The research project ‘URBREATH’, funded by the European Union, started at the beginning of 2024 with the aim of implementing Nature Based Solutions (NBS) in urban areas to improve the resilience of cities and increase the quality of local life. The Academy of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) is a project partner.

With a total of 37 partners from various sectors, including research and development, public institutions, businesses and non-profit organisations, as well as four ‘frontrunner cities’ and five ‘follower cities’, ‘URBREATH’ is a pioneering project in the field of urban development. At the Academy of Architecture and Urban Studies, we are leading the Urban Greening and Renaturing Actions within the project, which aims to support the various stakeholders in the planning and implementation of NBS, as well as monitoring the solutions implemented within the project.

The main objective of URBREATH is to develop and deploy NBS to address the problems faced by European cities and regions due to geopolitical, economic, social and climatic changes. These solutions should not only provide ecological benefits, but also social and economic ones, while strengthening the resilience of cities.

NBS are being implemented in the so-called frontrunner cities of Madrid (ESP), Leuven (BEL), Tallinn (EST) and Cluj-Napoca (ROU). The cities deliberately reflect different climate zones in Europe. The follower cities learn from these experiences. By implementing NBS in different climate zones and integrating social and technical innovations, including AI technologies and Urban Digital Twins, ‘URBREATH’ aims to develop tailored solutions for the specific needs of the participating cities. Using high-resolution regional climate models and advanced visualisation techniques, inter alia in Collaborative Virtual Reality, the impact of the NBS measures will be assessed and incorporated into participatory urban planning processes.

We are supporting the City of Tallinn in implementing NBS in the context of urban development measures in the vicinity of the heritage-protected Linnahall, a city hall and event centre that was built during the Summer Olympics in the then Soviet Estonia. For decades, snow cleared from the city has been piled up next to the monumental building complex on the coast, near the central old town, and this snow has been melting into the sea until mid-summer and the wastewater has been discharged into the sea unfiltered.

The aim here is to use a natural plant based purification system to filter the water on the one hand, and to increase biodiversity in the previously sealed area on the other. In addition, the coastal section is to be made accessible to the public and its attractiveness enhanced. The planning is taking place with the participation and collaboration of citizens and various stakeholders.

Picture: A mountain of contaminated snow piled up from road clearance in Tallinn, Estonia, January 2025 (Dembski, 2025)