A Coruña hosts a meeting this week for researchers involved in the European DRYAD project, coordinated by CICA

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Chemistry and Biology (CICA), a member of the CIGUS Network, an initiative launched by the regional government (Xunta de Galicia) that groups together centres of accredited scientific excellence, will be coordinating the European project DRYAD over the coming four years. This project focuses on demonstrating and modelling nature-based solutions (NBS) to boost the resilience of Mediterranean agro-silvopastoral ecosystems and landscapes. The objective is to promote sustainable, climate-resilient practices and facilitate regional adaptation plans. The principal investigator and coordinator of this four-year project is Francisco Javier Samper Calvete, a university professor specializing in geotechnical engineering and a researcher at CICA within the AQUATERRA group.

Around 50 members of the project from five Mediterranean countries will be in A Coruña over the next few days for the kick-off meeting that got underway yesterday at the University of A Coruña’s School of Civil Engineering.

Funded by the Horizon Europe programme, the project integrates cutting-edge scientific, technological, social, and business innovations, along with transformative solutions. It will focus on the development, testing and demonstration of nature-based solutions (NBS) across five demonstration regions, including Andalusia and Extremadura (Spain), Alentejo (Portugal), Sardinia (Italy), and Aetolia-Acarnania (Greece). The most promising NBS will then be transferred to three replication regions: Castilla y León (Spain), Occitania (France), and Tuscany (Italy). DRYAD will also support integrated management governance through the development of decision-support systems.

The project will engage regional and local authorities, stakeholders addressing climate challenges, research institutions, public and private foundations, businesses and citizens in co-creation, co-implementation, and co-validation processes through Living Labs (testbeds). This will result in the creation of real solutions that can be implemented across the board and with lasting effects. The project will promote tools and implementation guides to foster sustainable, climate-resilient practices and facilitate regional adaptation plans, contributing to the Nature Restoration Law in terms of nature that is resilient to climate adaptations.