Project description
Creating sponge landscapes for climate resilience
As climate change intensifies, landscapes across Europe must adapt to the changing frequency and intensity of floods and droughts. Traditional water management practices are often inadequate and can even exacerbate these growing challenges, making it essential to adopt nature-based solutions. The EU-funded SpongeWorks addresses this need by evaluating and implementing sponge measures and developing sponge strategies as landscape-level approaches that harness nature for improved water retention while providing a range of co-benefits. The project aims to assess and scale up these solutions to strengthen interconnected soil, groundwater, and surface water systems. Through collaboration with local stakeholders and the integration of best practices, SpongeWorks aims to transform landscape management and enhance climate resilience across Europe.
Objective
Floods and droughts put increasing pressure on the European society, with estimated annual damages from river flooding of €7.6 billion and drought-induced losses over €9 billion. Fostering sponge measures as nature-based solutions to boost the natural retention function of landscapes is promising but implementation must be rapidly upscaled and innovative approaches to increase the integration, involvement and cooperation of diverse actors from local to basin wide levels are urgently needed. SpongeWorks aims to demonstrate practical, effective, economically feasible and inclusive approaches and solutions towards enhancing the sponge functioning of interconnected groundwater, soil and surface water systems at regional scale. It applies an integrative multi-actor approach to demonstrate the effectiveness of multifunctional sponge measures for improved water and soil management for enhancing water retention in three large demonstrators in the Pinios (GR), Lèze (FR) and Vecht (NL/DE) river basins. In each demonstrator, SpongeWorks evaluates existing sponge measures, draws lessons-learned and best practices, and implements new sponge measures. The effectiveness of large-scale implementation is assessed to co-create long-term sponge strategies with action plans and roadmaps at landscape scale. Broad dissemination of best-practices, promotion of exemplary demonstration areas as lighthouses, and targeted replication in eight associated regions ensures long-lasting impact of this work. SpongeWorks contributes to transformative change of landscape management to ensure regions are more adapted and resilient to climate change impacts on soils, waters, habitats and biodiversity. By combining scientific excellence and practical know-how from established communities of practice, as well as facilitating mutual learning and sharing of successful strategies, SpongeWorks will catalyse a shift in the pace of implementation of sponge measures and strategies across Europe and beyond.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.2.5 - Climate, Energy and Mobility Main Programme
- HORIZON.4.1.2 - Twinning
- HORIZON.2.2 - Culture, creativity and inclusive society
- HORIZON.2.1 - Health
- HORIZON.2.4 - Digital, Industry and Space
- HORIZON.4.2.7 - Citizen science
- HORIZON.2.3 - Civil Security for Society
- HORIZON.2.6 - Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation ActionsCoordinator
30167 Hannover
Germany
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Participants (26)
2629 HV Delft
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75008 PARIS
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
75008 Paris
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11145 Athina
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2361 Laxenburg
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10556 Athina
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7522 NB Enschede
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01069 Dresden
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10717 BERLIN
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
114 73 Athens
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40003 DIMOS AGIAS, NOMOS LARISAS
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40003 Agia
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421 00 TRIKALA
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113 61 ATHINA
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
431 00 KARDITSA
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31320 AUZEVILLE TOLOSANE
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09000 FOIX
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31300 TOULOUSE
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75794 Paris
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31410 SAINT SULPICE SUR LEZE
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49824 EMLICHHEIM
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7772 HZ HARDENBERG
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48529 NORDHORN
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48529 NORDHORN
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49828 NEUENHAUS
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7609 PZ ALMELO
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Partners (1)
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
OX10 8BB Oxford
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