Since 2018, Paris’s Oasis Schoolyards programme has been transforming asphalt playgrounds into green, climate-resilient spaces and embedding outdoor learning into daily school life. Céleste Rouberol, International Projects Manager, and Léa Gratas, International and Outreach Project Officer, from the Paris Agency for Urban Ecology, explain how Paris is reconnecting an entire generation of Parisian children with nature.

From asphalt to oasis

Paris is one of Europe’s most densely populated cities, with 20,000 residents per square kilometre. For many of its youngest residents, the school playground is the closest thing to a green space they have.

Céleste explains why they’re expanding the initiative beyond schoolyards: “It’s not enough to just build the infrastructure. That alone won’t change habits. Truly connecting kids to nature takes a comprehensive approach.”

The result is a phased, city-wide strategy to fundamentally change how Parisian children relate to nature: starting inside the school gates, extending to the streets around them, then outward into parks, gardens and green spaces across the city.

It takes courage, Céleste acknowledges, to see it through. “Change is not easy. It takes political ambition and excellence in what you deliver.”

Schoolyards and school streets

The transformation of each schoolyard begins long before the first plant goes in the ground. The city and the CAUE (Conseil d’Architecture, d’Urbanisme et d’Environnement) developed a co-design methodology bringing together children, parents and teachers to reimagine their school grounds. The process is deliberately inclusive, addressing not just greenery but equity: who uses the space and how.

“We are really keeping in mind the gendered aspect of playgrounds,” says Céleste. “We wanted to design a space that would ensure that the girls aren’t just standing in the corner.”

The programme has already redesigned 208 schoolyards, with a target of all 770 Paris schools by 2050. The city is also transforming the streets directly in front of schools, pedestrianising the space and restricting motorised traffic to make drop-off and pick-up safer and more welcoming for everyone.

“Obviously, reducing air pollution is good for the environment and the health of the students, teachers, and parents,” says Céleste. “But school streets are also social spaces where adults can connect, too. Parents can safely drop their kids off at school without fearing traffic. When parents and teachers connect, community thrives.”

Connecting the community to nature

Beyond the school gates, Paris has been greening the city neighbourhood by neighbourhood, running concurrently with more high-profile symbolic projects.

“In Paris, we develop large symbolic projects like the greening of Place Catalogne and the square in front of Hotel de Ville that show how quickly the city is restoring nature,” says Céleste. “But we are also working on smaller, more everyday life projects neighbourhood by neighbourhood.”

The approach used was systematic and local. Each district is divided into sub-areas, and a single public consultation covers all planned public works at once: green spaces, mobility, sanitation and public infrastructure. The process called Embellir votre quartier (or “beautify your neighbourhood”) aimed to deliver faster, less disruptive transformation without compromising ambition. They’ve renovated smaller squares, added fountains, and added greenery alongside streets.

As Léa puts it: “We consult with the residents, deliver, and move on to the next area.”

Getting kids into nature

“It takes time to integrate nature into teachers’ curricula,” says Céleste. “They need to be trained and accompanied.” The Graines d’Oasis, or Oasis Seeds, programme was developed to bridge this gap. “It’s a set of tools for teachers to use the schoolyard as an educational feature, not just ornamental, but to actually take part and co-manage the space,” says Céleste.

The early days were not without friction. As asphalt was replaced with natural materials, parents complained about dirty shoes and muddy clothes, a sign, the team realised, of how little contact many families had with nature.

“We realised that even with the infrastructure, there was still work to do to get parents and teachers on board,” says Léa. “By taking their feedback into consideration, we were able to make adjustments to better meet their needs without compromising nature.”

Teachers now petition to use parks for outdoor classroom activities, and the city has seen a 30% increase in uptake every year. It is, as Céleste acknowledges, a good problem to have — one that reflects just how much appetite there is for this kind of learning, even if managing the demand requires constant adaptation.

Beyond the schoolyard, the city has developed educational zones where grants are given to local nature-focused associations to take children into natural spaces. A network of green establishments in the city’s parks and woods offers free workshops on gardening, animal welfare, local fauna and biodiversity for school groups and families alike. “Nature has so much to offer to children and adults alike,” says Léa.

“Going into the parks and gardens, understanding the fauna and flora is so important for their development. Every child deserves that.” The goal, by 2030, is for 100% of Parisian students to have access to a natural space in or near their school.

No child left without nature

In Paris, access to nature is not evenly distributed. “For me, it’s a question of social justice,” says Céleste. “The effects of climate change in Europe are happening really fast. We are losing biodiversity, but we don’t even know it because we don’t have contact with it.”

The north eastern districts are among the poorest and also the most densely built, with less access to gardens or green space per resident. For children growing up there, a school trip to the countryside or a family home in the woods is not a given.

“A child who lives in inner city Paris should have the opportunity to discover the richness of biodiversity without depending on access to nature outside the city. It has to be possible here.”

The next generation will be the ones to face the consequences of today’s environmental decisions. Giving them the tools to understand and connect with the natural world is not just an educational choice. It is an investment in the planet’s future.

“They won’t want to protect something they have never seen,” says Céleste.

“So much to be gained from sharing…”

Paris did not develop this initiative in isolation. European collaboration has been a vital part of its development. It grew out of the European CoolSchools project, a research collaboration bringing together Paris, Barcelona, Rotterdam and Brussels. The project created a sustained framework for exchanging experiences on schoolyard transformation, participatory governance and climate education, combining academic research with real urban experimentation.

“We are sure that other cities have already developed really interesting things, and they are subject to the same European standards we have in terms of security, materials and environmental safety,” says Céleste. “We would love to discuss with other cities: what are the most exciting projects you have? How do you bring them life?”

For Paris, Eurocities represents an opportunity to turn those questions into action, exchanging good practices, building European projects and finding funding to bring the next generation of schoolyards to life.

The work is local, but the inspiration can come from anywhere. “There is so much to be gained from sharing with other cities facing similar things. We have not invented this concept of bringing nature into schools. We are just trying to do it well given our constraints.”

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Paris’ Oasis Schoolyards is one of the shortlisted ‘City Initiatives’ at the Eurocities Awards 2026. You can view the full awards shortlist here.

The winners will be announced at the Eurocities Annual Conference in Utrecht, 8-10 June 2026. Register for the Annual Conference to join the ceremony.

Photos credits: City of Paris.