Join the #Re-ValueYourWaterfront Challenge!

Europe’s waterfronts are coming to life through the Re-Value Your Waterfront Campaign. From October 2025, cities and communities have started rethinking their urban waterfronts to be more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient. We are glad to share the first inspiring examples from the four Re-Value cities of Rijeka, Písek, Rimini, and Bruges, together with examples from other European waterfront cities such as Barcelona, Freiburg, Waldkirch and Athens.

Rijeka mobilised students, volunteers, and divers to clean the Preluk shore and seabed, removing over five cubic meters of waste in just two days. In Písek, the Mobile City Laboratory brought the Otava River to the Portyč housing estate, starting conversations on how to make the riverbank greener. Rimini engaged over 400 students at ECOMONDO 2025, capturing young voices on how they experience Parco del Mare, while in Bruges, residents transformed the former railway line at Spinnerijpad into a lively green corridor with willow tunnels, seed bombs, and community-built benches.

Other European waterfront cities are showing equally creative approaches. In Barcelona, decades of work have transformed the central waterfront into a accessible linear park with sand-replenishment programmes, marine-renaturalisation projects, and inclusive beach facilities. Freiburg turned a 150-year-old weir into a rough-ramp fish passage, reconnecting the Dreisam for wildlife while creating new spaces for residents. In Waldkirch-Kollnau, set-back banks, large stone structures, and flowing channels along the Elz River have revitalized a 2 km stretch, improving biodiversity and flood protection. Athens integrates cultural heritage with environmental enhancement, demonstrating how urban waterfronts can support identity and community well-being.

Central to the campaign is the Re-Value SeaTowel, a 100% upcycled towel made from marine plastic collected by fishermen and transformed into SEAQUAL® yarn, combined with recycled cotton. The SeaTowel have started travelling with the Re-Value partners across Europe, encouraging cities to share their waterfront stories (the good, the bad and the ugly).

With the launch of the #ReValueYourWaterfront challenge, cities are invited to take a photo of their SeaTowel on local waterfronts and share it on LinkedIn and Instagram. Every picture contributes to a growing network of cities showing how hands-on initiatives, creative thinking, and citizen engagement can transform waterfronts into climate-ready and community-centered spaces.

Waterfront city representatives can request their SeaTowel at info [at] revaluecities [dot] eu and join the challenge.

Publishing date: 10 December 2025

Authors: ICLEI Europe