08 Dec Co-Designing Sustainable School Spaces in Athens: MI-TRAP Contributes to a Collaborative Educational Workshop
On 4 December 2025, the Co-Design Workshop on Sustainable Educational Spaces with Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) took place at the 21st Primary School of Athens “Lela Karagianni”. The workshop was coordinated by the Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with the Municipality of Athens, NCSR Demokritos, the National Technical University of Athens, and the European programmes ASCEND, Theseus Hub4Circularity, and MI-TRAP.
The initiative was supported by the Deputy Mayor for Climate Governance and Social Economy, Mr. Nikos Chrysogelos, and brought together students, teachers, parents, researchers, and municipal representatives to explore how nature-based solutions can improve school environments and neighbourhoods.
The workshop demonstrated how collaboration between municipal authorities, universities, research institutes, and schools can activate local communities and empower young citizens. Through hands-on activities, students explored environmental challenges and proposed ideas to transform their schoolyard into a greener, more resilient space.
Working with the support of experts, children designed models and drawings that included:
- Green roofs and roof gardens
- Vegetable gardens and aromatic plant beds
- Shaded areas for outdoor activities
- Rainwater collection systems for irrigation
- Integration of existing photovoltaics into daily school life
These activities helped students understand the impacts of air pollution and the role of nature-based solutions in creating healthier urban environments. The workshop strengthened their environmental awareness and encouraged creativity, ownership, and teamwork.
The 21st Primary School aims to become a model for sustainable school environments in Athens, Greece, and potentially across Europe. The workshop highlighted how NBS can be applied at neighbourhood scale, supporting the city’s climate neutrality efforts under initiatives such as ASCEND Superblock and NetZeroCities.
The event also gave pupils the opportunity to learn about the work of universities, research institutes, and European programmes—strengthening the connection between education, science, and civic engagement.
A Growing European Network
MI-TRAP and Politecnico di Milano have carried out similar school-based NBS activities in Milan, and upcoming workshops are planned in Lisbon and Copenhagen. The project aims to bring together participating schools from all three cities, enabling pupils to exchange ideas, compare experiences, and co-develop best practices for greener learning environments across Europe.
Acknowledgements
The success of this workshop is the result of close cooperation among:
Municipality of Athens
Nikos Chrysogelos – Deputy Mayor for Climate Governance and Social Economy
Emmy Papazoglou
Elissavet Bargianni
Agatha Zarakovitou
21st Primary School of Athens “Lela Karagianni”
Ioanna Chalkia – Principal
Politecnico di Milano
Julia Nerantzia Tzortzi (Georgi) – Coordinator
Stevy Kopelia
Romanos Ioannidis
Maria Stella Lux
Evangelia Preka
NCSR “Demokritos”
Prodromos Fetfatzis
Konstantinos Eleftheriadis
National Technical University of Athens
Dr. Klio Monokrousou
The event was supported by NET ZERO CITIES