The new greenery will contribute to improving the air in Ostrava
More than five tens of millions of Czech crowns from the European funds will be awarded to a project to help improve the Ostrava city's air. It becomes the first city in the country to receive a grant from the European Union's Community Program.
Ilustrative photo: City of Ostrava Archive, Lukáš Kaboň
The Urban Innovative Actions program from which the grant will be awarded is used to support the most innovative projects in Europe and has a high reputation.
"The fact that we received a grant to support the most innovative projects in Europe as the first city in the Czech Republic and only as the fourth in Central Europe is a great certificate for Ostrava and the whole region. I am delighted that the project relates to a topic crucial to our city - the quality of air. The method of using trees and greenery to capture airborne contaminants in such an innovative way is very interesting - and yet natural," said Tomáš Macura, Mayor of Ostrava.
The Moravian-Silesian Region is also a major contributor to the project, as it was involved in the grant application and, together with the Statutory City of Ostrava, participates in it financially.
"Not for nothing does the Moravian-Silesian Region bear the title of Smart Region. Today, the use of state-of-the-art technologies and innovative methods is indispensable. If we have ambitions and goals, we cannot do without bold projects. The procedures that Clairo project will use will certainly bring about results that we have all been calling for for a long time. I am glad that we have strong partners with whom we will be able to take further steps to make all of us in the Moravian-Silesian Region more comfortable," said Ivo Vondrák, Hetman of the Region.
The project named CLAIRO (standing for: CLean AIR and CLimate Adaptation in Ostrava and other cities) aims at systematic reduction of the air pollution by planting suitable greenery with proven ability to absorb impurities from various sources. It will utilizes advanced and innovative calculations for capturing contaminants based on spatial local airflow data. Another innovative element of the CLAIRO project is the increased resistance of planted plants to special types of treatment.
Selected greenery will be planted under the supervision of the Silesian University in Radvanice and Bartovice city district. The data will be evaluated by continuously measuring the pollution, which will be provided for by VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava. The greenery will be treated with special waterings created in cooperation with Palacký University in Olomouc, reducing the influence of the external environment on the condition of the greenery and generally improving its appearance.
The budget of the CLAIRO project will be approximately 65 million CZK, the grant from European funds is 52.7 million CZK. Ostrava is implementing the project in cooperation with project partners Moravian-Silesian Region, VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava, Silesian University in Opava, Palacký University in Olomouc, SOBIC Smart & Open Base for Innovations in European Cities and Regions and Regional Association of Territorial Cooperation of Těšín Silesia.
The results will be used not only in the city of Ostrava, but also on a transnational scale at European level.
