Knowing Regional Challenge Workshop Granollers

Ajuntament de Granollers and Consorci Besòs-Tordera with the support of Aquatec celebrated, on
November 22, the 2nd local hub Workshop of Horizon Europe KNOWING project on Challenges to
cope with floods and mitigate emissions in Granollers.
The workshop was attended by 24 people, representing various stakeholders: local and regional
administration, scientists, service companies and organized civil society.
The objective of the workshop was to understand the trade-offs between mitigation and
adaptation measures, by proposing local interventions to adapt the city of Granollers to (pluvial
and fluvial) flooding events in line with the mitigation objectives. In this sense, several measures
were prioritized, their associated interventions were identified and a final exercise to identify the
risks and opportunities related to each alternative was performed, which will help to define the
next steps towards the visioning and actionable roadmap for the city.
Some of the adaptation measures being discussed include: the use of nature-based solutions to
increase the natural perviousness of the city in order to reduce the urban runoff and thus the risk
of flooding and the use of an early warning system to decrease the exposure and vulnerability of
citizens and urban assets/services to flooding. Regarding mitigation measures, the most relevant
or necessary ones, according to the participants, were the promotion of renewable energy and the
energy rehabilitation of buildings. The conversation led to the creation of a map outlining the risks
and co-benefits associated with these significant interventions for the city. This map will be a
crucial tool in developing the Granollers Vision, guiding discussions at the next Regional Hub
workshop in 2024.