Cross-School Collaboration to Develop and Implement Self-Construction Greening Systems for Schools

Abstract

The positive effects of green infrastructure in the urban environment are nowadays widely known and proven by research. Yet, greening, which serves to improve the indoor climate and people’s well-being, is integrated very limited in public facilities such as schools. Reasons for this are seen in a lack of knowledge and financing opportunities. A focus, among others, of the MehrGrüneSchulen research project is the interdisciplinary development of cost-effective greening solutions for schools. The designs were developed in close collaboration with students of a technical college (HTL) and a horticultural school. This study describes the development process and presents the results of the first implementations of greening systems at the HTL-building complex and at nine other schools in Austria.