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Good practice Imported

LIFE UrbanStorm: Nature-Based Stormwater Management for Tallinn and Viimsi

Estonia · Tallinn · See the Estonia profile · See the Tallinn profile

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

An EU LIFE project (2018-2023) that built nature-based stormwater systems across four demonstration sites in Tallinn and Viimsi, cutting annual flood emergencies from 7 to 0 in Tallinn's pilot area and from 21 to 13 in Viimsi.

7 to 0
Annual rainwater emergencies, Tallinn demo area (2018-2023)
21 to 13
Annual rainwater emergencies, Viimsi (2018-2023)
18 hectares
Area converted to green-blue infrastructure
36,000 m3
Stormwater managed per year
146
Water-management specialists trained
1,686,093 EUR
Total eligible budget
LIFE UrbanStorm: Nature-Based Stormwater Management for Tallinn and Viimsi

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Viimsi Municipal Government & Tallinn City Government (Department of Municipal Engineering Services)
Period
2018-2023
Region (NUTS)
EE00
Keywords
stormwater management, climate adaptation, urban planning, flood resilience

Context

LIFE UrbanStorm (LIFE17 CCA/EE/000122) ran September 2018-February 2023, coordinated by Viimsi Municipal Government with Tallinn City Government, the Baltic Environmental Forum Estonia and the Estonian University of Life Sciences, to build climate-resilient stormwater systems for Nordic municipalities.

Activities

The project built nature-based drainage across four demonstration sites, converting about 18 hectares to flood-resilient green-blue infrastructure designed to manage roughly 36,000 m³ of stormwater per year, and trained 146 water-management specialists.

Results

Annual rainwater emergencies fell from 7 to 0 in the Tallinn demonstration area and from 21 to 13 in Viimsi.

Conclusions

Results are demonstrated at the scale of four pilot sites rather than across the two cities as a whole, so citywide retrofitting has not yet occurred; the EU database and NGO partner report slightly different budget figures.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Total eligible budget EUR 1,686,093 (EU contribution EUR 1,011,654); an Estonian NGO partner separately cites total project cost EUR 1,984,343.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — September 2018 to February 2023 (c. 4.5 years).
Staffing & skills
Viimsi Municipal Government, Tallinn City Government Department of Municipal Engineering Services, Baltic Environmental Forum Estonia, Estonian University of Life Sciences

Conditions for success

  • EU LIFE co-financing
  • Multi-municipality coordination
  • Technical partner support for design and monitoring

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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