Co-designing and Renaturing School Playgrounds
The Normandie-Maine Regional Natural Park and UNESCO Global Geopark, with financial support from the Région Normandie and the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), is launching a call for applications for schools and local authorities within the designated area to rethink and renature school playgrounds.
This call for applications will be renewed each year until 2027. Following one winning school in 2024 and another in 2025, applications are now open for a new edition.
Why?
School playgrounds are a key public space in town centres, yet they are often heavily concreted and poorly adapted to the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Greening and reducing soil sealing are ways to improve resilience, enhance quality of life, increase the attractiveness of the area, and restore biodiversity in urban environments.
Objectives
- Design playful playgrounds suitable for everyone, enhancing children’s well-being, mixed use, and inclusivity.
- Develop playgrounds that address climate change and biodiversity loss: permeable surfaces, reconnection with nature, planting, cooling areas, and biodiversity support.
- Deliver a project co-developed with all school stakeholders (teaching staff, pupils, elected representatives, technical staff, etc.), contributing to local attractiveness and town centre revitalisation.
In practical terms
One school will be selected to benefit from the Park’s expertise, supported by a team of designers, to develop the most suitable renaturing scenario for its playground.
Our role: to work with elected representatives, pupils, teaching teams, technical staff, families and others to produce a preliminary study ahead of redevelopment and renaturing works.
This study will:
Define a development scenario co-designed with all stakeholders
Ensure the proposal is tailored to the local authority’s resources
The study will be complemented by educational support and activities for pupils.
Finally, small-scale works may be carried out to help visualise the future layout. The local authority will remain responsible for delivering the final development works.
Who can apply?
Applications must be jointly submitted by the relevant local authority (responsible for schools) and the school’s teaching team within the eligible area.
Eligible municipalities and inter-municipal authorities:
Previous winning schools
2025: Louis Forton Primary School, Sées (61) - Project documents available:
2024: Trois Rives Primary School, Hauterive (61) - Project documents available:
