Last updated: March 2025
The Urban Oasis Playgrounds project focuses on creating a guide for green regeneration of playgrounds located all over Iasi by using natural climate solutions, with the potential for wider application beyond the city(1 to 6). The project's primary goal is to tackle pollution in playgrounds and address the overall lack of green spaces for children (1). This initiative is led by the NGO Civica in collaboration with the Municipality of Iași and the Architects Association in Iași (OAR) (1). The project secured €50,000 in funding after winning a competition organized by Raiffeisen Comunități, with support from the NGO "Asociația pentru Relații Comunitare" (2 & 3). In addition to pollution, the project seeks to address other critical issues, such as the heat island effect and the proximity of playgrounds to risk-prone areas (1). The guide will be developed based on public consultations with Iași residents and a comprehensive study to tackle these concerns (1 to 7). Currently, the first phase of the project is underway, involving assessments of various factors in playgrounds, including existing vegetation, shading, surface quality, infrastructure conditions, and pollution risks (4). These aspects are also reflected in a questionnaire distributed to the public, which gathers opinions on factors like cleanliness, noise exposure, thermal comfort, safety, and preferred natural green solutions (6). The initiative aims to raise awareness about climate change, actively engaging the community in the process (4). Once completed, the guide will be presented to the municipality with the goal of being adopted as a standard for future playground developments (1, 3, 4, 6). The first phase of the project will regenerate a playground by planting trees and native vegetation (3).
Poster announcing the project
https://www.facebook.com/asociatiacivica.ro/posts/pfbid0vShL42CeJfUANqEW63PAydSfS3w9KVEU83s9qy3gTEgcn4YPeDj7ey4opaqoaNBTl
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Grey infrastructure featuring greens
- Green playgrounds and school grounds
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Noise reduction
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
- Enabling opportunities for physical activity
- Improving physical health
- Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
- Inclusive governance
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Social justice and equity
- Environmental education
- Sense of community and community engagement
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Climate-Related Hazards
- Heat stress & Extreme temperatures
- Environmental Degradation
- Air pollution
- Land use and Socio-economic change
- Unequal availability and access to public green spaces
- Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
- Physical health harm (from pollution, wildfire, extreme temperature)
- Inadequate access to recreational opportunities
- Poor community engagement
- Insecurity in public spaces
Key priorities
Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation), Social Justice and community
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of any other green urban spaces, Maintenance and management of urban nature, Maintenance or upgrade of exisiting green spaces (e.g. parks), Knowledge creation and awareness raising, Educational and awareness raising programs, Strategy, plan or policy development, Creation of city-wide or neighborhood green and blue infrastrcuture protection or enhancement strategies/plans, Improved governance of green or blue areas, Creation of new, innovative governance and management approaches
Project objectives
Develop and test an innovative, replicable method of green urban regeneration based on natural solutions (to be decided) and community engagement and involvement in design and planning (1 & 3).
Improve the environmental quality of playground spaces in Iasi (1).
Address challenges related to high air pollution, noise caused by traffic, and the lack of green spaces in Iasi.
Raise awareness about climate change, particularly the urban heat island effect, and promote the benefits of green infrastructure through dissemination of educational materials (5).
Identify problems, needs, and solutions for playgrounds through community involvement, with special focus on the elderly, parents, and children (6 & 7).
Increase children's access to green spaces and provide recreational areas able to support the cognitive and physical development of children (1, 3).
Contribute to the well-being of children and the overall health of the community (5).
Aim to create a city-wide strategy adopted as a standard for future playground developments
Regenerate an existing playground by adding vegetation, creating shade (1,3,5)
Implementation activities
First, a comprehensive questionnaire was created to identify existing problems, needs, and potential solutions, while also educating participants on climate action and green solutions through dedicated sections using Facebook for dissemination (7). Additionally, the project documented 213 playgrounds in Iași, each averaging 400 square meters, highlighting issues such as air pollution, lack of green elements, heat island effects, and proximity to risk-prone areas. Most of these playgrounds were developed between the 1970s and 1990s (1).
To validate the proposed methodology, a pilot test will be conducted at a specific playground in Iași (1 & 3). The study also involves analyzing various factors in the playgrounds, including existing vegetation, the degree of shade, surface and infrastructure quality, and environmental risks like pollution (5). The initiative aims to collaborate with public actors to implement the guide as a local regulation for future playground developments (1 & 3).
Although the project is still ongoing and has not yet addressed the "physical" challenges in the playgrounds, it has successfully increased local engagement through the questionnaire and social media outreach. Ultimately one if the playgrounds will be regenerated and re-greened to test the methodology (1 to 7).
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect
- 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
Urban heat islands
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Citizens or community groups
- Young people and children
Governance
Management set-up
- Led by non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Non-government organisation/civil society
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Deliberative decision-making processes (e.g., consensus building, deliberative polling)
- Taskforce groups
- Dissemination of information and education
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
- Citizen science
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The NGO Civica participated in a contest for funding with a team of experts: a geographer, an architect, an horticultural engineer, an ecologist and a manager and communication specialist, in partnership with a team of the business association "Order of Romanian Architects" (OAR) Iași and representatives from the municipalty of Iasi (1). They won and they received funding from Raiffeisen Comunități (a group from the Raiffeisen bank) and the Asociația pentru Relații Comunitare (an NGO that facilitated connection between Civica and Raiffeisen) (2). Civica started the analysis of the area of interest and reached out to the citizens through social media and a questionnaire (6 & 7). The citizens have been participating in the questionnaire and helped the project win through support on social media (3 & 6 & 7).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(Planului de Acțiune pentru un Oraș Verde (PAOV), Green city Action Plan of Iasi, Green Oasis project (8, p.68-69). )
Type of enablers
NGOs/Community groups driving the implementation
Financing
Total cost
€50,000 - €100,000
Source(s) of funding
- Private Foundation/Trust
Type of funding
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of land
- Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Expected lowered local temperature
- Environmental quality
- Improved air quality
- Expected improved air quality
- Reduced noise exposure
- Expected reduced noise exposure
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Expected increased green space area
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved social cohesion
- Expected improved social cohesion
- Improved liveability
- Expected improved liveability
- Improved access to urban green space
- Expected improved access to urban green space
- Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
- Expected increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
- Increased opportunities for social interaction
- Expected increased opportunities for social interaction
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Achieved increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Health and wellbeing
- Improved physical health
- Expected improved physical health
- Education
- Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
- Achieved increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Unknown
References
1.
Sandu, F. (2024). Asociația CIVICA, în cursa pentru un grant de 50.000 de euro. Cum puteți să le susțineți proiectul pentru un Ghid de regenerare verde a spațiilor de joacă - Ziarul de Iaşi - liderul presei ieşene. Ziarul de Iasi , Accessed on September 6, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Raiffeisen Comunități (n.d.). Raiffeisen Comunități _ Acceleratorul de ONGuri în sustenabilitate cu granturi totale de 1.000.000 €. Accessed on September 7, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Civica (2024). CIVICA - 🍀Suntem în etapa finală din competiția... _ Facebook. Facebook , Accessed on September 7, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Civica (2024). CIVICA - Avem o veste foarte bună! 🍀 Proiectul ”𝗢𝗮𝘇𝗲 𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗲 -... _ Facebook. Facebook , Accessed on September 7, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Civica (2024). CIVICA - 𝗩𝗿𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺 𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗻𝗮 𝘂𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘂 𝗱𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗮 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘂... _ Facebook. Facebook , Accessed on September 7, 2024, [Source link];
6.
Civica (2024). CIVICA - Vești bune! Am dat startul primelor activități din... _ Facebook. Facebook , Accessed on September 7, 2024, [Source link];
7.
Civica (2024). Sondaj privind nevoile referitoare la utilizarea spațiilor de joacă din Municipiul Iași. Accessed on September 7, 2024, [Source link];
8.
Primaria Iasi (2023 ). Green City Action Plan, City of Iasi . p. 68 & 69. Accessed on September 8, 2024, [Source link];
9.
Populatia Ro (n.d.). Populația Municipiului Iași, Jud. Iași - 2023 _ Populatia.ro. Accessed on September 8, 2024, [Source link];
10.
AgerPress (2024). Iaşi_ Cei mai mulţi copii cu părinţi în străinătate, în regiunea Nord-Est; _Am nevoie de tine aici_ _ AGERPRES • Actualizează lumea.. Accessed on September 8, 2024, [Source link];
Oaze urbane
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=493017179948418&set=pcb.493023606614442
Oaze urbane
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=493017179948418&set=pcb.493023606614442
Measurement of outdoor temperature in one specific playground
https://www.facebook.com/asociatiacivica.ro/posts/pfbid0vShL42CeJfUANqEW63PAydSfS3w9KVEU83s9qy3gTEgcn4YPeDj7ey4opaqoaNBTl
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.