Work on the LIFE WaterCool climate adaptation project in Seville to start in 2021

Madrid/Sevilla 2, nov .-

The LIFE WaterCool climate change adaptation project to be implemented in the city of Seville, whose work will focus on water and the remodeling of several streets in the capital of Seville over the three-year duration, will begin work in 2021 on the Avenida de la Cruz Roja.

Seville is the largest city in southern Spain, with between 1.4 and 1.6 million inhabitants in the metropolitan ring, where the quality of life, economic development and well-being of the city are directly related to the climate.

Climate forecasts predict a rise in temperature in the city of about 4.5 degrees and a 20 % reduction in rainfall, factors that have consequences for people’s health, economic development, employment, among other aspects.

The objective of LIFE Water Cool, co-financed by the European Union, is to implement “innovative solutions” for adaptation to climate change in urban spaces based on urban water management, according to project sources.

The implementation and execution of the project will take place in the Macarena neighborhood, specifically in the Avenida de la Cruz Roja and the confluence with the streets Doctor Jimenez Diaz and Manuel Villalobos.

The works will be carried out using the water network managed by Empresa Metropolitana de Abastecimiento y Saneamiento de Aguas de Sevilla, S.A. (Emasesa). (Emasesa), in order to maximize sustainability in the city and the welfare of citizens.

The development of the actions are intended through the design and integral and systemic application of urban water management, together with more specific microclimatic actions such as the increase of trees, to reduce the temperature between 3 and 5 degrees Celsius in the area of application.

The objective is to reinforce the current urban water system with mechanisms to redirect runoff water from rainfall with the aim of reusing it locally for, among other uses, irrigation of parks and gardens. It will also demonstrate new ways to reduce the ‘heat island’ effect and improve the permeability of urban surfaces.

The actions include interventions in public open spaces, but also actions in public and private buildings in the neighborhood, with a public school as the first demonstration site for integration during the project.

It also aims to involve civil society actors and local agents and to have replications at local, national and international levels.

The initial concrete actions will be focused on three streets, a school, the square and the park behind the center, and will be replicated throughout the life of the project in six other streets and eight other schools in Seville during the three-year duration of the Life Water Cool project.

In addition, retrofit solutions will be implemented in ten new streets (10% of the street area), 60 new schools and public buildings in Seville over five years.

Finally, it will be transferred to Porto and two other cities in the European Union, with three streets per city per year in five years, which will be possible thanks to a computer tool for the selection of green solutions based on specific indicators when acting on streets or public or private spaces.

Also, with the aim of achieving the participation of the population to address the phenomena and impact of climate change, their participation is sought from the design of the project to the end of it with the results.LIFE Water Cool has synergy, in its socio-economic approach, with the Agenda 2030 of the European Union for Sustainable Development and the Andalusian Strategy for Sustainable Development 2030. EFEverde

Information provided by EFEverde of Agencia EFE and published as part of its participation in the European Union’s Life WaterCool project.

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About LIFE18 CCA/ES/001122