The City Council of Seville has received a special award of €40,000 in trees in the XI Edition of Healthy Cities by Sanitas. The prize will fund the planting of 600 trees in 26 schools across the eleven districts of the city.
The City Council of Seville has been nationally recognised in the XI Edition of the Healthy Cities programme by Sanitas, after receiving a special award of €40,000 in trees granted by the jury of the competition. The recognition, held at the headquarters of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), rewards the ambitious municipal technical project designed for the transformation, climate adaptation, and renaturalisation of the schoolyards in the city.
600 shade trees for 26 schools
The in-kind grant, combined with municipal investment efforts, will allow the planting of 600 ornamental shade trees and Mediterranean shrubs of the highest quality, adapted to the local climate and sourced from the catalogue of species recommended in the Seville Master Plan. The interventions include the opening of tree pits in areas sealed with concrete or asphalt, soil conditioning with optimal topsoil, improvement of irrigation and drainage systems, and the incorporation of Sustainable Urban Drainage Techniques (SUDS).
“The jury wanted to highlight the Seville proposal with this special award, emphasising the crucial importance of acting in the everyday spaces of childhood to protect them from extreme heat,” sources from the competition stated.
Benefits for 7,768 students across eleven districts
The municipal proposal has strategically selected 26 educational centres spread across all eleven districts of Seville: Bellavista-Palmera, Casco Antiguo, Cerro Amate, Este-Alcosa-Torreblanca, Los Remedios, Macarena, Nervión, Norte, San Pablo-Santa Justa, Sur, and Triana. The selection prioritised those centres with the highest number of students and suitable outdoor spaces for soil de-sealing, paying special attention to areas with more disadvantaged socioeconomic profiles.
The total outdoor area of intervention amounts to 20.48 hectares, directly benefiting a school population of 7,768 students, approximately 15% of the total public education in the city. However, the real benefit of these new 'shade oases' will multiply, as Seville schools open their doors in the afternoons, on weekends, and during the summer for summer camps, becoming healthy and accessible meeting points for all families in the neighbourhoods.
Seville, a benchmark in climate adaptation
The strategy of the City Council of Seville not only responds to a local climate need but also aligns firmly with the most demanding international and European guidelines, such as the Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 on Nature Restoration, the Seville 2030 Strategy, and the Urban Tree Master Plan of Seville itself. With this special award from Healthy Cities, Seville takes a giant step towards consolidating itself as a healthier, more liveable city, prepared to protect its citizens against climate change.
The residents of the involved neighbourhoods will be able to enjoy these renovated spaces from the next school year, when the plantings are expected to be completed. The City Council has announced that it will provide timely information on the timelines in each district.
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