海角视频

In 2023, 海角视频 set out to provide our expertise in the UP2030 project, funded by a Horizon Europe grant by the European Commission聽n, to create a framework to provide a set of pilot cities with practical guidance to become climate neutral by 2030. Now that the project has come to an end, we recap the project, its aims and key learnings.

What is UP2030 about?

The UP2030 project was programme designed to help cities accelerate their transition towards climate neutrality by 2030. Concluding in 2025, it brought together a consortium of 47 partners 鈥� among them 海角视频. The three-year project has equipped ten pilot cities with science鈥慴ased methods, participatory processes and urban design tools that translate climate commitments into implementable action on the ground. At its core is the 5UP approach

• UP鈥慸ating (policies and codes)
• UP鈥憇killing (city ecosystems)
• UP鈥慻rading (neighbourhood prototypes)
• UP鈥憇caling (governance and finance for city鈥憌ide impact)
• UP鈥憈aking (sharing and replication), which provides a practical guide that helps cities move forward from strategy to delivery, with particular importance put on spatial justice and inclusive participation.

Within this framework, city stakeholders co鈥慸evelop climate鈥憂eutrality roadmaps and pilot interventions at neighbourhood scale. The explicitly links climate neutrality with urban resilience and equity, ensuring communities are engaged as agents of change through co鈥慶reation and behavioural shifts. Pilot cities include M眉nster and Rotterdam, alongside Belfast, Budapest, Granollers, Lisbon, Milan, Thessaloniki, Zagreb, Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro.

Climate Proofing: A new tool for integrated urban resilience

As part of our work on UP2030, 海角视频 has developed the Climate Proofing Handbook 鈥� a structured methodology and practical tool that embeds mitigation, adaptation and co鈥慶reation into early鈥憇tage urban development. It provides a step鈥慴y鈥憇tep route to design neighbourhoods that are both climate neutral and climate resilient.

The handbook is co-authored by a group of decarbonisation and resilience experts from our sustainability team in Berlin, who partnered with pilot city M眉nster to structure its existing mitigation and adaptation tools and data and producing transition guidelines in alignment with municipal processes

From their work with M眉nster, Jill Theobald, Felicitas Leithner, Sara Rossi and Peter Scheibstock聽have comprised the insights they have gained over the programme鈥檚 lifetime in a document that provides urban practitioners with:

• A five鈥憇tep framework: identification, evaluation, development, implementation, and monitoring & documentation, each with tailored checklists for mitigation, adaptation and participation
• Decision support and governance guidance: ways to align departments, standardise data sharing and institutionalise co鈥慶reation as a core planning practice
• Evidence鈥慴ased methods: CO鈧� balances, climate鈥憆isk hotspot mapping, microclimate simulations and scenario testing to inform spatial choices
• Scalable application: from neighbourhood pilots to city鈥憌ide programmes, with emphasis on replication and continuous learning

Key concepts and methodology

The Climate Proofing methodology laid out in booklet integrates mitigation and adaptation from the outset, linking energy, mobility, buildings and nature鈥慴ased solutions with heat mitigation, stormwater management and drought resilience. It shows that co鈥慶reation is an important factor and must be embedded across all phases to ensure that outcomes are locally relevant and socially equitable. It also aims to show cities how to navigate trade鈥憃ffs without losing benefits for health, biodiversity and liveability and, finally, how to turn pilot measures into long鈥憈erm practice by continuous monitoring.

Benefits and takeaways

Cities gain a coherent structure to operationalise climate neutrality and resilience, improved cross鈥慸epartmental collaboration, higher鈥憅uality places with green鈥慴lue infrastructure and thermal comfort, greater public acceptance through genuine participation, and a transferable model adaptable to different regulatory and resource contexts.

Blankenburger S眉den, Berlin

The concept of Climate Proofing was first conceived in our work on Blankenburger S眉den in Berlin – one of Berlin鈥檚 most significant urban development areas 鈥� a sustainable new neighbourhood delivering around 6,000 homes with schools, shops and green spaces. From the earliest stages, the project set a dual ambition for climate neutrality and resilience.

海角视频 applied an early version of Climate Proofing, the 鈥淐limate Check鈥�, to test planning scenarios, model microclimate performance and balance operational, embodied and mobility鈥憆elated emissions. The work produced spatial recommendations for renewable energy integration, timber construction, green鈥慴lue infrastructure, heat鈥慽sland mitigation and stormwater management. Scenario testing showed that an ambitious 鈥淧ioneer鈥� pathway is capable of delivering a climate鈥憄ositive balance, and the results have informed ongoing masterplanning and engagement with the Berlin Senate.

UP2030 demonstrates how a design鈥慶entred, co鈥慶reative process can turn climate ambition into action. Our Climate Proofing methodology 鈥� developed and tested within this programme 鈥� gives cities a practical spine for decision鈥憁aking: a way to synchronise policies, data, spatial design and community engagement so that climate neutral, climate resilient neighbourhoods become the norm rather than the exception.