New research project aims to help rural areas to become more resilient, sustainable and connected
Almost a fifth of the European population - 137 million people – live in rural areas. These areas have diverse societies and cultures. Some are far from urban areas, others close. Some are lowland areas, others sparsely-populated mountainous or island territories. But they all face common challenges: depopulation, brain-drain and ageing populations, combined with limited connectivity and access to public infrastructures. Climate change, which leads to more frequent extreme weather events, adds to the challenges that threaten the resilience of rural communities.
The European Commission funded project ‘FUTURAL’, launched 1st June, aims to address these challenges by developing seven digital smart solutions that focus on key societal and environmental rural challenges and particularly consider the needs of women, youth and vulnerable groups. FUTURAL will prototype, test, pilot and demonstrate community-led social, technological and business innovations in six diverse rural areas across the European Union.
IHE Delft is one of the project consortium partners, working on climate adaptation and mitigation as one of the project’s solutions. The Institute will create an online platform to deliver hydrological models for water monitoring and promote the implementation and testing of nature-based solutions strategies. This will help combat flooding, which can threaten rural communities’ access to quality water, negatively impacting development and agriculture.
IHE Delft researchers will also develop a solution to support the selection and use of nature-based solution measures that contribute to climate change adaptation. Such measures ensure water storage and slow down runoff to better address floods and droughts in rural areas.
“Our goal is to develop hydrological models that help stakeholders in rural areas understand more about the water availability and select measures that will help them adapt to climate change,” said Ioana Popescu, project leader representing IHE Delft, and part of the Hydroinformatics and Socio-technical innovations department.
This project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101083958.
Ioana Popescu
Professor of Hydroinformatics