IHCantabria and Cuba’s National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH) strengthen cooperation with a visit from an INRH delegation
Bladimir Matos, First Vice President of INRH, and Raúl Medina, Managing Director of IHCantabria, after signing the Framework Cooperation Agreement between FIHAC and INRH
This visit marks an important step in strengthening the scientific and technical relationship between IHCantabria and Cuban institutions, such as INRH, with whom a Framework Cooperation Agreement was signed yesterday
The Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria) welcomed a delegation from the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources of Cuba (INRH, for its acronym in Spanish) and hosted the signing of a Framework Cooperation Agreement between this Cuban institution and the Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental de Cantabria Foundation (FIHAC, for its acronym in Spanish). Both entities are focused on developing innovative solutions for coastal risk management and climate change adaptation.
The Cuban delegation —composed of Bladimir Matos, First Vice President of INRH, and Alnerys Prieto, Specialist in International Relations and Cooperation at INRH— was welcomed by Raúl Medina, Managing Director of IHCantabria, and Íñigo J. Losada, Director of Research at the institute. They presented the general objectives of this technical mission. The visit is part of the ongoing collaboration between the two institutions to address flooding issues along the Havana´s Malecon, one of the Cuban capital’s most vulnerable areas to sea level rise and extreme weather events.
During yesterday’s session, INRH representatives presented the challenges facing the Havana Malecón. IHCantabria researchers Javier López Lara, Moisés Álvarez, and María Fuentes shared the main objectives, scope of work, and methodology to be followed within the project titled “Feasibility Study. Malecón Engineering Solutions.”
Today, Antonio Tomás presented the progress and results to date of the project “Complementary studies for an integrated solution to flooding along the Havana Malecón,” which has been under development at IHCantabria for over a year. The project aims to explore alternatives and design solutions to reduce overtopping along this emblematic infrastructure in the city.
The presentations held over the past two days have covered everything from diagnostics of the current situation to the proposed methodologies and alternatives for mitigating coastal impacts in this iconic urban area.
Today’s agenda also included a tour of the institute’s facilities, where INRH representatives had the opportunity to learn firsthand about IHCantabria’s technical and scientific capabilities, including its laboratories and tools for numerical and physical modeling of coastal processes.
This technical exchange is part of the Framework Cooperation Agreement between FIHAC and INRH, which aims to promote scientific collaboration, knowledge transfer, and the implementation of nature-based and engineering solutions for the sustainable management of water resources in coastal environments. The agreement also provides for training programs, joint project development, and the strengthening of institutional capacities in the field of environmental hydraulics.
These types of meetings reinforce the commitment of IHCantabria and INRH to addressing the challenges of climate change and coastal resilience on a global scale.
Bladimir Matos, First Vice President of INRH, and Raúl Medina, Managing Director of IHCantabria, signing the Framework Cooperation Agreement between FIHAC and INRH
From left to right: Raúl Medina, Managing Director of IHCantabria; Bladimir Matos, First Vice-President of INRH; Alnerys Prieto, INRH International Relations and Collaboration Specialist, and Íñigo Losada, Research Director of IHCantabria
From left to right: Javier L. Lara, María Fuentes and Raúl Medina (from IHCantabria), together with Bladimir Matos and Alnerys Prieto (from INRH) and Íñigo Losada and Antonio Tomás (from IHCantabria)
