Project Facts
Location
Greece
Lesvos, Tinos, Mykonos
Project Volume
10-25 Mio. EUR
Applied Financing Solutions
Grants
Project Dates
Start: 2017
| End: 2022
In operation since/from: 2018
The Story
In order to preserve natural water loops and halt land degradation in the Mediterranean region and beyond, an international cooperation between 27 partners focusing on innovative and nature-based water management and water treatment solutions was formed in 2017. In the so-called HYDROUSA project, financed by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program, they developed a set of easily adaptable solutions for problems such as water supply, wastewater management, nutrient and biodiversity loss. The solutions are being implemented on several Greek islands – with the aim to replicate them in other semi-arid regions around the world.
The project, running until 2022, addresses four different water sources – rain water, atmospheric humidity, waste water, and sea water – and treats them with different nature-based solutions (NBS) such as constructed wetlands, saltwater evaporation, rainwater harvesting or sand filtration systems.
Building upon the preserved water and nutrient resources, sustainable business models including agroforestry, tropical greenhouses and eco-tourism are being developed.
Success Factor | Hero Moment
HYDROUSA is based on traditional handcraft and ancient technologies combined with modern NBS and a reasonable level of ICT technology and automation. Global replication of these innovative, nature-inspired solutions as well as inter-regional collaboration are central goals of the project, and thus covered by many project activities. So far, HYDROUSA has received more than 140 letters of interest from potential replication sites around the world.
Submitter
alchemia-nova GmbH, Austria
Other Involved Stakeholders
>25 partners from academia, business and municipalities
Contact Mail
info@hydrousa.org
Website
www.hydrousa.org
