Over 300 people participated in the seminars entitled “Installation of green roofs and living walls as an innovative action that can be included in local Low-Emission Economy Programmes”, which were organized by our Association this February in four Polish municipalities -  Białystok, Częstochowa, Lublin and Słupsk.

The seminars concerned environmental, technical and practical aspects of the establishment and development of gardens on roofs and walls of the buildings in Poland, as well as the possibility of including such investments in the local energy planning process. The speakers also discussed in details main elements of the Low-Emission Economy Programmes (LEEP) developed by local authorities – sectors and areas of intervention that should be included in the plan (e.g. municipal buildings & facilities, public transport, PV installations, trainings & education) and the process of the development of the Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI), which is a starting point for the LEEP. 

Over 870 municipalities (which is approx. 35% of all Polish municipalities) committed themselves to develop LEEPs and received co-financing for it from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, which creates an excellent opportunity to include installation of green roofs and walls in such programmes. Green roofs and living walls are an innovative solution leading to improving energy efficiency of the buildings and optimisation of the management of sewerage systems. They are also an efficient method of compensating for the green space taken by the buildings. This technology, which is still rather new in Poland, is taking more and more interest due to multiple benefits resulting from its application. Green roofs can help to significantly reduce the negative effects of urbanisation – they retain water, absorbe toxic gases, provide oxygen, protect the buildings from degradation caused by differences in temperatures and improve the comfort of life of the citizens by creating spaces  for social contacts and recreation.

Descriptions of good practices concerning installation of green roofs and living walls in Poland and Switzerland, illustrated with attractive pictures, were gathered in one database which is available free of charge on the project website - www.ogrodnadglowa.pl – since March 2015.

Organisation of the seminars and development of the database were co-financed by Switzerland in the framework of the Swiss Programme of Cooperation with New EU Member States.

Agendas of the events and presentations given by the speakers (in Polish) are available at the project website.