Aiming for a climate-resilient city: H-BRS researches the potential of urban green spaces

Many German cities, including those in the region, have committed to becoming climate-neutral: Cologne and Bonn are aiming to achieve this by 2035, while other cities are aiming for 2045. In addition to the major building blocks of transport and energy-efficient building refurbishment, green spaces can also be used to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change. In order to optimise the potential of these areas, employees in environmental and green space agencies are dependent on extensive environmental data. Much of this is already available, explains Professor Martin Hamer, head of the EcoTwin project at H-BRS: "In Germany, and especially in NRW, we have an excellent starting position, with various agencies collecting a large amount of relevant environmental data. However, it takes experience and expertise to process this data in a meaningful way," says Hamer.

This is where the research team comes in. Existing data and self-collected environmental data, which the researchers collect on site in parks, playgrounds or cemeteries, are to be transferred into a digital twin. Put simply, this is a virtual image of all urban green spaces: "Ultimately, we want to enable decision-makers to call up all relevant data about a specific area from their desks. An artificial intelligence programmed by us should also be able to make its own recommendations for action on request," says Hamer. For example, sensors on urban trees could provide data on soil moisture and the system could then send a warning that watering is required at this location.

In the first phase of the project, the research team is working with cities and municipalities from the Cologne-Bonn region to define concrete goals for the joint collaboration. "We want to use our research to tackle very specific problems in urban planning and will therefore work closely with the decision-makers," says Hamer. By the end of the project in July 2027, the digital twin will then be used in practice and contribute to the sustainable and climate-resilient use of urban green spaces.

Background

The EcoTwin project is a cooperation between the International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE) at H-BRS, cologne University of Applied Sciences, the Interessengemeinschaft Grenzüberschreitende Integrierte Qualitätssicherung e. V. (GIQS) and RF-Frontend GmbH. It is funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Union as part of the European Regional Development Fund.