The Várzea Urban Park, in Setúbal, is one of AQUAlive’s case studies, a European project that will produce a guide for creating floodable parks. For three years, partners from Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria and Turkey will assess how these spaces can reduce flood risk, fight urban heat, and promote biodiversity, helping cities adapt to climate change.
Floodable parks follow the logic of nature-based solutions: instead of moving rainwater away as quickly as possible, they give it space to accumulate without causing damage. With 19 hectares, the Várzea Park combines leisure zones with retention basins that temporarily store rainwater and allow it to drain gradually. The protection it has provided to Setúbal’s Baixa during episodes of heavy rainfall has already been highlighted by the European Union’s Climate Adaptation Mission. As part of the project, the park will be studied in governance and planning, hydrology, biodiversity, climate, and citizen participation, in a body of work that will also give rise to a master’s dissertation.
In Portugal, coordination is led by the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, through FCiências.ID, with the municipality of Setúbal as a partner. The city council attended, from October 7 to 9, in Kraków, Poland, at a consortium meeting, where it presented the city’s experience in flood prevention. Coordinated by the University of Antwerp, AQUAlive runs until December 2028, within the European Driving Urban Transitions partnership, integrated into the Horizon Europe programme.
