The Municipality of Athens plants 600 new trees every year, but estimates show that 10-40 per cent of these dry up during the summer months due to high temperatures.

In an effort to change the stats, the Adopt-A-Tree project has kicked off to encourage residents to find a spot for a tree and then commit to keeping it healthy by watering it thanks to a special app, developed by Novoville. Novoville, a tech startup aimed at transforming public services and making them more people-friendly, created an adopt that allows up to three individuals to jointly take care of a tree by receiving a notification on their cellphone whenever a tree needs to be watered.

The City of Athens is now launching a new program, Adopt Your City, to get private businesses and organisations involved in the program. The program is aimed at getting businesses and organisations on board in the drive to improve the quality of life in downtown Athens by taking responsibility for the maintenance of a street, sidewalk, park, square, etc.

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“It’s very important for all Athenians to be part of the change that they themselves envision for the city, to become part of that change. What we want to highlight is a new collaborative spirit that will bring together citizens, businesses, the public and the private sectors”.

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