Category: LIFE

Be invited to participate in the LIFE LATESTadapt project’s online international training workshop “Cost-Efficiency of Nature-Based Solutions” on December 5, 2024. This workshop is designed particularly for specialists from Latvian and Estonian municipalities (but not limited to other country representatives), who are planning and implementing nature-based solutions in urban environments.

The aim of the workshop is to introduce participants to:

• Nature-based solutions (NBS) and their potential in mitigating climate change risks;
• A tool developed for calculating the cost-effectiveness of NBS, with an opportunity to practice using it.

The workshop will be held on December 5, 2024, from 10:00 – 14:00 in English on Zoom.

To participate, please fill out the registration form:  https://forms.gle/61USdU1A4GRimXPR8!

This seminar is organized by the Latvian project partner, the Association Baltic Coasts, in cooperation with the Baltic Environmental Forum and Riga Technical University. The information has already been shared with all Latvian and Estonian municipalities.

A detailed agenda for the seminar will follow with a soon notice!

Flooding poses a significant risk to communities, ecosystems, and economies, especially in vulnerable sub-catchment areas. Recognizing the urgency of this issue, the LIFE LATESTadapt Project has made strides in developing effective strategies for flood risk mitigation in Estonia and Latvia. Recently, the project published a comprehensive catalogue of case-specific solutions aimed at addressing the challenges posed by flooding.

The Importance of a Tailored Approach

The catalogue serves as a pivotal resource for local authorities, stakeholders, and environmental planners. It focuses on case-specific solutions that are designed to be adaptable to the unique characteristics of each sub-catchment area. By providing targeted technical solutions, the project aims to enhance resilience against flooding while promoting sustainable management of water resources.

Key Features of the Catalogue

Demo Site Designs: The catalogue highlights innovative designs implemented at demo sites in Estonia and Latvia. These showcase real-world applications of flood mitigation strategies, demonstrating their effectiveness and practicality.

Find out more – https://lifelatestadapt.viimsivald.ee/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/T2.3_LatestAdapt-Catalog-of-case-specific-solutions.pdf

In September, we had the chance to witness some of the most passionate and innovative minds come together at the EcoTech Hackathon 2024. Over three intense days, from September 19th to 21st, we watched teams dive deep into one of the biggest challenges urban areas face today – stormwater management.

Hosted by Garage48 and TalTech, the hackathon focused on finding smart, sustainable ways to manage stormwater, a growing issue as climate change leads to more frequent flooding in cities. The event attracted everyone from developers and engineers to environmental scientists, all eager to create solutions that would help cities become more resilient.

Here’s a look at the teams from this year’s hackathon:

Team 1: Street Flow – Monitoring Water Level with Street Cameras

Meet Team Street Flow, who are on a mission to make flood prevention smarter and more cost-effective! Recognising that traditional flood monitoring systems can be prohibitively expensive, they’re harnessing the power of existing street cameras. By analysing camera footage for flood levels, area, and volume, they’re creating a data-driven, machine-learning model that’s easy to maintain and implement. Their innovative approach doesn’t stop at flood prevention; in the future, it could also enhance snow condition assessments and traffic monitoring.

The team’s prize: 2000 EUR

Team 2: Smart Flood – Simplifying Urban Flood Risk Monitoring

Next up is Team Smart Flood – the innovators revolutionising urban drainage monitoring systems! Their mission is clear: detect blockages before they lead to flooding disasters. Using data from advanced sensors, they’ve developed a predictive modelling system that sends timely alerts to municipalities and decision-makers, helping them take proactive measures. This innovative solution not only safeguards communities but also saves cities significant costs associated with damage and repairs.

Their application features two perspectives: a citizen view that keeps the public informed and a stakeholder view tailored for decision-makers. With a strong technical team of developers, designers, and engineers driving this initiative, they’re ready to make waves in urban water management! Looking ahead, they plan to kickstart the project by purchasing their first sensors, with an initial investment of €150,000 needed for the first year. Smart Flood is set to transform the way cities manage stormwater runoff—one sensor at a time!

The team’s prize: 1500 EUR

Team 3: ProcureMate – Sustainable Procurement for Municipalities

Here’s Team ProcureMate, the group integrating Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) into public procurement! They’re developing an AI-assisted chatbot that guides municipalities and stakeholders through the procurement maze, making it easier to adopt sustainable practices. By seamlessly incorporating NBS options into procurement platforms, they streamline the decision-making process. Having already validated their solution with Valga Municipality and Green Tiger, they’re ready to take it for a test drive. Their innovative approach promises to elevate public procurement to new green heights!

The team’s prize: 750 EUR

Team 4: Data Quality Control – Ensuring Reliable Stormwater Data

Last but not least, Team Data Quality Control, tackling the critical challenge of data reliability! In a world awash with information, ensuring data quality is paramount. Their prototype aims to develop a monitoring system that continuously evaluates datasets, identifying inconsistencies, anomalies, and missing data. By flagging potential issues in real-time, they help ensure that only trustworthy data is processed. Their system dives deep into the root causes of disruptions, whether it’s the data source, sensor errors, or transmission hiccups, promptly informing the right parties for resolution. Quality data means quality decisions.

The team’s prize: 750 EUR

Challenges Along the Way

While the EcoTech Hackathon was a big success, the journey wasn’t without its roadblocks. Teams like Smart Flood wrestled with making complex data models accessible to non-technical users, while Street Flow struggled to integrate diverse data sources, such as drones and static cameras, into a single coherent dashboard. Understanding the end user and how to make the technology easily scalable were recurring themes across all teams.

Despite these challenges, the passion and commitment of every participant were clear. The mentorship provided by experts such as Kristjan and Alar was instrumental in guiding teams through these hurdles, turning obstacles into learning opportunities.

As a final note, The EcoTech Hackathon 2024 proved that collaboration between tech innovators, urban planners, and environmental scientists could lead to real, impactful change. The solutions developed this weekend have the potential to reshape how cities manage stormwater and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

For those who missed this incredible event, don’t worry—there will be more opportunities to innovate with Garage48. In the meantime, stay connected through social media and make sure to follow our journey toward building smarter, more sustainable cities!

Written by Mari Hanikat

The EcoTech hackathon was brought to you by Garage48, TalTech Urban Water Systems research group and the LIFE LATESTadapt project.

Link to original article – https://garage48.org/blog/ecotech-hackathon-we-made-urban-water-smart

Join us for a groundbreaking hackathon focused on tackling one of today’s most pressing urban challenges: the sustainable management of stormwater runoff. Climate change is exacerbating flooding and water quality issues in urban areas, affecting both city infrastructure and receiving water bodies. Blue-green stormwater infrastructure, including Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), can help mitigate the problems. We need your ideas to innovate smart sensing technologies that enhance the performance, maintenance, and monitoring of NBS!

What We’ll Work On:

• Novel sensing: Develop advanced sensors for monitoring of NBS performance indicators, such as infiltration rates, hydraulic loading ratios, erosion, water quality and retention or detention performance. Think machine vision, image processing and drone surveys.

• Data Collection, Integration and Analysis: Create a system for processing and analyzing sensor data to inform maintenance and operational decisions. Integrate data from weather patterns, urban infrastructure, water quality and quantity sensors, and satellite imagery.

• Predictive Modeling: Build machine learning models to predict the impact of contaminated stormwater on receiving water bodies. Analyze historical data to forecast future trends and identify high-risk areas.

• Sustainable Infrastructure: Innovate in integrating NBS with existing urban infrastructure for holistic water management solutions using geospatial data and urban planning models. Think green roofs, rain gardens, permeable pavements, and constructed wetlands.

• Community Engagement and Education: Develop tools and resources to raise awareness about the benefits of NBS and engage citizens in performance monitoring. Empower communities with information to drive behavior change and support grassroots efforts.

• Partnership and Collaboration: Create a platform for collaboration between government agencies, environmental organizations, research institutions, and local communities. Sharing data, resources, and expertise can accelerate the development and implementation of NBS.

Who Should Attend?

• Developers, data scientists, designers, and engineers of all kinds

• Environmental scientists and urban planners

• Anyone passionate about protecting our ecosystems and creating future-proof cities

You can join the hackathon as an individual or a team, with or without an idea. We will facilitate a Pitching and Matchmaking Pre-event on September 19th, during which you can learn more about the others and their ideas and choose the team you would like to work with.

Why Participate?

• Collaborate with like-minded individuals and experts

• Contribute to innovative solutions for a critical urban challenge

• Gain hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies

• Make a tangible impact on our water bodies!

• Get an amazing hackathon experience, brought to you by Garage48 and TalTech UWS

🏆The prize fund for best ideas is 5000€!🏆

Register Now and be part of the solution to preserve our future!

Registration and further information: https://garage48.org/events/ecotechhackathon

The Hackathon is organised in the framework of the LIFE LATESTadapt project (https://lifelatestadapt.viimsivald.ee/) and is funded by the LIFE programme of the European Union | Organised by: @ TalTech – Tallinn University of Technology and Garage48

In LIFE LATESTadapt Project, the guide has been published, addressing the establishment of rain garden vegetation using native plant species. The guide focuses on local specifics in Estonia and Latvia in terms of climate and soil conditions and selection of local native species in 2 countries. It provides general overview to help select the vegetation for a rain garden and to plan its establishment and maintenance in the region. The guide also includes a list of plant species that could potentially thrive in rain gardens under climatic conditions of Estonia and Latvia. The guide serves as an initial output of the Project, as several experiments with various plant species and plant communities are being conducted in a test bed continuously during the Project implementation. Therefore, the selection of recommended plant species will expand, and the actual performance of the listed species in real rain garden conditions will become clearer in the next years.

Find out more – https://lifelatestadapt.viimsivald.ee/materials/

At the end of the month of May, as part of the Water Aware Europe movement, a European Green Week focused on water as a resource. The week was rounded off with an international LIFE project recognition gala, where Viimsi’s LIFE UrbanStorm project received a prestigious award from the European Commission.

Viimsi Municipality was represented at the European Green Week events by Deputy Mayor Alar Mik, at the invitation of the European Commission. The focus of the Green Week was on the use of water resources – the sustainable use of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water management policies were discussed.

“In Europe, the issue of water resources is more topical and serious than here in Viimsi – no one thinks of watering the lawn with drinking water in the dry season, water use is restricted on certain days and this is unfortunately becoming more and more common. There was also talk of cleaning up water bodies and conserving any water resources, and that water is our common asset that needs to be protected,” said Alar Mik.

Green Week ended with a gala to recognise LIFE projects. In total, nine different projects from all over Europe were invited to the Gala. The winning projects will be selected by a jury and this type of recognition has been taking place since 2006. The finalists were divided between three programmes: Climate, Nature and Circular Economy and Quality of Life. Viimsi municipality’s LIFE UrbanStorm project was nominated in the climate category. In addition to Viimsi, projects from the Czech Republic and France were nominated for the top prize in the climate field. However, the Czech Republic won the LIFE Award for Climate Action this year. Estonian and French projects were recognised for reaching the finals with the LIFE Programme’s “LIFE Award”, an award made of recycled glass and wood.

Within the LIFE UrbanStorm project, a development plan for climate change adaptation in Viimsi municipality was prepared and several important stormwater saving solutions were built, including a natural stormwater system at Karulaugu tee 16 in Haabneeme and in Viimsi Manor Park.

Alar Mik pointed out that reaching the finals is a great honour and recognition for the work done in Viimsi in the field of rainwater conservation. “The LIFE programme funds well over 100 projects a year, and to make it among the three climate project finalists is an achievement we can be proud of.” According to Miku, the recognition received from the European Commission will certainly give us the motivation to continue and write even more interesting projects. “I am grateful to our partners, the main team of Viimsi municipality, Taavi Valgmäe, Siim Reinla and Tanel Mätlik. Special thanks go to the LIFE programme, which gave Viimsi municipality the opportunity to lead this project,” said the Deputy Mayor.

Viimsi municipality is already taking the next steps in adapting to climate change. For example, by 2025, the second LIFE project LATESTadapt will include the construction of a smart rainwater harvesting reservoir with a sustainable rainwater harvesting solution at the intersection of Mereranna tee and Randvere tee in Haabneeme, in the green area of the Mereranna tee L4 property.

The LIFE programme is the European Union’s financial instrument for the environment and climate action. The programme has been in operation since 1992 and has co-financed more than 6,000 projects across the European Union and in other countries. The European Commission has increased LIFE funding by almost 60 percent between 2021 and 2027, to €5.4 billion. LIFE has four sub-programmes: nature and biodiversity, circular economy and quality of life, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and clean energy transition.

On 13 April, a community event was held in Viimsi municipality to introduce the local residents to the smart rainwater harvesting solution to be implemented as part of the LIFE LATESTadapt project. The project is planned to be implemented in Haabneeme and the community event was an opportunity to present the innovative solution to the local residents. The event took place in the framework of the Viimsi Vision Day, which attracted a large number of residents from different areas of Viimsi municipality, who were given the opportunity to learn about the LIFE LATESTadapt project and the novel and innovative solutions related to the project. During the community event, various educational materials were distributed to the visitors and different environmentally sustainable solutions were discussed.