Spongeworks: Co-creating and upscaling Sponge Landscapes by Working with Natural Water Retention and Sustainable Management

The mission is to advance scientific knowledge ​and implement ‘sponge measures’ at large ​scale in 3 European regions, thus enhancing ​soil and water health, and climate resilience.

Sponge measures are Nature-based ​Solutions & management ​instruments that increase soil health ​and improve its capacity to retain ​and release water gradually, like a ​sponge.

They include a variety of of ​agricultural and broader ​management practices, such as ​creating hedgerows, buffer strips, ​and infiltration ponds, to restoring ​rivers and peatlands and rewetting ​forests and grasslands.

Through rigorous modelling and quantification ​of the impact of applied measures, we are ​paving the way for European-wide adoption of ​sponge measures.

• Setting up a ‘ sponge’ knowledge platform to share experience feedback, building on the work initiated in the SpongeScapes project.
• Co-design and implementation of the Lèze demonstrator (France)
• Scaling up across the EU with the selection of regions and encouragement of their commitment
• Maximising impact through communication, dissemination and exploitation
• Strengthening Communities of Practice (CoPs) at local and national levels