The DivAirCity project, funded by the European Commission as part of the H2020 program, focuses on nature-based solutions to promote climate resilience and improve air quality in a sustainable way. The project combines diversity, social inclusion, and climate neutrality in European cities and actively works with city makers to initiate short- and long-term measures and change processes. In Potsdam, Creative Climate Cities is working with local partners to design transformation processes that bring together social justice and healthy urban environments.

Creative Climate Cities is co-designing processes and involving underrepresented population groups as agents of change in Potsdam and works with them to develop measures for the Schlaatz district. A special focus is placed on urban green hotspots: digital and analog spaces that connect knowledge about air quality, the environment, and health with everyday life in the neighborhood in an accessible way. In the Binsenhof, a backyard under heat stress, a green meeting place is created that reduces heat stress, strengthens social participation, and improves the quality of life.

The intervention is complemented by the “Good Air Tour,” which uses QR codes to link local storytelling and research results. Residents gain knowledge about air quality and health in a playful way and are motivated to actively shape their environment.

Twenty-four EU organizations and partners from Aarhus, Bucharest, Castellon, Orvieto, and Potsdam are involved in the DivAirCity project. In Potsdam, CCC works closely with the SPI Foundation, the Hasso Plattner Institute, Charité, representatives of the city council, housing cooperatives, and local initiatives such as the Friedrich Reinsch House.