Dublin, Dublin (FUA), Ireland
City population: 1894440
Duration: 2018 – 2022
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Residential, Building
Last updated: November 2024

The Ringsend Open-Air Laboratory project in Dublin, Ireland, is part of a broader effort to adapt urban areas to increasing climate change risks. This initiative focuses on installing green roofs and deploying a network of environmental sensors to enhance urban resilience. Launched in 2018 under the Horizon 2020 OPERANDUM project, the effort seeks to find nature-based solutions for climate change impacts worldwide. Led by the University of Bologna, OPERANDUM involves over 20 partners, primarily in Europe, working together to address environmental challenges like flooding, drought, and coastal erosion through the establishment of ten "Open Air Laboratories" globally. In Dublin, the project aims to bolster flood resilience in Ringsend, a critical economic area near the city’s tech district, which faces substantial flood risks due to its low elevation and proximity to the Dodder River. This river, which flows through both rural and urban areas before meeting the River Liffey near Ringsend, has caused property and infrastructure damage from extreme rainfall and combined river and tidal flooding. Green roofs play a key role in mitigating urban flood risks in this project. These rooftop gardens absorb large volumes of rainfall before it reaches the streets, easing the load on existing flood prevention systems like storm drains and gullies and reducing the need for additional "grey" infrastructure. Based on community insights and recommendations, construction has begun on a green roof on top of the CHQ building in Dublin’s Docklands, in partnership with Dogpatch Labs.Complementing this, over 100 sensors have been deployed in recent research trials across Dublin. OPERANDUM researchers are now building on this foundation to create a denser, more reliable, and cost-effective sensor network, with data from earlier low-cost sensor trials made publicly accessible via Dublinked, Dublin’s open data platform, and exploring the use of LPWAN for environmental sensing. (1-5, 7)

Green Roof
Green Roof
https://www.caro.ie/news/dublin-piloting-innovative-smart-green-roof-monito

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Nature on buildings (external)
  • Green roofs

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Flood protection
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
  • Inclusive governance
  • Disaster-risk reduction
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Environmental education
  • Sense of community and community engagement

Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)

  • Climate-Related Hazards
  • Coastal flooding
  • Urban flooding (stormwater)
  • Drought
  • Coastal hazards (e.g. erosion, flooding)
  • Land use and Socio-economic change
  • Rapid urbanization
  • Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
  • Poor community engagement

Key priorities

Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation), Social Justice and community

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Creation of green roofs and walls, Strategy, plan or policy development, Development of disaster-risk prevention strategies (e.g.fire management, flood alleviation scheme), Improved governance of green or blue areas, Creation of new, innovative governance and management approaches, Re-design of existing NBS governance or management approaches, Establishment of inclusive governance mechanisms involving local communities, Monitoring and maintenance of habitats and/or biodiversity, Citizen science and monitoring initiatives (e.g. species observations, habitat assessments, and data collection efforts)

Project objectives

To develop a rainfall-runoff model to analyze flood events in the Dodder River basin. To use soil maps to study subsurface and groundwater flow in the Dodder catchment area. To capture additional data by deploying more rainfall and water level sensors. To create more open data for research, predictive modeling, and impact measurement for flood strategy To work with citizens (supporting citizen science activity) to co-develop nature-based solutions to help alleviate the effects of increased flooding in the city To increase citizens involvement and provide a sense of engagement and environmental education (1,2)

Implementation activities

Through project funding, Dr. Pilla has acquired 100 weather stations for Dublin citizens to set up. This initiative helps monitor weather changes and soil moisture, contributing to a better understanding of how green spaces can reduce the risk of flooding. Local communities and schools are actively involved in monitoring efforts, using citizen science to raise awareness about flooding risks and offer solutions. Data from low-cost sensor trials are published on Dublinked, Dublin’s open data platform, to enhance the understanding of rainfall and water levels in the city (2). Through workshops run with local community groups in Ringsend, it was discovered that the amount of ‘grey space’, areas where water or rainfall is not absorbed when it falls, is a problem in the Ringsend area. Working with citizens to keep local experience and expectations at the forefront of identifying a solution. OPERANDUM is also working alongside residents for support in collecting the necessary local data to develop nature-based solutions for the area. A ‘citizen science’ workstream is currently underway, which will give citizens the opportunity to co-monitor the types of weather events that lead to flooding incidents (1). Based on community insights and recommendations, construction has begun on a green roof on top of the CHQ building in Dublin’s Docklands, in partnership with Dogpatch Labs. (1). Operandum has also developed an informed strategy to manage floods based on real-time monitoring (1)

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Implement sustainable urban drainage schemes to manage stormwater
  • Reducing socio-economic vulnerability to climate impacts (e.g. awareness raising)
Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts
Yes

Specification of climate or environmentally vulnerable communities

Coastal communities, Communities located in floodplains

Main beneficiaries

  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Researchers/university
  • EU body

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
  • Citizen science
  • Citizen monitoring and review

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The OPERANDUM project in Dublin is funded by the European Union under Horizon 2020 (5). Key partners include Dublin City Council, with its Flood Risk Department and Climate Action Regional Office, which have co-designed flood prevention solutions. University College Dublin (UCD), led by Prof. Francesco Pilla, contributes research expertise, particularly in sensor deployment and flood modelling (2). The private sector, including companies like ZiggyTec, provides technological support, deploying rainfall sensors across Dublin. Local communities and schools are also involved through citizen science, helping monitor weather and soil conditions to reduce flood risks (1). These stakeholders also participated in the co-design of the solution alongside local companies, through a variety of workshops. (1)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Unknown

Type of enablers

NBS research project (e.g., H2020, Urban Living Labs, national research projects)

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • EU funds

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Type of non-financial contribution
  • Provision of goods
  • Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
  • Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
  • Private sector (businesses, financial institution)

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Storm / wave induced erosion and flooding
  • Expected storm / wave induced erosion and flooding
  • Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
  • Expected strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
  • Water management and blue areas
  • Increased protection against flooding
  • Expected increased protection against flooding
  • Improved stormwater management
  • Expected improved stormwater management
  • Reduced risk of damages by drought
  • Expected reduced risk of damages by drought
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Expected increased green space area

Economic impacts

  • Attraction of business and investment
  • Expected attraction of business and investment

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research
  • Expected increased support for education and scientific research
  • Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
  • Expected increased awareness of NBS and their benefits

Type of reported impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

Yes

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

Yes

Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs

Unknown

References

1.
Smart Docklands (n.d.). OPERANDUM. Smart Docklands, Accessed on September 18, 2024, [Source link];
2.
University College Dublin (n.d.). Nature-based approaches to climate change challenges OPERANDUM. University College Dublin, Accessed on September 18, 2024, [Source link];
3.
OPERANDUM (n.d.). Open-air Laboratory Ireland. OPERANDUM, Accessed on September 18, 2024, [Source link];
4.
OPERANDUM (n.d.). OPN-air Laboratories for Nature based solutions to Manage hydro-meteo risks. OPERANDUM, Accessed on September 18, 2024, [Source link];
5.
OPERANDUM (n.d.). OPERANDUM at a glance. OPERANDUM, Accessed on September 18, 2024, [Source link];
6.
CORDIS (2022). OPEn-air laboRAtories for Nature baseD solUtions to Manage hydro-meteo risks. CORDIS, Accessed on September 19, 2024, [Source link];
7.
National Health Intelligence Unit (2024). Community Healthcare Network Donnybrook, Ranelagh & Ringsend. National Health Intelligence Unit, Accessed on September 19, 2024, [Source link];
Green Roof
Green Roof
https://www.caro.ie/news/dublin-piloting-innovative-smart-green-roof-monito
OPERANDUM infographic on NBS
OPERANDUM infographic on NBS
Ref. 6
Green roofs and real-time monitoring
Green roofs and real-time monitoring
Ref. 5
naturescapes bannerInformation about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.