium-sized municipalities for the planning and implementation of urban NbS, with real case studies on drought and floods;
the NbS URWAN catalog, a detailed overview of innovative and replicable solutions for water resilience and urban biodiversity;
The Start Park Guidelines, A replicable method for the co-design of green-blue infrastructures with the involvement of local communities;
The URWAN Checklist, a tool to verify that NbS solutions meet all the key elements of effectiveness, aligned with the IUCN global standard for NbS.
Watch the video “Innovative solutions for urban water: the URWAN project” (Urwan, official YouTube channel), which presents the Roma pilot project.
Discover how the Matteo Ricci Institute is turning rainwater into a resource: watch the video of the inauguration
Events and activities
- European and national co-design workshops.
- Workshops and living labs with schools and citizens.
- Dissemination events to promote best practices in the Mediterranean.
Useful links
Official URWAN Project website: https://urwan.interreg-euro-med.eu/
NbS catalogue and project documents: https://urwan.interreg-euro-med.eu/what-we-achieve/