Painting the Baltic Sea region cities blue

Walking along the stream to learn about flood risk management

A big sign reading ‘City Blues project’ welcomed us as we stepped off the bus to discover the first pilot site. It was large area with a road following the stream in front of us. Left of the stream was a grass area with some trees, we could see a bench and two bridges in the distance. Janne Syrjä, a developer of green areas for the city of Tampere explained to us the challenge affecting the catchment area of the stream: flooding caused by increased rainfall. What did the project do to address it? The project focused on slowing down the flow of water. They expanded the area around the stream to give it more space by constructing new alluvial meadows and built a swirl pond designed to delay the water’s movement. This clever solution allows solids and nutrients to settle, and preventing them from flowing further downstream. As we walked along the stream on a newly widened path, we saw the swirl pond up close and passed by a newly built bridge, both part of this nature-based pilot that blends infrastructure with ecological thinking.

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Citizen participation: locals in the loop

But beyond infrastructure, the project took into consideration the opinion of the people living in the area.

Protecting the biodiversity

Emmi Seppänen, a representative from the non-governmental organisation Wild Zone, an associated partner in the City Blues project, also joined the visit. She explained how biodiversity protection had been integrated into the project from the very beginning.

Wild Zone contributed to the different phases of the project by providing their expertise on using local seeds and plants. The local seeds, hand-collected by Wild Zone members within a 20 km radius, were carefully selected for their resilience to temporary submersion, which is essential in such an area. They also prioritised rare species to boost diversity. As part of the city’s tree experiment, tree species adapted to current and future site conditions were introduced in the pilot zone. The idea was to anticipate the effects of climate change and global warming and select those tree species which might survive in future conditions. The selected trees originated from the southern parts of Europe and North America, and depending on how well the trees would take root and adapt, the insights gained could guide future tree planting strategies in Tampere. It was very interesting to learn about this aspect of the pilot activity.

 The magic of transnational cooperation

This joint effort between the city of Tampere and Wild Zone already embodies the spirit of cooperation, but there is more to it. Through the five different pilots in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Norway and Denmark, each with different approaches due to the diverse local conditions, partners learn from and inspire each other. Anna Vilhula gave us a compelling example: the partner city of Tartu had initial doubts about the effectiveness of nature-based solutions in colder climates. Through the pilot, the city of Tampere proves this is possible and shares their best practices. Project visits like this one also create great opportunities to build synergies between projects. Project manager Sanna Varis and communication manager Rozabela Singh from the BALTFLOODS projects were among the visitors particularly interested in the City Blues pilots. Since BALTFLOODS also addresses challenges related to flooding and stormwater discharge around the Baltic Sea, the study visit was a chance for Sanna Varis to discover nature-based solutions in action but also potentially laying the foundation for future joint efforts of the two projects.

Personal takeaways

This study visit offered participants far more than just a glimpse of nature-based solutions in action: it offered a tangible experience of how cities can turn climate challenges into opportunities for cooperation towards urban resilience. Engaging directly with the partners behind City Blues and witnessing their work on the ground brought the project’s vision, complexity, and local impact vividly to life. As project manager Anna Vilhula put it: “We want to make nature-based solutions become mainstream for stormwater management and for cities” Serving as the final stop of the Programme Conference 2025, this visit perfectly captured the spirit of the entire event and the magic of Interreg: turning shared challenges into shared solutions through cooperation, building bridges across borders.  

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