Urban ReLeaf pilot city Cascais has received the Portugal Smart Cities – António Almeida Henriques Award in the ‘Public Space’ category, recognising the city’s work within Urban ReLeaf to support more climate-resilient urban green spaces through citizen participation and data-driven decision-making.
As climate change continues to intensify heatwaves across Europe, cities are increasingly seeking sustainable ways to protect public health and improve quality of life, particularly for vulnerable communities. In Cascais, Urban ReLeaf is helping address these challenges by combining citizen science, environmental data and collaborative urban planning to better understand how green spaces can support climate adaptation.
Between 2024 and 2025, Urban ReLeaf facilitated data collection activities across seven green spaces in Cascais. Residents contributed insights on environmental satisfaction and bioclimatic comfort, helping to generate valuable evidence for future urban planning and policy development. One of the project’s key outcomes in Cascais will be the creation of a municipal thermal comfort map, designed to support fairer, smarter and more sustainable planning decisions.
Alongside scientific and policy-focused activities, the Cascais team has also explored creative approaches to climate engagement. Working with visual artist Alexandra Dias, community members participated in a series of artistic workshops transforming environmental data into poetry and creative expression. The resulting work, Versos em Exaltação: Poesia no Calor Urbano, was recently presented in one of the city’s urban parks.