IHCantabria has an important participation in the international NATURE-DEMO project and will host its first follow-up meeting
The objective of this project is to develop, validate and apply a methodology to implement nature-based solutions in critical infrastructures as an adaptation measure to increase its resilience to climate change
Research staff from the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria) is actively participating in the development of the project NATURE-DEMO (Nature-Based Solutions for Demonstrating Climate-Resilient Critical Infrastructure). Its objective is to improve the resilience of critical infrastructures to the increasing climate risks resulting from climate change by implementing nature-based solutions (NbS).
This project is funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe Program (Grant No. 101157448) and has a duration of 4 years. The NATURE-DEMO consortium is coordinated by DigInnoCent s.r.o. (Czech Republic) and includes 23 European partners from 14 countries, including IBM Research GMBH (Switzerland), Telespazio UK Limitez (UK), Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Austria), Alchemia-nova (Austria), University of Rostock (Germany), Fundación Andaluza para el desarrollo aerospacial (Spain), University of Transylvania (Romania), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway), Democritus University of Thrace (Greece); as well as entities managing the critical infrastructures that constitute the pilot cases.
The kick-off meeting of the NATURE-DEMO project was held in Liberec (Czech Republic), May 14-16, 2024. This meeting brought the partners together to present their institutions and their roles in the project, as well as to define the action plan for the next 6 months. Representing IHCantabria, at this meeting were Javier López Lara, head of the Climate Risk, Adaptation and Resilience Group; María Fuentes Álvarez de Eulate, researcher of the same group, and Silvia Fernández Rodicio, member of the European Projects Unit at this institution.
During their participation, the representatives of IHCantabria presented the work that IHCantabria will develop in the project, mainly focused on work package 2, where they will define the methodology for the analysis of risk due to the effect of climate change on critical infrastructures and the selection of nature-based solutions as adaptation measures. In this work package, based on the methodology proposed by IHCantabria, and in collaboration with IBM Research GmbH and Telespazio UK Ltd, a digital platform will be developed for the prioritization and management of SbN to address climate hazards such as floods (fluvial and pluvial), landslides and forest fires.
Regarding the pilot cases, corresponding to different critical infrastructure sectors such as transport (roads and railroads), green infrastructure and hydropower systems (two dams), NATURE-DEMO will work with five locations in the Alpine biogeographical region: Railway line (Lattenbach, Austria), Urban green infrastructure (Brasov, Romania), Road and railroad Ljubljana, Slovenia), Road (Zvolen, Slovakia) and Dam (Globocica, Macedonia).
IHCantabria will be the host institution of the first follow-up meeting of this international project, which will take place the third week of November of this year, in Santander, and will bring together the members of the NATURE-DEMO Consortium to discuss the progress of the tasks programmed within the framework of this project.
More information about the NATURE-DEMO project, through the following link: https://www.nature-demo.eu/
Kick-off meeting of the NATURE-DEMO project in Liberec, Czech Republic
