Up to 40 technical colleagues from state and regional river basin organizations learned first-hand about the Project’s ongoing actions and its pioneering proposal for social participation during the conference held on April 10 and 11,
The LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 team has organized, through its partner Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro, the second edition of this meeting (the previous one was in May 2022) in which to present the objectives of the project and on this occasion, to walk through the intervention already implemented in La Roza, Alfaro (La Rioja) and deepen the pioneering proposal of social participation and social capacity building.
The exchange of experiences on adaptation and the generation of networks for the future replication of interventions in other areas affected by floods is one more objective of the project, in addition to the works for the recovery of the river space and adaptation and the actions for the dissemination and promotion of participation.
Therefore, the participation in this meeting of technicians from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the Hydrographic Confederations of Segura, Júcar, Cantábrico, Miño-Sil, Duero, Tajo, Guadalquivir and the Water Agency of Galicia, Catalan Water Agency, Community of Madrid, Regional Government of Andalusia, Basque Water Agency and the Iberian Center for River Restoration is considered a success.
Theoretical day: participation, the main topic
The first session was held at the headquarters of the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation in Zaragoza, dedicated to the progress of the project within the LIFE program and, above all, to analyze the different proposals for social participation, encouraging the involvement of the riparian population.
Through information, participation and mediation actions, the LIFE project seeks to achievemore solid results, improve knowledge and reach more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable alternatives .
The need for training to implement effective participation processes, the interest in communication and dissemination channels to the population and the proposal to create exchange channels in this regard were issues discussed during the day.
Field visit: La Roza, a benchmark in river restoration
The practical part of the day involved a visit to Zone 1 of the Project, specifically to the meander recovered as a river space in La Roza, Alfaro, La Rioja and to the Alfaro woodland, accompanied by another of the partners, the Government of La Rioja, in charge of the environmental restoration projects.
In La Roza they verified that the morphological adaptation work has been completed, which has involved the recovery of 22 hectares of river space, through the recessing of defenses, the reconnection of old river branches and the creation of a relief channel, works carried out by the Hydrographic Confederation of the Ebro.
In Soto de Alfaro, an intervention will be carried out in agreement with the territory through the co-creation groups (stable participation groups of the project) for the recovery of lost river branches, helping the evacuation of water during the Ebro floods.
