Building a climate-resilient Europe together: The successful completion of BUILDSPACE

3 april 2026

After three years of intensive collaboration, the European BUILDSPACE project is coming to an end. What began in a snowy Athens recently concluded with a successful final review by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). Nazka looks back on a journey where we translated complex satellite data into tangible solutions for cities under pressure.

The city of the future is resilient

Climate change presents cities with enormous challenges, from stifling heat islands to sudden flooding. In early 2023, Nazka Mapps joined forces with 12 European partners to tackle these issues. The goal of BUILDSPACE? To make clever use of Earth observation data to enhance urban resilience.

Within this ambitious project, Nazka took on a leading role as task leader. We guided the entire design process for five innovative services. From understanding the end-users to sketching the very first wireframes and mockups, our focus remained steadfast on a seamless and user-friendly experience. The result is an integrated toolkit where cities can easily navigate toward the right data.

Focus on flooding: Urban Flood Analysis

In addition to the overarching design, we collaborated with the Slovenian partner IMZI to build a specific tool: the Urban Flood Analysis & Resilience service. This application makes the invisible visible. Users can upload, visualize, and directly compare various flood scenarios.

What makes this tool unique?

Detailed cost analysis: Instantly calculate the potential damage of a flood to buildings and land use.
Smart hotspot identification: We map out risk areas based on rainfall simulations and soil infiltration.
European scale: Thanks to the integration of the Copernicus Urban Atlas, our tool works across all of Europe—from Reykjavík to Nicosia and from Tenerife to Helsinki.

Passing with flying colors, but we’re not stopping here

Following a successful demo in Ljubljana last summer, we recently presented our results to the EUSPA reviewers in Athens. The feedback was excellent: the tools received a very positive evaluation, and we officially passed with flying colors!

While BUILDSPACE is ending, our drive for innovation continues. The expertise we have built will be directly applied to the new CLIMRES project. In this follow-up project, we will further refine our tools and expand them with new functionalities to arm cities even more effectively against the changing climate.

Want to know more about how we use satellite data for your city or project? Contact us for a conversation!