SOLLAGUA: Promoting Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for Water Reuse in Southwestern Europe
Water Reuse Europe is happy to announce that the SOLLAGUA project, in which we will be acting as an associate partner, has been approved in 1st Interreg Sudoe call 2021-2027, for a January 2024 start.
The project aims to promote Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for water reuse in the SUDOE region (France, Spain, Portugal cooperation area), which faces major challenges linked to water scarcity due to a semi-arid environment climate change (CC) and a growing population. The project partners will more specifically address these challenges by implementing sustainable water management strategies in 3 rural communities in Portugal, Spain and France.
The overall ambition of the project is to provide a more resilient water supply while offering co-benefits such as climate change mitigation and adaptation. The project will change practices by encouraging the adoption of green/innovative technologies in public procurements. These changes promote a circular economy based on the reuse of local wastewater, while providing a new source of water and an alternative to end-of-pipe installations. This transition is suited to rural areas, which are generally less populated, with a more moderate economy than urban areas.
Achievements include capacity building on NbS for domestic wastewater reuse and the creation of 3 demo sites. These demo sites (location, solution, capacity, design) will be achieved through a new Living Lab strategy focused on water and NbS (NB-WoLL) and its action plan. These Nature-based water-oriented Living Labs (NB-WoLL) will lead to cooperation between governments, universities, companies, and users in an open innovation environment. The NB-WoLL strategy (i) will develop co-creation, (ii) will be oriented towards NBS with (iii) an adaptation to the needs related to water. The action plan mobilizes tools on the costs and benefits of NBS. This will raise awareness and demonstrate the feasibility of these innovations to public/private users.
The project will benefit all those involved in water management. Transnational cooperation will enable the sharing of experiences and lessons learned from the project and promote their replication. This strategy will also ensure alignment of the results with the EU legal framework for reuse.
The Sollagua consortium brings together 10 partners from across the SUDOE region and a range of expertise, including:
- From France
- Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier (lead partner)
- ECOFILAE – Water Reuse Europe member
- Communauté de communes Couserans-Pyrénées, Direction du Service des Eau
- From Spain
- Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua de Andalucía Dirección de Gestión del Agua y Calidad Ambiental, Centro de Experimentación en Nuevas Tecnologías del Agua
- Fundació Solidaritat, Universidad de Barcelona
- Fundación Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía
- Consorcio para la Gestión de Servicios Medioambientales de la Diputación de Badajoz Servicio de Comunicación y Planificación Estratégica
- Fundación para la Sostenibilidad Energética y Ambiental
- From Portugal
- Instituto Superior Técnico Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Arquitectura e Georrecursos
- Águas do Tejo Atlântico – Water Reuse Europe member
In addition, throughout its duration, SOLLAGUA will benefit from the support of 26 associated partners, including Water Reuse Europe (UK), the Agencia De Regimen Especial Ciclo Integral Aguas Del Retortillo (Spain), Asociación de Abastecimientos de Agua y Saneamientos de Andalucía (Spain), Universitat de Barcelona (Spain), Plateforme des bonnes pratiques pour l’eau du grand Sud-Ouest France (France), Pôle Mondial de compétitivité eau (Aqua Valley, France), Biyiud (Spain), Direction Régionale de l’Environnement, de l’Aménagement et du Logement d’Occitanie (France), Syndicat mixte du Parc naturel régional des Pyrénées Ariégeoises (France), Direction Départementale de l’Ariège (France), Conseil Départemental de l’Ariège (France), Agence de l’eau Adour Garonne (France), Chambre d’Agriculture de l’Ariège (France), Agence Régionale de Santé (France), Catalan Water Partnership (Spain), Secretaría General de Agua- Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural (Spain), FERAGUA – Asociación de Comunidades de Regantes de Andalucía (Spain), Câmara Municipal da Lourinhã (Portugal), Lisboa E-Nova – Agência de Energia e Ambiente de Lisboa (Portugal), Área Meropolitana de Lisboa (Portugal), Parceria Portuguesa para a Água (Portugal), Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadiana (Spain), Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir (Spain), Instituto Superior de Agronomia – Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal), Dinoagro – Associação de Agricultores da Lourinhã (Portugal), Instituto de Economía de Barcelona (IEB, Spain).
SOLLAGUA will start in January 2024 and will last for 3 years. The total budget is 1,852,416€, co-financed at 75% by the Interreg Sudoe programme. The scientific coordinator is Magali Gerino, Professor in Ecology at the Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier.
