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International Workshop “Adapting the Mediterranean to Climate Change: agriculture, water and forests”

General, Muga, Ter and Segre

The LIFE MEDACC project has come to the end after five years of travel and having analyzed three Catalan river basins: the Muga, the Segre and the Ter. The Workshop, held on Tuesday April 24th at the headquarters of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, was attended by more than 120 participants. The welcome was given by Salvador Samitier, Head of the Catalan Office for Climate Change; following, the Secretary of Environment and Sustainability, Marta Subirà, underlined the approval of the Climate Change Law 16/2017, of August 1, as an evident example of the commitment of the Catalan Government and Parliament of Catalonia in climate policies. Afterwords, the speakers were Joaquín Andreu (Polytechnic University of Valencia), who spoke about the adaptation of the water use in the Mediterranean; Cristos Xiloyannis (University of Basilicata, Italy), who has exposed the challenges of Mediterranean agriculture in face climate change impacts; Fernando Valladares (National Museum of Natural Sciences - CSIC, Madrid), who spoke about the scientific and management challenges in relation to Mediterranean forests; and, finally, Sergio M. Vicente-Serrano (Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología - CSIC), who has presented the main results and conclusions of the LIFE MEDACC project. The synthesis of these results and conclusions is available in this website through the Layman's Report, where you can find all the links to the reports delivered to the European Commission in case you want more information.

In the afternoon, after the lunch break in the IEC cloisters where the collective Oda al Futur has performed the poetic action L'Ametlla Amarga, the roundtable has been held to explain the experiences in adaptation, with the participation of Teresa Baiges (Forest Ownership Center), Laia Batalla (Rurbans Association, Pastor School), Marta G. Rivera-Ferre (University of Vic), Helena Valent (Consell Comarcal de l'Alt Empordà) and Jordi Montaner (GeoServei SL). Gemma Puig, meteorologist at the CCMA, moderated and conducted the event.

Finally, as the closing of the Workshop and on behalf of the Monitoring and Management Committee of the Life MEDACC project, which was constituted by more than fifty entities, Gabriel Borràs, as coordinator of the project, has read the recommendations addressed to generate changes in the development and application of policies in relation to adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

Here you can find the Press Release made by the Department of Territory and Sustainability, as well as several news on the day of April 24 published by the media:

If you want to make a virtual tour of the event, we invite you to take a look at the pictures collection. On behalf of all the LIFE MEDACC partnership, we sincerely thank you for your attendance and contribution to the promotion and success of the Workshop.

Additional material

Press release: