Patras, Greece’s third-largest city and a key port in the Peloponnese, faces escalating urban challenges from climate change, including heatwaves, flooding, and social inequities in deprived neighborhoods. As a partner in the EU-funded UPSURGE project (2021–2025), Patras is actively piloting Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to enhance urban resilience. UPSURGE focuses on upscaling NBS through citizen science,…

As part of the Smart City Expo World Congress, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability will officially launch the UrbanByNature Platform (formerly known as Lighthouse), a new hub designed to support cities in advancing Nature-based Solutions (NbS). To celebrate this milestone, ICLEI will host a networking event at the ICLEI Stand on 5 November at…

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which has been marked for many years by the Europa Donna Slovenia Association. This year, the Podravje branch marked Pink October with a walk along the Pekrski potok stream, where participants were accompanied by posters with information on the importance of prevention, early detection of the disease, and women’s…

A big thank you to our hosts in Breda for such a warm and insightful experience! On 1–2 October 2025, the city of Breda hosted the meeting of the UPSURGE project partners. During the event, participants discussed current project matters, including a detailed review of achievements and challenges within individual work packages. Over two productive…

At one of our UPSURGE demo cities – Maribor, RRA Podravje – Maribor, in cooperation with Društvo Šola zdravja and Nuša Lazar, external expert on the project, organized another inspiring PlaceLab activity near the Pekrski creek (DEMO Maribor location) on Monday, 6th of October 2025. The event brought together more than 50 local residents, mostly…