Aarhus
Situation: In proximity of Aarhus, a Medium-size city with ~256,000 inhabitants - second largest in Denmark.
Typology: NbS for River Basin Restoration
Description:
In order to improve river conditions, an installation of five pilots at different water discharges (agricultural, urban, treated) in the Aarhus river catchment have been implemented. As historical track of the anthropogenic impact, piping of the river carried environmental conesequences. As Aarhus River was resurfaced, now it has the potential to act as a green and blue corridor through the city. Nevertheless, improving its ecological status and mitigating flooding problems are needed for this. Further flood prevention measures have been taken. NICE contributes to the improvement of river conditions by testing nature-based solutions for river basin restoration. In addition, NICE wastewater treatment is tested in cold winter conditions.
Each have similar setups:
- hybrid vertical and horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland
- different materials are tested (graded coarse sand, non-woven geotextile), and different plant species (Phragmites, Australis, and Iris pseudacorus)
Conceptual cross section design
Main technological innovation is using nano-bubbles, also to analyse plant exudates evaluating differences in performance. Finally, 5 media were tested, including biochars.
The NICE Urban Real Labs are ideal test beds for nature-based solutions for circular urban water solutions, as they have varied geographical, environmental and socioeconomic characteristics.
The Urban Real Labs cover a wide range of climate zones: tropical and subtropical (Pereira and Turin), Mediterranean (Talavera, Algeciras, Benalmádena, Lyon, Cairo), transition climate with extreme temperatures (Madrid), oceanic (Vigo, Aarhus), and Baltic (Gdansk).
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.101003765.