Portuguese municipalities upgrade schools with climate‑resilient innovations

In the village of Cuba, Portugal, a former primary school has been transformed into a living laboratory called Space C (Centro de Inovação Social e Sustentabilidade). The project, co‑financed by the EU Interreg Euro‑MED programme URWAN, incorporates nature‑based solutions such as a constructed wetland for water treatment, a rain garden, green roof, and rain‑water harvesting systems, demonstrating circular water management and urban resilience.

Meanwhile, the municipal council of Abrantes announced plans to complete the installation of air‑conditioning systems in all its schools for the next academic year. Mayor Manuel Jorge Valamatos cited increasingly frequent heatwaves and climate‑change‑driven temperature spikes as the reason for upgrading school infrastructure. Recent funding of €9,000 was approved to equip the ATL room of Escola Básica e Secundária Octávio Duarte Ferreira in Tramagal, part of a broader effort to improve learning conditions across the municipality.