Members of the Team Green Community participates in the EU project ClimaGen, which is being implemented in Lademoen-Nyhavna area in Trondheim.

Within ClimaGen, each participating city is responsible for selecting and implementing its own measures to establish climate-resilient green spaces that contribute to climate neutrality. In Trondheim, the primary objective is to carry out renaturation interventions (“ClimaGreens”), aiming for at least a 25% increase in green coverage based on a defined reference baseline. The purpose is to enhance local biodiversity and to generate experience and a knowledge base in advance of the final urban development of Nyhavna. See  www.ClimaGen.eu.

The design of the ClimaGreens in Trondheim follows a “stepping stone” strategy, whereby interventions are strategically located as ecological nodes. Over the past year, we have contributed to initiating and implementing three different measures in collaboration with the Municipality of Trondheim, in combination with teaching activities and student projects.

Bente Jenssen Graae (Department of Biology), Ingfrid Lyngstad (Department of Architecture and Planning), and Vibekke Vange (Department of Natural History) are involved through courses and students from various faculties and study programmes.

Strandveikaia 102 is being transformed from an outdoor storage into an active research site and a logistical hub for urban nature. As part of this initiative, NTNU is conducting experimental trials using planting boxes, in which vegetation from local habitat types as well as various seed mixtures of flowering meadow species are being tested.

The intervention is being developed through an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Municipality of Trondheim and NTNU (Faculty of Architecture, the Department of Biology, and the Department of Natural History at the NTNU University Museum). This ensures that the green infrastructure measures not only hold aesthetic value, but also contribute to scientific knowledge on biodiversity in urban transformation areas.

Talerøret is a prominent social landmark and an artistic installation, originally gifted to the city to commemorate NTNU’s 100th anniversary. Despite its landmark status, the surrounding area currently consists of a large, impermeable concrete surface that provides limited ecological and social value beyond the installation itself. The revitalisation of this “grey” area aims to improve connectivity along the Ladestien coastal path toward the fjord.

At present, the project is in a phase characterised by stakeholder participation and planning. Implementation is scheduled for 2026, coordinated with the larger infrastructure project along the same street.

This project combines work carried out by students in biology, geography, and urban planning at NTNU, where they explored concepts related to urban green infrastructure and public space within the Nyhavna transformation area.

Biology students conducted soil and vegetation mapping, as well as user surveys, as part of an internship in the municipality. This work provided a foundation for a planning assignment undertaken by students of urban planning, who developed concepts for the further development of the park as part of an urban green infrastructure.. The proposals were presented to the landowner, Bane NOR Eiendom, in March 2024.

The project will serve as input to ongoing municipal planning processes as part of ClimaGen, contributing to the safeguarding of ecological and social qualities in the district.