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– Within the framework of the project, a decision-support tool will be developed using data on aspects such as the number of visitors and existing animal species, together with initiatives to raise public awareness of the benefits of these spaces
– The tools developed will be tested in the Clot de Galvany municipal natural area (Elche) and the La Marjal floodable park (Alicante)
The IRIS project will promote the monitoring and digital management of green infrastructure in Alicante and Elche to improve its efficiency and enable the authorities responsible for their operation to make more informed decisions. In addition, actions will be launched to promote the environmental and social benefits of these spaces among visitors.
The decision support system (DSS) to be developed will integrate key data — such as metrics related to water quality, the number of visitors, and the presence of animal species —through the use of technologies such as computer vision, predictive models, data analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Both the DSS and the public engagement initiatives will be demonstrated and validated at two representative sites in the province of Alicante. The first is La Marjal (Alicante), an urban floodable park with a medium-to-high level of sensorisation, used both for flood risk mitigation and for recreational purposes. The second is Clot de Galvany (Elche), a municipal natural area that constitutes a large natural wetland with a low level of sensorisation and which uses reclaimed water.
Green infrastructure refers to natural or semi-natural spaces, such as urban parks, managed wetlands or green areas, designed and managed to contribute to the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity. In addition, they improve resilience to climate change through aspects such as the storage and management of rainwater and temperature regulation.
These types of infrastructures constitute a Nature-based Solution (NbS), that is, an action that applies principles from nature to address challenges related to territorial and urban management.
Clothilde Breger, Project Manager and Researcher at Cetaqua-Water Technology Centre, explains the importance of digitalising this type of infrastructure: “thanks to the integration of high-quality data from different sources, organisations will be able to access reliable, up-to-date information in a simple way on aspects such as how many people use the infrastructures, what bird populations are present in each season, or what the water level and quality are. This will allow them to assess their performance and make decisions to optimise their management.”
IRIS is a Public–Private Partnership initiative led by Veolia with the participation of Cetaqua–Water Technology Centre, Aguas de Alicante, and Aigües d’Elx, involving both the Sustainability and Social Action area and the Innovation area. It aims to showcase the value of these infrastructures through improved management and by raising public awareness of the environmental and social benefits they provide.
This project is complemented by other projects such as BIOVERA, a project led by Cetaqua with the participation of the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA) and funded by the Biodiversity Foundation, which works on the identification, quantification, and monitoring of ecosystem services —that is, the environmental, economic, and social benefits provided by an ecosystem— at these same sites.
For Iñaki Casals, Director of Innovation at Aguas de Alicante, the project “should serve to maximise the social and environmental value that these areas offer. It is about putting technology at the service of nature, not the other way around, and using the innovative tools at our disposal so that citizens can better understand and appreciate the life that develops in these spaces, often overlooked.”
The launch of the IRIS project coincides with the 20th anniversary of Clot de Galvany, marking two decades of protection, ecological restoration, and landscape value since its official designation as a municipal natural area. In addition, La Marjal Park also celebrated its anniversary —in this case its tenth— in 2025, after a decade in which it has fulfilled its role as a flood-control infrastructure while delivering positive environmental impacts.
Ultimately, the aim of these initiatives is to highlight the value of these infrastructures and to facilitate understanding of their benefits among both public authorities and citizens, in order to promote their replication in other areas of the Mediterranean arc.
Learn more about IRIS at the project’s website.
This publication is part of the Public-Private Collaboration project Digital solutions for enhanced operation and widespread adoption of nature-based solutions in water management (IRIS) CPP2024-011908 funded by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and by FEDER, EU.
