Eco-Innovation - Ihobe

ADAPTATION OF URBAN AREAS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED MUNICIPALITIES IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY

The sustainable cohesion of the territory is an initiative included in the 2030 Environmental Framework Programme for the Basque Country as one of its Transformative Projects, which is aligned with the actions of UDALSAREA 2030, the Basque Network of Sustainable Municipalities, which aims to foster local sustainability and promote coordination between the different levels of public administration in the Basque Country, with a special role for the municipalities. Among other objectives, this project seeks to guarantee the ecosystem services of the territory, to promote balanced social and territorial development, and to conserve the diversity of the Basque Country's landscape. Among other strategic actions, it points out the relevance of identifying the different conservation situations in each region, establishing criteria for the identification of multifunctional areas that guarantee the territory's capacity to optimise the provision and maintenance of multiple ecosystem services, continuing the work to promote green infrastructures and developing a participatory process with local institutions and citizens to assess potential pilot projects.

The consequences of climate change affect people's health and lives: according to data from AEMET, heat waves in the Basque Country that currently last 2 days will increase to 12 days by 2050, and hot nights will increase by 10% by 2050. Disease frequency will increase, infrastructure incidents will be more frequent, as will negative effects on the biodiversity and tourism.

COLLABORATORS

LIFE GOOD LOCAL ADAPT is an initiative backed by a consortium of three companies, a technology centre and three local councils, one for each Historical Territory, and it is led by GLOBAL FACTOR. Over a period of four years, the project has worked on and come up with different solutions to facilitate adaptation to climate change in small and medium-sized municipalities, and has applied them to the cases of Amurrio, Balmaseda and Legazpi. Based on public consultation and work with citizens to identify climate hazards and select the best adaptation options for their municipalities, specific solutions have been developed and various materials have been produced, including architectural projects for the renovation of public buildings and projects for the redevelopment of public spaces with climate change adaptation criteria.

The public space redevelopment project has been implemented in the municipality of Legazpi, rehabilitating an area that is easily flooded during heavy rainfall. In this case, different solutions prioritised by the public and by cost-benefit analyses, which were previously carried out within the framework of LIFE GOOD LOCAL ADAPT, have been combined. More specifically, the architectural project includes permeable paving solutions, bio-retention areas, rainwater storage and the construction of a green pergola as a green infrastructure offering shade to citizens.

IHOBE has contributed to the design of LIFE GOOD LOCAL ADAPT by mobilising the local administration to participate in the project, as well as in the transfer of the results to the Basque Network of Sustainable Municipalities included in UDALSAREA 2030.