Green areas in the city contribute to improving the quality of life. Currently 47% of the area of Sofia is covered by parks, gardens and forests.

The INNOAIR project enables students from the University of Forestry to plant another small part of Sofia by developing projects and working on a real case. The best project will receive funding for implementation.

Sofia Municipality offers students to develop a project for the green area of the newly built part of Todor Kableshkov Blvd. Projects should include vegetation that most effectively purifies the air, helps conserve local biodiversity, is easy to maintain, arouses year-round interest and is affordable. The aim is not to repeat the typical decorative species, but to realize innovative ecological ideas. Students will also be involved in the planting itself.

Those who would like to register for participation can do so at the following link.
  

A competent jury with representatives of the University of Forestry, the Sofia Development Association and Sofia Municipality from the Green Systems Directorate and the Transport Directorate will select the winning project that will receive funding.

The competition is organized by the Sofia Development Association and Sofia Municipality and is held within the INNOAIR project, the first and only project from Bulgaria, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative. The project introduces for the first time in Europe on-demand public transport, as well as for the first time in Sofia and Bulgaria low emission zone, green corridors, and the mobile application SofiaCoin with prizes for active transport. However, sustainable urban mobility still has many dimensions.

"We rely on students to show the maximum value of a small area and to set an example of responsible sustainable landscape design. Sofia needs such specialists, and the people of Sofia need such inspiring examples, "said Mayor Yordanka Fandakova.

"Students of Landscape Architecture at the University of Forestry are trained and motivated to consider the anthropogenic and natural environment as a whole and follow the human-nature interaction to make informed decisions for maintaining the balance between them. They are creative and know how to combine innovative approaches in their work with the requirements for sustainable development. M. Shahanova, lecturer in Floriculture and mentor of the students participating in the competition.

The presentation of the student projects will take place on May 9, 2022, at the University of Forestry.

For more information, you can follow the Facebook event LANDSCAPING FOR CLEANER AIR.