SUDOE MONTCLIMA

Mountain areas are among the territories most affected by natural risks and these risks are expected to increase due to the effects of climate change (more severe droughts, higher average temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns). These risks have no administrative boundaries (e.g. fires that cross borders of continuous forest stands) and require transnational coordination.

For this reason, one of the strengths of this project is its partnership, which brings together relevant bodies at national level, research centres and representatives of regional and local authorities from three countries. This partnership will ensure transnational governance and will draw on its previous experience in territorial cooperation projects and in the thematic area.

The novelty of this project lies in the 4 pilot projects for the implementation of solutions and action plans: 1) innovation in vineyards crops to prevent soil erosion, 2) adaptive forest management to prevent fires and improve resilience to droughts and 3) improvement of the protective role of forests and 4) monitoring of the dynamics of river basins to reduce the risk of torrential floods. Both the transnational strategic framework and the pilot projects will be accompanied by a working group on capitalisation of existing tools and information and a working group on knowledge transfer. One of the most outstanding tools will be a cartographic viewer with information on vulnerable areas, historic record of disasters in mountain areas and a compilation of good practices. In terms of knowledge transfer, 5 thematic seminars, a multi-risk seminar at the beginning of the project and a final transnational colloquium will be held to present the results.