The Polytechnic University of Coimbra (UPCoimbra) will coordinate a European project that aims to develop innovative solutions to make cities more resilient to climate change, through more sustainable management of rainwater.
Entitled “ResSuDSCita – Resilient and Sustainable Drainage Systems for Cities” (Sistemas de Drenagem Resilientes e Sustentáveis para Cidades), the international initiative aims at “a more sustainable management of rainwater and the adaptation of urban areas to extreme weather events,” according to UPCoimbra, in a press release sent to the Lusa News Agency.
“ResSuDSCita aims to evaluate and optimize the performance of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, green infrastructures that reproduce the natural functioning of the water cycle, contributing to reduce the risk of urban floods, improve water quality, promote soil infiltration, increase biodiversity, and mitigate the urban heat island effect in cities.”
The project, recently approved and currently in the preparation phase, will have a duration of 36 months (three years), involving partners from Portugal, Greece, Poland, Hungary, and Sweden.
The municipal company Águas de Coimbra is also a partner in the project – whose total investment exceeds one million euros – and “will support the implementation and monitoring of the pilot solutions” that may be developed.
Quoted in the press release, Joaquim Sousa, coordinator of the UP Coimbra team, noted that cities “face today increasingly complex challenges that threaten not only their sustainability, but also the quality of life and the well-being of the populations.”
“As climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme phenomena, placing new pressures on water management in urban environments, at the same time the growing artificialization of urban spaces contributes to the worsening of the heat island effect, while the need to find solutions for the valorization of industrial waste constitutes an environmental and economic challenge that is becoming increasingly relevant,” emphasized the researcher.
Joaquim Sousa also highlighted that the European project goes beyond the development of technological solutions and intends to demonstrate that it is possible “to rethink the way cities are planned and built, bringing water management, adaptation to climate change, valorizating wastes, and the creation of more resilient urban spaces closer together.”
“It is this integrated approach that we consider essential to build cities that are more sustainable, resilient, and prepared for the challenges of the future,” he observed.
The UPCoimbra team also includes researchers Teresa Fragoso, Luís Santos, Alexandra Ribeiro, Silvino Capitão, António Correia, Fernando Moita, Verónica Oliveira, Carla Rodrigues, Sara Proença, and Susana Gonçalves, taking on a multidisciplinary nature, from urban hydraulics to artificial intelligence, passing through geotechnics, environment, or geographic information systems, among other areas.
“Over the three years of execution, the partners will characterize existing solutions, install monitoring systems in different cities, collect and analyze environmental data, validate new materials for sustainable drainage infrastructures, and develop decision-support tools. The ultimate objective is to produce technical and policy recommendations that facilitate the adoption of these solutions by cities across Europe,” stated UPCoimbra.
