After four fantastic years of collaboration, innovation and nature-connection, the GoGreenRoutes project has drawn to a close. The GoGreenRoutes legacy leaves behind transformative achievements and a blueprint for urban wellbeing centred on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and urban greening. While our work involved key European cities such as Burgas, Lahti, Limerick, Tallinn, Umeå, and Versailles, we are deeply indebted to collaboration with Seed Cities like the metropolitan area of Gzira (Malta), and Murcia (Spain). GoGreenRoutes is not just a project but a philosophy and a way of working, creating a transformative shift in co-creation and urban greening for healthy, sustainable and inclusive city planning on a large scale. The work of GoGreenRoutes is living on in sister projects in the new Planetary Health Cluster such as GoGreenNext. 

Future Visions for Holistic Urban Wellbeing

At its core, GoGreenRoutes championed a holistic approach to urban wellbeing, combining NbS, health-focused innovations, and citizen science, delivering these key innovations directly to engaged local groups. Cities engaged in inclusive partnerships, multi-disciplinary learning, and robust knowledge exchanges, fostering innovative approaches to nature-driven urban regeneration. The project empowered residents, researchers, businesses, and local authorities to co-design interventions that prioritised mental and physical health alongside environmental sustainability. Moreover, we did this in style, encouraging play and community connection all the while. 

Key Achievements

In Burgas, community-driven green interventions revitalised urban spaces, promoting physical activity and social cohesion. In Lahti, a focus on urban forests connected residents with nature, enhancing mental wellbeing. In Limerick, health trails connecting two schools and sensory pathways were introduced, encouraging active lifestyles and environmental awareness. They even recently won an award for their design! In Tallinn, innovative green corridors improved biodiversity and created spaces for relaxation. In Umeå, NbS were integrated into urban planning to strengthen social inclusion and climate resilience on a local street. In Versailles, Squaire Blaise Pascal has transformed to an inclusive green space for all ages. These successes extended beyond Europe. Cities like Murcia and Gzira adapted insights from GoGreenRoutes, tailoring NbS solutions to their unique urban contexts and held workshops locally to spread GoGreenRoutes methodologies to their localities.

The GoGreenRoutes Final Conference brought together experts, policymakers, and practitioners to explore the interconnected benefits of NbS for health, wellbeing, and environmental sustainability.

Innovative Tools and Resources

GoGreenRoutes developed practical tools and resources to guide future urban wellbeing initiatives, including:

• 360 Health Toolkit, providing easy to access overview of tools to evaluate the health and environmental benefits of interventions;
• GGR Data hub, providing open access to data from urban monitoring;
• Knowledge Briefs, a set of 4 summaries of key learnings from GGR ;
• Storybooks, a lively collection of wisdom from GGR practitioners to share visually the story of GoGreenRoutes.
• Last but not least, GoGreenRoutes leaves behind a wealth of research on nature-connection, physical activity and citizen science that will surely leave its mark for years to come. 

These tools serve as valuable guides for cities and stakeholders seeking to harness co-creation, nature connection and NbS for improved health and wellbeing. Over the next weeks we will be reliving key outcomes from GGR on social media to highlight and connect all that was learned.

The journey starts here 

GoGreenRoutes highlighted the importance of cross-sector collaboration, citizen empowerment, and evidence-based strategies for integrating urban greening and NbS into urban development. While GoGreenRoutes concludes, its legacy will continue to inspire cities to prioritise nature-centred approaches that promote health, resilience, and inclusivity.

Stay connected with project cities and their ongoing efforts through for example through the Planetary Health Alliance, NetworkNature and GoGreenNext as the movement for greener, healthier, and more inclusive urban environments continues to grow.