Welcome to SUTEE!
Showcasing Urban Trees for Environmental Education with
IoT Technology. SUTEE is an ERASMUS+ Strategic Cooperation Partnership in the field of school education project.
During the three-day workshop on greening the urban landscape, the participants had the unique opportunity to get a guided tour through the most innovative part of the city of Vienna. This area is called Seestadt, and it is a pioneering project for city development and modern architecture. However, the developers and construction companies left large parts of the residential quarter covered in concrete and tarmac. This leads to urban heat islands, especially during hot summer months.
Seestadtgrün is a residents’ initiative that aims to tackle the issue of too much tarmac and lobbies the city council for more green spaces and trees. They also proactively promote flower beds and lawns among the residents by planting greens in a number of spots.
Figure 1. fog fountains to combat urban heat islands
Our workshop participants went on a tour through the area and saw a number of re-greening activities, partly managed by Seestadtgrün, partly by the Community of Vienna after intense lobbying efforts by Seestadtgrün.
Figure 1. SUTEE participants visiting the Seestadtgrün “lounge”
Seestadtgrün designed a recreation spot called the “lounge”, which is situated at a crossroads hotspot next to two popular restaurants. The lounge is in constant use by residents, seeking shade under vine leaves and ivy or simply taking a break.
As the planted spots multiplied across the Seestadt quarter, it became more and more demanding to provide water for them. This led to inventive minds producing the so-called “watering bike”, a specially designed bicycle with a 200l tank and hose that facilitates easier distribution of water to the various plants and flower beds maintained by Seestadtgrün.
Figure 1. Demo of the watering bicycle for maintaining the green areas
The tour guides from Seestadtgrün explained their efforts and successes they achieved. It has been hard to find open ears of city council politicians and to overcome administrative barriers. However, the initiative has gained some media attention lately. This helped extend the impact of Seestadtgrün locally. One outstanding feature was the wildflower beds, which is not only beautiful to see, but also provides a home to insects like butterflies and bees. They also found that there was a positive social effect in that their greening actions brought neighbours closer together.
Figure 1. Explaining the value of setting up of wild flower plots
Some lucky participants were invited to the rooftop gardens that the residence community set up on top of one sample building.
Figure 1. Rooftop garden with views across the city.
