The creation of a green space around the municipal car park in Peridou street in Chania, and of a vertical garden on the walls of the multistorey building, has been planned under the Just Nature initiative of the EU’s Horizon research programme. The Technical University of Crete has been taking part in the programme since 1st September 2021 under the leadership of Professor Dionysia Kolokotsa, Dean of the School of Environmental Engineering.

The preliminary steps
In January 2023 a workshop was held at the KAM, at which a member of the team from the Technical University of Crete, Angeliki Mavrigiannaki, told Haniotika Nea that the programme is concerned with “equitable transition in cities so as to create sustainable cities with low CO₂ emissions, but we want that to happen in a way which is fair to all, so that it does not favour particular groups over others.”

“For Chania, this was the aim of the first workshop,” she said. “First of all so that we can recognise where there are such types of inequality so that action can then be taken.” She explained that in order to get funding it is necessary to have an initial proposal for action. “We have proposed a green wall and a small urban park where the Kydon car park is in Peridou street, because it is an area which is highly built up, is subject to a lot of traffic and does not have enough greenery.”

At the time, planning of the the project had not yet started, she said. “This first workshop had to take place to confirm that it is a site of interest, and there will be a second workshop where we will talk in more detail about the actions needed, and towards the end of the project sensors will be installed to take measurements of the results. The Technical University is contributing to the creation of the monitoring system and of the indicators which will be used to assess the results”.

Babis Litos, the managing director of the municipal car park company, Kydon A.E., said that the Just Nature programme will involve “environmentally friendly actions in European city centres, which are overloaded and have need of such interventions. However, the form of these interventions will emerge from consultations with those immediately involved, i.e. visitors to the area, local business people and those who make use of the site. The site in this case is the municipal car park on Peridou and Ypsilanton, where we are proposing to make extensive interventions in the form of vertical gardens so as to cover the major part of the building with greenery, as well as modifications to the surrounding space in the form of planted roofs.”

The president of Kydon A.E., deputy mayor Michalis Kalogridakis, said that under the programme “we will create a green corner in the urban fabric of the city. We know that there is a lack of greenery in the city. Unfortunately its layout does not permit large parks, except for the Makropoulou barracks which is a target. Therefore we are trying to find other solutions so as to create spots which will be environmentally beneficial and which could revitalise the city centre.”
(Haniotika Nea 19/02/23)

The Green Wall takes shape
With the project having now been brought to fruition, last week, on Thursday 24th October, schoolchildren from the 1st Primary School and the 1st Special Primary School of Chania were welcomed at the car park in Peridou street by the municipal management company Kydon A.E. The pupils took part in the planting out of young plants into plastic troughs which were then placed on the structure of the Green Wall, which has been christened the “Wall of Jasmine”. At the same time the pupils were able to get a close look at the project’s construction and to find out about natural solutions which can improve the city centre. The participating children were given gifts of small pot plants at the end of the operation.

Talking to the assembled media, the president of Kydon AE Michalis Kalogridakis said: “This project was started three years ago in collaboration with the Technical University of Crete, and I would like to thank Professor Kolokotsa and the students who are taking part in this programme. The programme originated in Brussels, who have funded it to the tune of half a million euros, and we were able to participate in it as the first municipality in Greece together with 20 partners.” He added that it is a pilot programme.

Mr Kalogridakis observed that there are not many sites in the municipality of Chania which can be turned green, so alternative methods are being sought. “Apart from the aesthetic angle, with the creation of a green corner in the centre of the city, the project also has a research purpose, as we will be studying how it changes the microclimate of the area in relation to pollution and temperature.” He added that it will also help to raise awareness among small children.

Deputy mayor Michalis Tsoupakis, of the municipality’s Directorate for the Environment, Green Issues and Hygiene, pointed out that the practices are being adopted in other countries, emphasising that it was a major effort to make the city greener and more beautiful. “We want the citizens to be our helpers in this, so as to protect the green environment and to look after and care for the public space,” Mr Tsoupakis said.

Agriculturalist Antonis Halaris told the media that the project would be completed in a week, and that 3,000 plants were being installed, chiefly jasmine, which will flower next spring, when the whole wall will be covered in greenery. There will be monthly maintenance of the installation in the coming years, he said.

Kydon AE describes the project as unique in its extent both nationally and in Europe, one which in addition to “greening” the city centre will offer multiple benefits both in terms of air quality and aesthetics, as well as on an educational level, providing know-how and and an example of good practice.
(Municipal press release 24/10/24)