Subsidy scheme to support rainwater management installations - Bratislava

The city of Bratislava implemented a subsidy scheme in 2016 for the purchase of rainwater management installations, to encourage private organisations, households and homeowners to increase the resilience of the city against increased rainfalls and protect it from pluvial floods and property damage. The goal of the subsidy is to motivative private actors to implement measures to increase water retention with support from the city´s budget. The maximum contribution is €1000 EUR per applicant, or 50% of the total cost of the rainwater measure. The majority of implemented projects and measures funded by the subsidy represent different forms of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) such as water reservoirs, rainwater gardens or small green roofs. The subsidy scheme contributes to the implementation of the city's climate adaptation strategy and is a follow-up activity of the project „Bratislava is preparing for climate change – the pilot application of measures in sustainable rainwater management in an urbanized environment“. Until now, more than 1000 projects have been funded, with interest growing annually.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Economic and fiscal instruments›Payments as rewards/for ecosystem services, subsidies, incentives

Challenges addressed

Water management (e.g. reuse)
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Drought and fire risk
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Heat stress and heat island effect
Social cohesion
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The subsidy scheme finances the installation of nature-based solutions for urban water management as part of sustainable urban drainage systems, such as water reservoirs, bioswales, rainwater gardens adjustment of pavements, use of permeable materials, or small green roofs.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Blue areas

Green areas for water management

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Support multifunctional NBS

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

City of Bratislava

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The subsidy scheme was designed in 2016 by the Office of the Chief Architect and additional interested city departments, such as the Department of Strategies and Projects and the Department of Environment, as a follow-up activity of the project „Bratislava is preparing for climate change – the pilot application of measures in sustainable rainwater management in an urbanized environment“.

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

Households and building owners can apply for this subsidy to cover a maximum of 50% of total costs for the implementation. Applicants also receive consultancy on their project’s implementation and dissemination provided by the city of Bratislava. The applications are assessed by the steering committee of the 'Bratislava is preparing for climate change' project, consisting of the Office of the Chief Architect, External Financing Implementation Unit (former Department of Strategies) and Projects and Department of Environment.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public local authority’s budget

Budget:

50 000€ - 100 000€

Details about instrument financing:

The subsidy scheme for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDs) had a budget of € 50,000 in 2016 and € 40,000 in 2017 to support small projects up to maximum € 1,000 per project. The budget for this subsidy scheme is provided by the City of Bratislava. So far, the city has provided around € 115,000 for this scheme and currently spends € 20,000 per year.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

Monitoring is carried out by personal on-site inspection or on the basis of supplied documents by the External Financing Implementation Unit, City of Bratislava.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Yes

An assessment is carried out by the Steering Committee.

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

More than 100 projects have been funded, with public interest increasing annually. Green roofs are particularly high in demand for receiving the subsidy, followed by rainwater harvesting systems. Through funded projects, the subsidy scheme has significantly contributed to rainwater retention. Success to date has inspired Bratislava to continue the scheme, and it is still ongoing. The subsidy scheme for the purchase of rainwater management installations was also taken up by the Covenant of Mayors initiative as a good practice example for supporting the implementation of nature-based solutions on building level.

Success factors and lessons learned:

Although this is a small subsidy that has not yet been fully adopted by Bratislava residents, it is a good example of how water management results can be achieved at a relatively low cost and can be replicated quite easily. The advantage of this scheme is that the applicant can also be a natural person. The City of Bratislava advised to adjust the amount of the subsidy to the average cost of the measure. If the amount of the subsidy is too low, users may not be motivated to apply. Further awareness raising is needed to foster a wider implementation and uptake of the available funds.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

EEA. 2017. Financing urban adaptation to climate change. EEA report No 02/2017. https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/financing-urban-adaptation-to-climate-change/at_download/file

Covenant of Mayors. 2017. Scheme for the purchase of rainwater management installations. https://www.covenantofmayors.eu/index.php?option=com_attachments&task=download&id=247

Interview(s):

Written feedback received from External Financing Implementation Unit, Capital City Municipality of the Slovak Republic Bratislava

Further documents

Weblinks:

https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/metadata/case-studies/eea-grants-supporting-…

https://oppla.eu/casestudy/19033

Photos

@medvedkudajlabku.sk