Climate Solutions and Ecosystem Services
R&D&I at the service of businesses and regions for a more climate-resilient future
We generate knowledge through the study of socioecological processes with the aim of optimizing their management and enhancing the ecosystem services provided by ecosystems, to promote the ecological transition and the resilience of territories and their economic activities.
R&D&i Activity
We work in close collaboration with technological and knowledge agents, businesses, public administrations, and the involved social fabric for the development of R&D&i:
- We combine applied research, technological innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration to develop climate solutions.
- We enhance territorial, coastal, water, and business resilience, with a focus on bioeconomy and nature-based solutions.
- We evaluate and implement strategies that contribute to sustainability and adaptation to climate change through Living Labs and a network of experimental farms equipped with advanced monitoring sensors.
Transversality
We contribute to a variety of areas, from the development of nature-based solutions to the design of plans related to bioeconomy and territorial resilience. We work in alignment with sustainability and adaptation to climate change as the central focus of our efforts.
Personalized Consulting
We advise governments and businesses on adopting climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, develop indicators, and create alliances to ensure that our research and knowledge transfer have a positive impact both nationally and internationally.
Services
In the Technological Unit of Climate Solutions and Ecosystem Services, we offer tailored services and solutions in the following six main areas:
Territorial Resilience
We develop studies and solutions to address resilience at the landscape scale. We collaborate with other institutions and organizations to develop integrated management models for Mediterranean landscapes, covering urban, natural, and rural areas, with a focus on agriculture, ecosystems, and biodiversity.
Coastal Resilience
We conduct detailed studies to identify stress factors in coastal areas and offer nature-based solutions aimed to mitigate the effects of climate change. We monitor these solutions and develop metrics to assess the ecosystem services they provide.
Water Resilience
We address water-related challenges associated with the pressures caused by climate change and other global change factors. We focus on both the quality and quantity of water resources, assessing their effects on ecosystems, human health, and economic activities.
Business Resilience
We evaluate the entire value chain of businesses and economic sectors to enhance their resilience to climate change. We assess risks, propose corrective measures, and support their implementation.
Bioeconomy
We promote bioeconomy in the integrated management plans of the territories we work in. We co-create territorial and sectoral management plans in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders in each case.
Living Labs
We have deployed a living lab in the Ebro Delta (Living Lab EbreBioterritori), which allows us to identify and address territorial challenges in an integrated manner, taking into account all stakeholders and co-creating solutions with a participatory and interdisciplinary approach. Currently, we are in the process of deploying a second living lab in the metropolitan area of Barcelona to address aspects related to urban resilience.
Contact
Nil Álvarez
Head of the Technological Unit for Climate Solutions and Ecosystem Services
Graduated in Environmental Sciences and doctoral student at the Ecological Research and Forestry Applications Center (CREAF) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, he has extensive experience in research and development. His research focuses on achieving climate neutrality through innovative management of agroecological systems, integrating knowledge of ecology, environmental monitoring, ecosystem restoration, and the design of nature-based solutions, with an emphasis on governance and social and territorial justice. He currently leads the Technological Unit for Climate Solutions and Ecosystem Services at Eurecat.
- Tel. +34 977 105 015
- nil.alvarez@eurecat.org
Highlighted Projects
The REST-COAST project demonstrates that upscaled coastal restoration can provide a low-carbon footprint solution for climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction for threatened coastal systems, combined with gains in their biodiversity and ecosystem services delivery.
The BIORESILMED project generates the tools for the joint design of a plan and the execution of actions that promote bioeconomy in the two main types of Mediterranean landscapes, those of the coast and those of the interior.
The EFFECTIVE project develops a comprehensive scientific knowledge base and practical guidance, combining science, technological, nature-based solutions, digitalization, and social engagement, for the application of the ecosystem-based management to the protection and restoration of the EU’s Mediterranean Blue Natural Capital.
The IMPETUS project aims at accelerating Europe’s climate change response and turning commitments into concrete action, developing innovative measures to make its regions more resilient. Moreover, the project explores the synergies between climate change mitigation, supporting regional socio-economic growth and stability, and transition of communities to ecological sustainability and resilience.
The Life eCOadapt50 project raises awareness of climate change adaptation (CCA) at the local level, through the involvement of regional governments, research centres and socioeconomic actors. In particular, Life eCOadapt50 increases the resilience of the economic sectors most vulnerable to climate change in four economic activities: tourism, fishing, forestry and agriculture/livestock.
The Specialization and Competitiveness Project (PECT) Ebre Bioterritori promotes and facilitates the systemic transition (technical-economic and social), towards a model of sustainable exploitation of natural capital, articulating a stable innovation environment in the whole of Terres de l’Ebre (Baix Ebre, Monstià, Terra Alta and Ribera d’Ebre counties).
The ECOSEDRIV project understands and quantifies the interactions between suspended sediments, flow regime and biological communities in highly regulated rivers to design new reservoir management schemes to restore sediment flow towards the coast in a sustainable way.
The Systematization of Nature-Based Solutions in Spain (E:SBN) project establishes a system for identifying, classifying and cataloguing Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) created in different types of ecosystems in Spain, from parks, green corridors, coastal restoration and wetlands or climate refuges, so that their planning and implementation, both in urban and rural environments, is carried out with a global perspective and in a coherent, effective and adapted way to each territorial reality within the framework of climate action.
