The first raingarden of Budapest 18th district has been completed in the garden of the Tomory Lajos Museum.

The purpose of raingardens is to collect, retain and infiltrate precipitation from the roofs of surrounding buildings and pavings. They reduce the negative effects of climate change, increase water retention, improve air quality and reduce the heat island effect. The use of diverse plant species increases biodiversity and provides habitat for different animal species (e.g. butterflies, bees, birds).

On the last day of construction, interested citizens and residents were able to learn about the rain gardens in the Museum garden as part of an open day.

László Petrovai, the vice mayor also responsible for environmental protection, evaluated the first raingarden as part of a learning and fine-tuning process because it is still new in Hungary. We learned from the vice mayor that with an adequate number of rain gardens, stormwater problems in the district could be reduced to a manageable size.

As part of the UPSURGE project, additional raingardens will be built in public areas, and those residents who want one on their properties will be provided with professional assistance for their design. This involvement of the local population will have a significant community building effect.