Urban ReLeaf, a city-wide citizen-science initiative in Dundee, engages the community to contribute their observations and perceptions of greenspaces across the city. By harnessing the collective input of citizens, the project strives to enhance the benefits derived from these greenspaces and ensure they cater to the diverse needs of the community. Join us in this endeavour to make a positive impact on our city – everyone in Dundee is encouraged to participate!
To share your perceptions, download the Urban ReLeaf Cities app to complete short surveys around the city or use one of our three web-based surveys. Sign up to the Urban ReLeaf Dundee newsletter to find out where you can meet us in-person and to follow the project's progress.
Download the perceptions app 
To get started with sharing your perceptions via the Urban ReLeaf Cities app, watch our tutorials here
Greenspace is a broad term used to describe natural elements in an urban area. This can include parks, grass verges, public gardens and cemeteries. For location-specific surveys in Urban ReLeaf, parks are the greenspace focused on.
Share your greenspace perceptions with us for one year, win prizes and help shape the design of your city!
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems use natural elements to manage rainfall, slow runoff, and store water. The benefits of SUDS are:
Play surveys ask for your perceptions on designated public play areas in parks. These are outdoor play areas with play equipment such as slides and swings, generally intended to be used by children of various ages.
Share your playpark perceptions with us for one year, win prizes and help shape the design of future play in the city!
Apple Store Google Play Survey
Spending time greenspace, such as parks, has been shown to have a range of benefits. These benefits include improved physical and mental health, support for child development and healthy aging, and improved sense of community and belonging.
Because spending time in good quality greenspace brings so many benefits to our lives, it is important that we ensure that everyone can do so regardless of where in Dundee they live.
Greenspaces also have a key role to play in helping Dundee adapt to the changing climate. Nature can be used in urban areas to help deal with flooding, rising temperatures, and to help provide habitats for animals that are being lost elsewhere.
Primary school pupils across Dundee are becoming Air Quality Explorers through a new educational campaign delivered by Dundee City Council in collaboration with partners as part of the Urban ReLeaf Dundee initiative.
The Air Quality Monitoring Campaign marks the second phase of Urban ReLeaf Dundee, building on the community engagement and greenspace insights developed during the project’s first phase. This new chapter focuses on understanding the air we breathe, particularly around schools, where children are more vulnerable to the impacts of traffic-related pollution.
As part of the campaign, air quality sensors have been installed at Glebelands Primary School and North East Campus, supporting pupils from St Francis RC Primary School and Longhaugh Primary School. The sensors provide updated air quality readings every two minutes, allowing pupils, families and communities to see how pollution levels change throughout the school day.
Using the campaign’s “What Are We Breathing?” educational booklet alongside interactive classroom activities, pupils explore environmental monitoring, citizen science and real-world STEM learning. They discover how pollutants such as PM2.5, microscopic particles largely produced by vehicle emissions, can affect health and why reducing pollution around schools is important.
A key focus of the campaign is raising awareness of engine idling during school drop-off and pick-up times. Vehicles left running while stationary continue to release pollutants, often directly outside school entrances where children walk and gather.
By combining real-time monitoring with environmental education, the campaign encourages pupils and their families to consider cleaner travel choices, such as walking, wheeling and cycling, while reminding drivers to switch off their engines when waiting.
Dundee City Council’s Sustainable Transport Team highlighted the importance of reducing vehicle emissions around schools:
“Reducing engine idling around schools is a great way to improve air quality. By combining this with active travel [walking, wheeling and cycling] we can create healthier school environments, protect young people’s wellbeing, and support cleaner, greener communities.”
The data collected will help inform future approaches to reducing traffic-related emissions around schools, while publicly available air quality readings allow communities to better understand their local environment.
By combining environmental education, citizen science and real-time monitoring, Urban ReLeaf Dundee is empowering young people to understand the air they breathe and contribute to healthier, greener communities.
Primary school pupils across Dundee are becoming Air Quality Explorers as part of a special project called Urban ReLeaf, as part of the Dundee pilot, we are running an Air Quality Monitoring Campaign at local primary schools, focusing on vehicle emissions around school gates during drop off and pick up times. Using specialist sensors that measure real time pollution levels, the campaign aims to encourage behaviour change around engine idling and promote active travel to school.
We will be attending events through out the city. To find out where we are, see events below .