Last week we went to Valencia to attend the National Environmental Congress organized by the Foundation conama. During 3 days we were enriched with experiences of urban change and transition towards sustainability thanks to this meeting between administration, academics, associations, companies and organizations. The wide thematic offer covered from adaptation-mitigation to climate change, mobility, energy, circular economy, to waste management and governance through sessions, debates, workshops and ideas laboratories.
Apart from collecting ideas, innovative proposals and trends, we coincide with Joan Ribò (Mayor of Valencia), Iñaki Prusilla (Gasteiz City Council), Enric Coll Gelabert (Barcelona Provincial Council), Jose Mª Ezquiaga (Dean of the Madrid College of Architects), Ruud Schuthof (ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability), IHOBE (Basque environmental agency), Efrén Feliu (Tecnalia), José Luís López Fernández (Association of Environmental Sciences) as well as new companies with very interesting solutions to tackle Change Climate and transform and regenerate our urban environments for greater comfort among citizens-nature such as María Lara Díaz (Ecoterrae), Jose Miguel Ferrer Gisbert (Green Urban Data), Nuria Preciado (Metro Huerto), Alvaro Anguix (gvSIG), David Bartolome ( Car2go), Alejandro Balandrón (Great Ecology), Jorge Sánchez Cruzado (Biomatrix Water), Andrés Fernández (Ciudadano Kane) and Jordi Oliver i Solà (Inèdit), among others.
The infrastructure verde was very present throughout the congress, as well as the circular economy and the internet of things (IoT). They seem to us to be especially relevant areas to apply to our methodologies, management and planning tools in the cities and regions with which we work. Good practice documents, case studies, strategies and adaptation plans supported by methodological guides form a crucial basis for the implementation of effective no regret measures and actions.
The role of technological solutions to be able to monitor and quantify the impact of the measures taken with natural solutions is of great importance in this new period in which we are entering. The perception surveys highlight the interest of citizens in greening the urban environment and the awareness that is being generated in favor of natural solutions (90% of the citizens of the Basque Country say that Climate Change is already a reality) . Public participation and multidisciplinarity in the administration and agents of the urban environment is also an essential methodology for urban renewal and restoration.
Lastly, we would like to thank the Conama Foundation for organizing this event, which has allowed us to return with our heads full of fervent ideas and integrate them into our lines of work and offer a service at the highest level.