City's rewilding projects win three climate awards

A living green wall in Parr Street, Liverpool city centre

A Liverpool based project that brings nature and development scooped three prizes at an international climate change award ceremony.

The city council's Urban GreenUP project aims to rewild built up areas, improving air and water quality in the process.

So far, it has seen the creation of urban raingardens, green walls and pollinator posts around the city centre, as well as a number of floating islands in the city’s docks and parks.

Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool Council, said: "I hope the rest of the country follows in our path and we can all make amazing changes together."

'Nature-based solutions'

The European Union-funded scheme was recognised at the CIRIA 2024 Big Biodiversity Awards, held in London.

The project won awards for the categories of innovation, habitat creation project of the year and biodiversity overall winner.

Liverpool also recently became the world’s first "Accelerator City" for climate action, under a United Nations programme.

Urban GreenUP is a collaboration between the council, the Mersey Forest and the University of Liverpool.

Paul Nolan, director of the Mersey Forest, said: "Using nature-based solutions to regenerate urban areas is vital for creating thriving communities, supporting our local economy, and helping us adapt to our changing climate."