Organization:
Occitanie Region (Region)

Brief description of the Organization launching the Challenge:
One of the sixteen regions of France, Occitanie is the second largest region with 72 000 km2. This area is recognised as a hotspot for biodiversity in France 

Region:
Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée (France)

Description of the Challenge:

Occitanie is one of the French regions most exposed to heatwaves, with urban areas experiencing increasingly frequent and intense extreme temperatures. Urban greening appears as a promising nature-based solutions for mitigating urban heat islands while simultaneously delivering multiple co-benefits for biodiversity, public health and quality of life.

To support local climate adaptation strategies, municipalities need detailed and regularly updated information on urban vegetation and heat exposure. However, two major challenges currently limit the deployment of effective decision-support tools:

• Insufficient mapping of urban vegetation: Existing regional land cover products (including the forthcoming GAIA Predict natural habitat map) are designed primarily for natural and semi-natural environments and do not capture the fine-scale structure of urban green infrastructure (street trees, private gardens, green roofs, vegetated courtyards, wall vegetation or vacant lots).
• Limited decision-support for urban greening: Local authorities lack operational tools to identify priority areas for revegetation and to assess the expected cooling benefits of different greening strategies before implementation.

What we expect from the B2G initiative :

• Develop high-resolution mapping of urban green infrastructure, including vegetation cover, canopy height and connectivity, using very high-resolution Earth observation data with annual or biannual updates.
• Develop operational indicators of urban heat exposure, providing municipalities and intermunicipal authorities with spatially explicit information on urban heat islands to support climate adaptation planning
• Develop AI-powered simulations and decision-support tools capable of modelling the cooling effects of different urban greening scenarios (e.g. tree planting, green roofs, soil de-sealing or pocket parks) at neighbourhood or parcel scale, helping local authorities prioritise interventions with the greatest environmental and social benefits.

Your Challenge in just one question:
How can data satellite and AI provide tools to reduce heat islands?

Topics:

• Earth Observation (EO)
• AI & Data Analytics
• Climate Adaptation & Resilience
• Biodiversity & Ecosystems
• Smart Cities & Urban Planning 

Expected role of Service Provider:

• Software & Tool Development
• System Integration in the PA platforms
• Consultancy & Feasibility Study