LIFE UrbanStorm

LIFE UrbanStorm, a five-year project from Estonia finished in 2023, sought to develop sustainable, climate-resilient urban stormwater management systems across Baltic and Nordic countries. From the beginning, it recognised that nature-based solutions (NbS) were the key to managing flash floods in city environments. 

The results speak for themselves. Over the project’s lifetime, annual rainwater emergencies in the city of Viimsi fell from 21 to 13, and in the demonstration area in the capital Tallinn, from seven to zero. Floods in Viimsi were more than halved. 

Nature-based floodwater management systems piloted by LIFE UrbanStorm included redesigning local parks and widening rivers to create rapids, water barriers and small waterfalls. The project trialed sustainable, permeable car parks to prevent rainwater from overwhelming sewage systems and tested pervious pavements, filter strips and rain gardens. More prosaic initiatives included a municipal rainwater tax and a digital rainwater management system. 

The project officially closed in February 2023, but its influence is far from over. Plans are underway to roll out similar measures in neighbouring Baltic Sea region countries, and eventually it’s hoped to reach more EU Member States and even some development aid recipient countries such as Moldova and Georgia. 

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