BlueGreen City Coaching
Implementation of blue-green infrastructures (BGI) for climate adaptation in smaller German cities
Leipzig Plagwitz as an example of successful blue-green infrastructure ©Animaflora PicsStock/AdobeStock
The “BlueGreen City Coaching” (BGCC) project provides individual coaching to decision-makers in ten German cities to better adapt their urban development to the impacts of climate change, such as heat waves and heavy rainfall. Four modules – “BlueGreen Infrastructure Planning,” “Costs – Benefits – Financing,” “Law,” and “Governance” – provide the current state of research and specific planning tools. The BGCC toolbox is available to all interested parties.
BlueGreen infrastructures (BGI), consisting of water-related (blue) and vegetation-based (green) systems, are considered an effective approach to dealing with the consequences of climate change, especially in cities where heat and drought, as well as heavy rainfall events, threaten to increase further.
The research project “BlueGreen City Coaching -- Implementation of blue-green infrastructures (BGI) for climate adaptation of smaller German cities (BGCC)” aims to advance German cities with 100,000 to 300,000 inhabitants in the planning and implementation of climate-adapted, water-sensitive urban development by providing recommendations for the implementation of BGI.
BGCC offers coaching for municipal decision-makers. City-specific potentials and limitations are identified together with the cities, and practical solutions are developed using project expertise in law, urban water management, socio-economics, and political science.
In spring 2025, following a call for proposals published by the German Association of Cities (DST), interested cities could apply for individually tailored coaching based on their specific needs (problems, goals, and required actions). The ten selected cities will now receive support from experts of the research project from autumn 2025 to spring 2027. The coaching is designed as a process that alternates between individual and inter-municipal consulting and exchange formats. The selection of cities deliberately emphasized the diversity of their challenges, potential, and stages of implementation processes.
The project runs from 2024 to 2027 and is a research project overseen by the German Environment Agency (UBA). It is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) through the Action Programme for Natural Climate Protection (ANK) and implemented by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in cooperation with the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) and Fresh Thoughts (FT). The German Association of Cities (DST) and the Centre for Climate Adaptation (ZKA) support the project.
Below, we present the four components of the coaching toolbox developed within the project. In addition to the current state of research and a wealth of information, interested parties will find concrete and practical planning tools that can be readily used in everyday municipal work to support adaptation in their own communities – without having to reinvent the wheel. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions .
The coaching of the selected blue-green urban regions, led by the German Institute for Urban Affairs (Difu), follows a fundamentally similar, but city-specific, approach. On-site coaching sessions are planned for each municipality; in addition, municipalities can request digital consulting services. All municipalities participate in three inter-municipal expert meetings, where various current topics are presented and discussed, and where inter-municipal exchange of experiences, i.e., peer learning, is facilitated.
The work in the municipalities culminates in concrete implementation strategies, which are ideally submitted to the municipal decision-making bodies for approval by the representatives involved.
The findings from the support and consultation of the municipalities are systematized and prepared for transfer to other municipalities.
Content components of the BGCC Toolbox
- Blue-green infrastructure planning
- Law
- Governance
- Costs, benefits, financing
Coaching in ten smaller cities
- One on-site basic workshop each
- Three central expert meetings on key topics
- City-specific coaching sessions
- Ideally, a pilot implementation on-site
Products of the research project
- Instructional Videos
- Public Documentation
- Implementation Strategy per City
- Coaching Handbook
Review of existing NbS-concepts
- Journals/Articles
- Studies
- NbS-concepts in other research projects
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