Nagybánya/Baia Mare, the municipality that sits along the Săsar river in northwestern Romania, has won a €2.6 million grant from the European Commission for an ambitious, long-term environmental, social, and economic redevelopment project that will facilitate the city’s transition from Romania’s ex-mining capital to a leader of environmental design and production. The project proposes to achieve this ambitious goal through the co-development of new adaptive and productive landscapes integrated into a circular ecosystem of cascading materials and energy value chains.
The project is funded by the EU’s Urban Innovative Actions program, along with another 19 projects with a cumulative value of €82 million. In particular, Piraeus (Greece), Tampere (Finland), and Turin (Italy) will receive grants for projects that will protect and reduce the vulnerability of public spaces, in line with the 2017 Action Plan under the Security Union. The EU funding will also support innovative solutions in digital transition, in responsible urban land use, and in the fight against poverty in 17 other cities.
Nagybánya/Baia Mare’s winning project will be developed in two stages. The first stage will be dedicated to activation, development, and construction of all the resources to be deployed and exploited, focusing on activating the critical mass of local stakeholders and creating Smart Post-Industrial Regenerative Ecosystem (SPIRE), on-site surveys, and development of GIS-based dynamic atlas, which will allow long-term monitoring and planning.
The second stage of the project will focus on the development of a bio-based circular ecosystem in Nagybánya/Baia Mare. In particular, the project proposes to develop a biomass energy valorization chain, mentoring, and incubation of three startup businesses developing carbon-neutral experimental materials with construction or industrial applications and using 15% of the phytoremediation biomass.
Nagybánya/Baia Mare is the capital of Maramures County. The city itself has a population of around 147,000, and the metropolitan area is home to roughly 230,000 residents.
Title image: screenshot of the project submitted by Nagybánya / Baia Mare.
