Know our Demo cases: Athens

The city is developing a key metropolitan park of the capital. Athens Urban Tree Nursery is part of the Goudi Park, which lies in the heart of Athens. It is a mixed-use area comprising of leisure and urban agriculture spaces, as well as administration and residential uses. The nursery is an effort to boost both the local economy and quality of life for the 4.000.000 citizens of the Attica Region.

The nursery comprises 4 ha of vegetation, and supply all green spaces of Athens with plant material, while using potable water from Athens’s Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP) for its irrigation. The city is seeking alternative water sources leveraging circular economy solutions to achieve environmental, social and financial benefits for the city.

Re-using water from sewage for urban green irrigation would be of direct benefit for the sustainability of the new metropolitan park. Additionally, the sewage and its compost-based eco-engineered growing media products will be reused as an onsite fertiliser. This will work as part of a portfolio of autonomous, decentralised water, energy and materials circular solutions for cities in water scarce area. Finally, thermal energy recovery schemes will be investigated to minimize the pilot’s environmental footprint.