Boosting biodiversity in the Danish City of Aarhus

The project Biodiverse Cities supports cities to become more nature-inclusive. By creating new urban habitats, it provides space for wildlife to thrive. The partnership uses social innovation to engage citizens in the process.

Denmark's second largest City, Aarhus, is a partner in the project. We spoke with Mayor of Aarhus, Jacob Bundsgaard, to learn what the transnational cooperation in this project means for the city.

Watch the video with Danish subtitles

A big thank you to Jacob Bundsgaard for his warm words! His statements echo the sentiment often expressed by North Sea project participants: The superpower of Interreg North Sea projects is the transnational set-up. It enables each partner to share good solutions and to see a problem from many angles. 

Biodiverse Cities is an ongoing project that brings back nature into our cities.  

The partnership includes 8 cities and 8 knowledge partners in 7 countries. Together, they explore ways to provide urban habitat and engage the citizens in the process. 

The cities involved are Aarhus (Denmark), Dordrecht (the Netherlands), Bremen (Germany), Växsjo (Sweden), Bergen (Norway), Brest (France) and Lille (France). The knowledge partners include universities and expert institutions as well as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

Biodiversity is an important theme in our programme. Currently, the following projects are also working to protect wildlife and ecosystems in our region: 

• DEMASK is finding out how to mitigate harmful underwater noise, for the benefit of marine animals
• DIvGrass explores how to enrich grasslands with herbs that benefit biodiversity. 
• Clancy develops and tests new methods to fight the invasive Chinese Mitten Crab, for the benefit of aquatic ecosystems. 
• DARKER SKY explores lighting regimes that reduce light pollution and benefit nocturnal animals. 
• EXPBIO creates local seed banks and restores biodiversity in collaboration with local citizens. 
• TREASURE works to capture and eliminate plastic debris from waterways before they enter the North Sea, thus protecting the marine ecosystem. 
• REMARCO tackles unexploded ordnance (UXO) from previous wars still found at the bottom of the North Sea, posing a threat to marine life. 
• ANEMOI investigates chemicals leaking from offshore wind farms and their possible effect on the marine environment. 

Curious to learn more about our impacts on biodiversity in the North Sea Region? Check out the page below. 

Top photo: Colourbox