2025. On March 11th at the Mayor’s Office of Hegyvidék, we held our 2nd National Workshop on “Stormwater retention in urban environments by integrating green-blue solutions”. the occasion.

The programme is organised by the Association of Climate Friendly Settlements in cooperation with the Municipality of Budapest and Budapest XII. district organised jointly with the Green Office. The importance of the topic is shown by the huge interest from municipalities, NGOs and companies working in stormwater management and blue-green infrastructure development.

At the event, Zsombor Tatai of Budapest Municipal Construction Planning Ltd. briefly presented the previous volumes of the Green Infrastructure booklets, spoke about the need to renew the publications, and then introduced the latest volume on Sponge Cities to the attendees.

In Budapest, precipitation events will become more extreme in the future, with longer dry periods and extreme precipitation events becoming more frequent. As groundwater and river water levels continue to decline, the importance of rainwater retention solutions is increasing, both for water recharge, microclimate improvement and water management. A complex design process that consciously combines grey and blue-green infrastructure elements can already have a noticeable water management impact, even by providing temporary storage capacity and seepage options. This comprehensive planning approach is the so-called “sponge city” concept.

The Green Infrastructure booklets have been published in print, but can also be downloaded online – together with the 6 booklets published so far – from the website of the Municipality of Budapest.

The Green Infrastructure booklets are intended to help professionals, decision-makers and citizens. The publications present a complex toolbox of green infrastructure development through national and international good practice. In addition to general principles and good examples, they include different options for implementation, as well as their technical and vegetation conditions and constraints. The series of publications covers all major topics from basic knowledge of urban ecology to ecosystem services for green spaces and ecological systems for stormwater management.