On 17 April, the final local meeting of the LocAll4Flood project took place at Gurb Town Hall (Osona, Catalonia), bringing together the group of stakeholders who have been working over the last few years on flood risk management in the pilot area comprising the municipalities of Vic and Gurb.
Attended by the municipalities involved, the regional authorities responsible for water and civil protection, and other key entities in the field of flooding, this meeting marked the end of one phase but the beginning of a new one. Indeed, it was the occasion for the formalisation of the Vic/Gurb Collaboration Agreement, in which the signatory bodies commit to continuing to work together to implement the solutions developed by LocAll4Flood.
BETA Technological Centre, the coordinating body for the pilot site, summarised the results produced throughout the period, and various organisations shared how they have integrated or plan to integrate these results into their respective fields. This is the case, for example, with the Argos application from partner Hydrometeorological Innovative Solutions, which provides a wealth of information during a flood and is already being used by Vic Town Council to aid decision-making when the risk materialises. Or the educational materials, which are currently being widely distributed across the region. Other proposals, such as nature-based solutions, require a longer implementation period.
The session concluded with a group discussion on the actions to be taken once the collaboration agreement has been signed. Numerous ideas emerged for continuing to increase resilience to flooding, such as extending the scope of work to the sub-basin level, greater coordination with the relevant urban planning bodies, and the dissemination of self-protection measures to the most vulnerable sections of the population.
