Cooling Havens – alchemia-nova Greece

Cooling Havens is an EU-funded project that helps Athens adapt to the challenges of the climate crisis, through the active participation of citizens. With extreme heatwaves and urban flooding becoming more frequent, the project introduces water-sensitive urban design to make the city more resilient, sustainable, and livable.

6 Cooling Points

By creating Cooling Points at six central neighbourhoods, the project reintegrates water and greenery into the city, using innovative, nature-based solutions such as rainwater harvesting gardens, bioswales, vertical gardens, and a sewer mining facility. The interventions will add over 8,000 m² of new water and green-based works, aiming for a reduction of approximately 2-5°C in microclimate temperature during heatwave days and retaining more than approximately 70% of intense rainfall. Each Point is equipped with “smart” IoT sensors for temperature, humidity and water consumption, which collect and transmit real-time data to a Open Data portal, allowing the city—and citizens—to monitor performance and optimize their operation.

The interventions will occur in the following areas:

Ilisia Park, Ilisia
Green space in Ag. Lavras (Train Station), Ano Patissia
Lakonias Square, Ampelokipi
Ramnes Square, Kolonos/Metaxourgeio
Ag. Nikolaos Park of Pefkakia, Neapoli Exarchia
Fokionos Negri, Kypseli

The Cooling Points of Cooling Havens are not simply technical infrastructures; they constitute participatory platforms that combine innovative design, cutting-edge technology and cultural creation. They encompass:

Integrated water management technology at a low cost: Two mobile, relocatable structures show that economically affordable solutions can measurably reduce temperature and be extended to other neighbourhoods.
Smart microclimate monitoring: 25 data collection stations and IoT sensors measure temperature, humidity, water consumption and air quality. All data is published on an Open Data Portal, accessible by the city and citizens.
Optimization with artificial intelligence: AI algorithms analyze data in real time and regulate water and energy flows, reducing the environmental footprint.
Data becomes art: Interactive multimedia installations transform climate data into visual experiences, engaging the public and enhancing experiential learning around water.
Co-creation ecosystem: From the Athens Water School to the Open Design Competition, the project invites students, artists, technicians and municipal employees to co-design, maintain and extend the interventions, creating a new water culture in the city.

Community Engagement

Beyond the contemporary facilities, Cooling Havens acts as a community hub for water stewardship and climate awareness, offering a wide set of citizen participation activities and educational programmes:

Athens Water School & Digital Water Memory Lab: Educational pathways and storytelling workshops around water.
Open Public Data Lab for sustainable water management: Where citizens, researchers and organizations have access to live measurements and information, so they can monitor, understand and improve water use in the city.
Citizen Participation Centers: At least 5 co-design workshops per neighborhood, aiming for the participation of over 120 residents in the design.
Data visualization and multimedia artworks: Artists, data scientists and environmental experts collaborate to transform environmental data into visually captivating representations, making information accessible and understandable to all audiences.
Green Jobs & Municipal Staff Training: Training 40 unemployed people in the maintenance of water and green-based infrastructures, as well as 25 municipal employees in resilient design.

By combining infrastructure, education, and cultural engagement, Cooling Havens goes beyond cooling. It creates an ecosystem of sustainable solutions that empower citizens, transform neighbourhoods, and contribute to shaping a more human-centered Athens.

Our role

The role of alchemia-nova Greece is to design, monitor and assess all infrastructures for sustainable water and wastewater management.

Project Partners

The innovative elements of the ‘’Cooling Havens’’ project will be transferred to three partners that have been identified and that receive EUI funding in the frame of the project: 18th District of Budapest (Hungary), Roeselare (Belgium) and Sofia (Bulgaria).

Download the project flyer.

Project code: EUI02-098 (European Urban Initiative)
Duration: 01/12/2024 – 31/05/2028
Total budget: 6.248.416€
Co-financing: 4,998,732.64 (ERDF)