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Good practice Imported

LIFE LUNGS: Rebuilding Lisbon's Urban Green Infrastructure for Climate Resilience

Portugal · Lisbon · See the Portugal profile · See the Lisbon profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 59% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

An EU LIFE-funded programme (2019-2025) converting irrigated Lisbon parkland into rain-fed meadows and planting over 107,000 trees and shrubs, cutting irrigation water use while building climate resilience across the city's green spaces.

107,834
Small trees/shrubs planted (to June 2025)
2,683
Larger street/public-space trees planted (to June 2025)
25,000+
Citizen-planted trees via partner schemes
10+ hectares
Irrigated lawn converted to rain-fed meadow
~6,000 m3/year
Estimated irrigation water saved (Parque da Bela Vista pilot) (2021 estimate)
2,738,880 EUR
Total eligible budget
LIFE LUNGS: Rebuilding Lisbon's Urban Green Infrastructure for Climate Resilience

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Município de Lisboa (Lisbon City Council)
Period
2019-2025
Region (NUTS)
PT17
Keywords
urban planning, climate adaptation, water management, green infrastructure

Context

LIFE LUNGS (LIFE18 CCA/PT/001170) is a Lisbon City Council programme running September 2019-August 2025, redesigning the city's parks and public spaces for heat and drought resilience.

Activities

By June 2025 the project had planted 107,834 small trees and shrubs across 100+ hectares, plus 2,683 larger street/public-space trees, and supported 25,000+ further trees planted by 5,000+ citizens; over 10 hectares of irrigated lawn were converted to rain-fed meadows.

Results

An earlier 2021 progress check found the pilot conversion at Parque da Bela Vista (2 hectares) was already saving an estimated 6,000 m3 of irrigation water per year compared with turf grass.

Conclusions

The project's own director has been explicit that meadow conversion is a targeted pilot for suitable sites, not a blanket citywide policy; residents have publicly questioned why flagship central parks keep conventional lawns while cheaper meadow conversions concentrate in peripheral neighbourhoods.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Total eligible budget EUR 2,738,880 (EU contribution EUR 1,506,384).
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — September 2019 to August 2025 (c. 6 years).
Staffing & skills
Lisbon City Council green-space teams, Partner schools, NGOs and businesses

Conditions for success

  • Site selection suitable for meadow conversion
  • Ongoing 2-3 mowing cycles per year

Common failure modes

  • Public criticism over uneven distribution between central and peripheral parks

Commonly funded by

LIFE Programme

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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