Klimagärten³ - Biodiverse, CO2-saving, close to nature: climate gardens³ for Austria's garden future

Starting point / motivation

Austria's cities and municipalities are to become climate-neutral by 2040. To achieve this, they must reduce their emissions by at least 80 per cent compared to 2019. The remaining 20 per cent can be offset. The soil in public and private gardens offers great potential for CO₂ reduction that has hardly been utilised to date.

Studies show that these can also store considerable amounts of CO₂ in urban areas. As more than half of the Austrian population has its own green spaces and gardens make up around 28% of urban areas, it makes sense to start here.

With targeted care and sustainable management, these areas could not only literally flourish, but also serve as carbon sinks. Klimagärten³ aims to utilise this potential and establish near-natural, biodiverse and CO₂-storing gardens.

Contents and goals

Klimagärten³ develops strategies to optimise the use of private and public green spaces as CO₂ sinks. Among other things, prototype climate gardens are being created to test, optimise and illustrate the CO₂ storage capacity of various measures.

In addition to carbon sequestration, the focus is also on promoting biodiversity, increasing soil quality and improving the urban climate. A central component of the project is cooperation with garden owners in order to analyse their willingness to implement climate-friendly measures and provide targeted support measures.

Finally, possibilities are to be researched for calculating the CO₂ storage potential of individual gardens and integrating this into overarching climate protection strategies. In this way, the project contributes to the systematic recording and utilisation of urban green spaces as active elements of climate adaptation.

Methods

The project is based on an interdisciplinary and participatory methodology. Firstly, a comprehensive analysis of existing CO₂ data is carried out in order to assess the climatic and ecological effects of urban greenery. Based on this, customised design and maintenance concepts are developed together with citizens, local authorities and experts.

Various measures to store CO₂ and promote biodiversity are being implemented in demonstration gardens and their effectiveness tested. At the same time, participatory formats such as workshops, focus groups and surveys will be carried out to evaluate the acceptance and feasibility of the measures.

One aim is to develop a planning tool that enables property owners to calculate the CO₂ storage potential of their garden. The findings will be incorporated into recommendations for action for cities and municipalities in order to establish climate gardens as an integral part of urban climate strategies.

Expected results

The project develops tools to identify and optimise urban carbon sinks and to integrate green spaces into municipal climate protection strategies in the medium term. Through close cooperation with garden owners and municipal stakeholders, targeted strategies are being developed to promote climate-friendly garden management.

The knowledge gained is disseminated through guidelines, training materials and networking activities in order to facilitate broad implementation of the measures. In this way, Klimagärten³ contributes to the long-term reduction of urban CO₂ emissions and strengthens the importance of green infrastructure for climate protection.

Project management

Oikoplus GmbH

Project or cooperation partners

Project partners

• Augustin Dienstleistungs GmbH
• Natur im Garten
• Natur im Garten Stmk
• TU Wien (Urban and Regional Research Division)

Associated partners

• Garten Tulln
• City of Graz

Oikoplus GmbH
Michael Anranter
Millergasse 37/3
A-1060 Vienna
Tel.: +43 (680) 552 37 42
E-mail: office@oikoplus.com
Web: www.oikoplus.com