Matosinhos becomes the first UN Resilience Hub in Portugal
The city joins the Province of Potenza (Italy) as the newest role models for the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative
Participants will receive prizes from the municipality in 2022
During this time of the year, many countries experience heavy snowfall that completely covers surfaces and obstructs pathways. It follows then that although municipalities and city maintenance workers clean most areas, citizens still have to help clear away the snow. Understanding that few people volunteer to do so, the Finnish City of Jyväskylä has found a way to motivate its residents.
On 14 December, the municipality announced that it has launched the Clean Benches Challenge. With this initiative, it invites all residents – regardless of age – to remove the snow from the benches in their neighbourhoods. Commenting on the idea behind the challenge, Project Coordinator Sinikka Tyynelä explained:
“The desire to clean the benches has come from the residents. We conducted a survey related to seniors and their environment, and many said they longed for a place to rest during their walks in the winter. Of course, snow-free benches benefit people of all ages.”
It is important to reiterate that while city maintenance workers regularly clean benches, they cannot ensure the cleanliness of all of them. What is more, those that are already cleaned do not remain snowless for too long when there is heavy or continuous snowfall.
To participate in the challenge, residents must find a snow-covered bench and clean it using a metal or plastic shovel. Addressing this, the municipality warns participants to be careful when using a metal shovel as it can damage the surface of benches by, for example, scratching off their paint. While removing the snow, one must also ensure that they clean not only the bench itself but also its surrounding areas (half a metre in front of it and to its sides).
To record their participation in the challenge, one should take a photograph of the bench they have cleaned and upload it on social media using the hashtags #penkitpuhtaaksihaaste (Clean Benches Challenge), #yhteinenympäristö (Common Environment) and #naapuriapu (Neighbourhood Aid).
The municipality will then award participants with prizes in the spring of 2022.
The facility called, Alovera Beach, will be located 40 kms from Madrid
The move is part of the city’s strategy to act against the local affordable-housing crisis by focusing on the development of student accommodation
Peace and quiet in Baroque surroundings
Tallinn and Linz will be among the European cities eager to show their innovative side
According to the Eurostat report, women are significantly more educated than men in the EU
The Irish Environment Protection Agency released an updated map of affected regions in the country
It involves strategically placed pictograms on the pedestrian crossings
Never too early to fall in love with soft mobility
100 trees will take the place of 100 parking spaces in this Belgian town
The facility called, Alovera Beach, will be located 40 kms from Madrid
According to the Eurostat report, women are significantly more educated than men in the EU
It involves strategically placed pictograms on the pedestrian crossings
These will be spread across 11 EU countries and will serve to support the EU Missions
The European Commission has accepted to develop the idea
An interview about AYR, one of the 2021 New European Bauhaus Prize winners
An interview with Nigel Jollands and Sue Goeransson from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
An interview with the President of the City of Athens Reception & Solidarity Centre
A talk with the Mayor of Malmö on the occasion of the city’s UN Resilience Hub status