On the 5th of October 2023, there was a kick-off meeting of the UPSURGE Competency Group in Katowice, Poland. Using a co-creation formula we met with the experts to discuss several points within the process of establishing a local Place Lab and creating the operational plan for our demo city. One of the biggest challenges here is the area, as we have 5 different locations of NBS interventions (especially green bus stops) in 5 different districts.

Our goal was to identify some KPIs in each of UPSURGE criteria (eco-sensitisation, social benefits of NBS, gender-based NBS, NBS economic opportunities, enabling NBS-supporting political capital) and then to define measures and parameters appropriate for each category. We are pleased that during the meeting we have achieved a lot and we have a basis for further work. We have agreed to start activities at the micro-scale and finalize them, where possible, at the city level using a broader approach. The discussions were very vivid and led to many interesting ideas. All those efforts should bring us closer to the development of the Katowice Place Lab Operation Plan.