Emilia-Romagna (Italy): NbS for the water improvement of water quality and quantity
Innovation Lab 3 is located in a rural hilly landscape where land use is a mosaic of woods (managed or abandoned), agricultural lands and water infrastructures (both natural and artificial). These, together with ecosystems are sensitive to the ever growing effects of climate change, having faced in 2022 one of the harshest drough ever recorded in the area and in 2023 and 2024 severe floods and land. The Lab develops around the regional forest nursery “Castellaro”, in Galeata (FC), where the water management represents a daily challenge and the relationship between forests, soil, and water resource become fundamental.
In the last years, the territory highlighted an increasing vulnerability: short but heavy rainfalls cause fast runoff phenomena, whereas the long dry seasons reduce the water availability jeopardizing ecosystems, agricultural and nursery activities. The morphological characteristics of the area – steep slopes, permeable soils, high rainfall variability – require a reworking of methods for retaining, filtering, and using water.
During the floods of May 2023, a landslide was triggered, altering the hydrogeological network and causing an alteration of water flows. The reduced groundwater recharge and increased surface runoff has negative consequences for the quality of water (mainly due to erosion) and the water retention capabilities of the sub-basin. Accordingly, the well formerly feeding the forestal nursery has since partially dried out, further increasing the need for solutions that support plant production aimed at fostering NBS diffusion. It’s in this framework that the Lab 3 will assess how NBS and specifically systems based on Forested Infiltration Areas (FIAs) as solution designed for increasing water harvesting, phytoremediation and groundwater recharge. Such NBS are formally simple but have extremely powerful effects: they use the vegetation and slope morphology to reinforce the ecological processes already existing in the landscape.
Understanding water through the territory
⦁ Local administrations and regional offices,
⦁ ARPAE,
⦁ University and research centres,
⦁ Natural area management institutions,
⦁ Associations and citizens,
⦁ Private companies and operators
Through meetings, exchanges of information and co-designing activities, the Lab creates a space where operative needs, scientific observations and local practices work together towards common goals.
From analysis to landscape: read the signs of water
The Lab is a collaborative path engaging a variety of actors in the territory, from the project partners to local administrations and local/regional water authorities. To support its argument, the Lab includes site-scale/sub-basin-scale analyses to understand:
⦁ The behaviour of outflow during strong weather events,
⦁ Infiltration process and potential of rainwater harvesting,
⦁ Erosion and critical points of landscape
⦁ Irrigation requirements of cultivated forest species,
Overall, such analyses will provide an estimation of the benefits of the introduction of NBS for the basin. To support this analysis, a monitoring system was implemented a monitoring system with the installation of sensors to monitor soil temperature, humidity and water levels in the groundwater/water reservoire. These analyses make it possible to link large-scale the process with the day-to-day management of the nursery site, showing how improved water retention can translate into more efficient resource use.
Looking to the future
The Co-Innovation Lab 3 seeks to strengthen the territory’s ability to respond to hydro-climatic challenges through solutions that not only mitigate risks but also enhance natural processes and the connections between forests, water, and people. FIAs represent one of the possible responses to these challenges: a simple, landscape-integrated approach grounded in a clear principle: when supported and guided, nature can offer effective tools to face the future.